Thames Path: Tadpole Bridge to Eynsham

 

Our last look back at the Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge. Good food and a nice inn with only six rooms. 

What better place than this then could we find
By this sweet stream that knows not of the sea,
This little stream whose hamlets scarce have names,
This far-off lonely mother of the Thames.

WILLIAM MORRIS

We are now roughly 50 miles into our 185 mile journey after leaving the inn this morning. In many ways, the path was much like the day before: tall grasses, cows, sheep, crows, doves, swans, mallards, the occasional marsh hen or cormorant, and the river growing ever so slowly larger by our side. We walked through an area called the Chimney Meadows which is indeed a large marshy meadow and a wildlife preserve. Though the signage stated we would see an abundance of wildlife such as deer, voles, birds of prey, etc, the wildlife apparently did NOT read the signs.  Nonetheless, it was a nice walk in good weather, even a bit warmish. 

Obligatory photo of the growing Thames. This was as it passed through nearly two miles of the Chimney Meadow.

Although we did not see any wildlife from this "hide" in the midst of the meadow, it was a nice cool place to sit, have a sip of water and read about the preserve. 

As we meandered along the curvy Thames today, we did eventually see graylag geese in hordes and a pheasant who decided to run along the Thames Path with us for a short distance. We heard a water vole make a plop into the river, but we didn't see it. 

We made a promise to ourselves last night that instead of conducting our usual Bataan Death March hiking method, we would stop at all the locks and sit down for a few minutes since we were hiking 14 miles. And we pretty much kept the promise. 

With the help of the  rugby team who is rowing a good bit of the Thames, we learned to actually operate the locks at Pink Hill Lock and got a bit of an upper body workout. 

The lockkeeper houses continue to be stately and have luscious gardens. This is the one at Pink Hill which is my favorite so far. 

Northmoor Lockkeeper Cottage

At Shiffey Locks, there was no way to cross the river to the lock keeper cottage, so we sat down near the bridge over the weir dam. Paul is contemplating his Motorola. We nearly always have some phone signal on this trip. 

Grayling geese

We had a nice lunch at Newbridge, about 6 miles into the 14 mile walk. The bridge there is lovely and once again, this bridge built in the 14th century claims to be the oldest one crossing the Thames. 

This is the longest day of the year in the UK with about 16 hours of daylight. Although we didn't encounter very many fellow walkers (although we did meet a very friendly older couple whom we saw again later at the Ferryman Inn in Northmoor and they bought us a half pint of ale!) , visit any historic churches, or things along that line, the long walk was a good one. So many steps, one after the other strikes me as a form of meditation:  the feeling of the ground beneath your feet, the rhythm of your steps, your body's movement, and the air's sensation against your skin.  Let's do it again tomorrow!

The river Thames that by our door doth pass,
His first beginning is but small and shallow;
Yet, keeping on his course, grows to a sea.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Paul's Pondering:   The longest day of the hike so far -- 14 miles -- and it worked out pretty well, although it was quite warm.    We had a good lunch at the Maybush about six miles into the walk and that was a nice break, sitting on the river and enjoying some good food.    After that, it was a LOT of time in pastures until we reach Eynsham.     We arrived at the Talbot Inn around 545 pm after leaving Tadpole Bridge around 10 am and enjoyed some Arkell's ale and later a nice dinner in the pub.   Tomorrow is a short walk of around seven miles into Oxford, where we'll be staying for a few days and using as a base for doing several segments of the walk.