The Plan was .....

Saturday, 25 June 2011 11:41

The River Thames above Mapledurham Lock is really lovely

It stretches out wide and scenically!

I didn't manage to finish the tale of our plan yesterday - so here it is .....

It is best to avoid this tree island - although I wondered if a boat could moor against it, ha ha!

We think this stretch from Caversham towards Goring is one of the loveliest on the Upper Thames. Arriving at Pangbourne there were plenty of moorings and it looks as if the charges are not advertised so maybe the idea of charging is still not implemented, or they cannot find anyone to employ to collect them. However today the Windsor Yacht Club had taken over part of the moorings as part of their Club Up River Cruise - with an awning set up on the meadow.

Windsor Yacht Club cruisers

But we had our Plan so continued .....

The sky was beautiful and the reflections at Whitchurch Toll Bridge were there for the snapping. The Victorian bridge (1792) is undergoing repairs as it is "creaking". No wonder when it is the first river crossing above Reading and a link between Pangbourne and Whitchurch.

Whitchurch Bridge

The bridge will have to be rebuilt in 2012 and will be closed for a number of months. The estimated cost (as at 2010) is £3.5 billion and the plans are here if you want to see them. If you are interested in bridge construction follow the link to the PDF.

Whitchurch Lock, just up river from the bridge is on an island - there is no pedestrian access. The weir is to one side and the Mill stream the other. The lock house was built in 1829.

Whitchurch Lock House

Above the lock is the Swan pub (with limited patron's moorings), long term moorings and of course those "Seven Deadly Sins"! Once through Hartswood Reach and Brunel's Gatehampton Railway Bridge the hills began to close in culminating in Goring Gap.

Hills towards Goring Gap, with The Grotto in the trees. More about this and the Gap here.

I love these wooded hills - I think it must bring back memories of my childhood and weekends spent among the Surrey Hills, climbs up Leith Hill and Box Hill and the views of the valleys from them. I was amazed to hear that Box Hill is to be one of the locations for the cycling at the London Olympics.

Arriving at Goring we had a look at the moorings below the lock. We had our "Plan" in mind and wondered about stopping, but we would not have a TV signal (Wimbledon!) and thought that the canine part of our "Plan" would not cope so well with the high level of the moorings.

Goring moorings

"Our" mooring spot above the lock was free - hooray! We thought that this would be more suitable and enable our Plan to come together. We had just finished mooring up when a familiar narrowboat rounded the corner ahead of us. We were hailed, they turned and came alongside .......

Mission accomplished!

What did the canine (sorry I mean Barney) think? He certainly could get across our stern so his walks were not to be curtailed. His owners (Geoff and Gill) seemed pretty pleased with their view and we had a really good evening on nb Petroc. A few days here, together will just be fine!

Two bows amidst the undergrowth on the bank

River Thames, Caversham to Goring
2 hours 52 minutes, 9.57 miles, 3 locks