Meadow to Meadow on the River Thames

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Meadow to Meadow on the River Thames

Sunday, 03 July 2011 10:15

But very different ones ....

Pangbourne Meadow is quiet, but Christchurch Meadow in Reading is the opposite. However, it is very handy for the shops and rail station in Reading.

In Mapledurham Lock

First we had this lock to do .....

The flowers on the lock side are profuse and so are the ones on the narrowboat that shared the lock with us. Our blooming satellite dish is in the way though. The reason we had a long wait for the lock is that there had been a "swimmer". Someone had fallen off a cruiser in the lock. This seems to be a popular pastime as this is the second instance we have come across in the last week or so!

It is quite a deep lock as you can see

I thought this was another plastic heron then it moved. They seem to like perching on channel markers. I suppose it gives them a good view - of the fish, not the scenery.

Perching heron

The bit of the River Thames past Tilehurst on the outskirts of Reading is pretty boring - Poplar Island and St Mary's Island break up the monotony of the wide river. The railway line is on an embankment above.

Train approaching Tilehurst station

There were no boats moored on Thameside Promenade. The whole length was surprisingly empty. In fact, we had seen only a couple of other boats on the move. After Caversham Bridge we called in to Caversham Boat Services - again, as we had ordered some paint from them. Despite the sign at Reading Marine Services back at Tilehurst, they no longer sell diesel or International Paints (we rang them) but CBS were happy to order it for us.

Caversham Bridge and Fry's Island ahead

This rowing team were out - had they got lost and should have been at Henley Regatta? The boat was named as GBR/02; was this one of our GB crews then? They do have shorts on - check the photo! Apparently Caversham is a rowing training centre.

GBR/02

We turned and moored into the stream (what there is of it), settling happily at Christchurch Meadows. John has a NABO meeting in Birmingham and I had a date with the shops!