Thames Path: Lechlade to Tadpole Bridge

 

Last view of Lechlade, St. Lawrence Church, as we were walking out of town.

The Thames is no ordinary waterway, it is the golden thread of our nation's history.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

We were warned by the guidebook that today's walk would be the "most remote" and in fact, the actual walk does not pass through any cities. There was a restaurant (with a Michelin bib gourmand rating--yes, of course, we strayed a half mile off the 13 mile trek to indulge) and at Radcot Bridge another small restaurant and camp store, but as far as towns go, there isn't even a town at Tadpole Bridge--just an inn: The Trout. 

More walking in head-high weeds and grass, but not the whole way

Swans and cows are constant companions: the origins of British beef

We walked along the river the entire day with all its twists and turns and were accompanied mostly by bovine and feathered friends,  but also were passed by teams of runners putting us to shame by RUNNING 185 miles  Source to Sea. We also encountered a team of men rowing a skiff for 5 days down the Thames... a bunch of friendly if a bit rowdy rugby chaps who recognized our Southern accents. Everyone here seems to know Nashville and Jack Daniels, if nothing more. 

We did get a few tastes of history as well as some hints as to what we will see now that we are on the ADOLESCENT Thames...and it keeps growing as we head toward the barrier.

World War II defensive "pill boxes" on the Thames. 

These pillboxes were part of the 'General Headquarters (GHQ) red line' designed to delay German invasion heading up from the south coast. This use of the River Thames as a natural defense line against invasion was recognized by King Alfred over a thousand years ago during the 9^th century.

Not far from our origin at Lechlade, we ran into the first lock on the Thames, St. John's. The lockkeeper is responsible for the lock from 9 am to 6pm (a bit later in full summer and a bit earlier in winter), and the rest of the time, the locks are operated by the boaters themselves. We saw this boat again, The Pelican of Wargrave, tied up on the banks later on. There are 45 locks on the non-tidal River Thames. Today we passed five of them.  The biggest at Teddington holds almost 8 million litres of water – the same as 24 million cans of cola. The smallest at St John's holds almost 330 thousand litres of water – the same as 1 million cans of cola. ( I think we should just start measuring EVERYTHING in CCs=cans of cola)

At St John's lock is this 19th century sculpture, Father Thames. The statue was at one time at the head of the Thames but due to repeated vandalism out in a remote meadow, they moved it in the 1970s to this lock where it would be a bit more difficult to anonymously deface it. 

In addition to the workings of the pound locks, the lockkeepers have lovely cottages nearly always accompanied by a beautiful garden. 

Lockkeeper cottage at Radcot Lock

It seems like the less busy locks on the Upper Thames would provide an agreeable lifestyle. The busier ones downriver could get stressful at times.

Ah, yes. I guess the lockkeeper needs to ward off fools. 

The River Thames quickly transformed over just a couple of days from shallow stream to a working almost mature river but I still found it slightly astonishing that Lechlade used to be a busy port for London. Various goods- over 3000 tons of cheese annually, salt from Cheshire and golden  Taynton stone for buildings such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and Windsor Castle, were landed at the upper Thames wharves. All that trade is long gone, at least by river. The water table has dropped considerably over the years but quite a few narrow boats and smaller cruisers are not only making it this far, but were also at residential moorings.

There are many bridges of all ilks over the Thames. This one is a wooden arch, but there are ones made of stone, metal and combinations. 

Radcot Bridge has a strong claim to be the oldest extant bridge on the Thames River, being built in the early 1200 from Cotswold stone. 

 For anyone walking the path that is something of a history buff, William Morris, 19th century designer (and author, poet and other Renaissance-type behaviors)  who heavily influenced the Victorian style and whose designs are still used today had a house in Kelmscott, which you will pass within about a quarter mile on this journey.  You may wish to stop and take a look at Kelmscott Manor, as it is known today and learn more about Mr. Morris. 

Sadly, we only peeked through the gates at William Morris's little "cottage."

In addition to design, liberal politics and poetry, Morris is known for poetry and "inventing" fantasy writing. 

And don't miss this either. THE PLOUGH INN. Whether you plough into it or just walk, definitely take the short detour to eat here. We enjoyed lunch on the lawn. 

The served us Chateau de tap! On a sunny day, it tasted great!

After about 6 hours of intermittent walking and viewing sites of the Thames, we dragged our carcasses into the Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge and rewarded ourselves with the local suds. 

Overall, another great day of discovery.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
― William Morris

Paul's Ponderings:   We had another 11 mile walk today in warm weather -- started out in short sleeves right away.    It's not blazing hot, but pretty warm.   Anyone doing this walk in wet weather would be pretty soaked from just the tall grass.    But, it's quite rural out here and pretty quiet.   We had a great lunch in a garden at the Plough Inn in Kelmscott and then onto our night's lodgings at the Trout at Tadpole Bridge.....more good food and ale.   They were having a comedy show outside during our dinner.   The Thames is so close here that we were able to sit on the bank and watch some canal boats dock up to the bank.    All in all a lovely day, but tomorrow it is 13 miles over to Eynsham.....a long day ahead.