25th April – Walking the Thames Path from Marlow to Henley-on-Thames

 25^th April – Thames Path from Marlow to Henley

Carrying on from last Sunday where I walked from Henley to Reading, the weather was forecasted to be glorious, so it was time to walk the next section of the Thames Path, this time linking the ends of 2 of the Thames branches, Marlow to Henley-on-Thames.  Like last week I started with the 08:56 service to Reading, changing over to a TfL Rail service to Maidenhead, before the 165 arrived with the Marlow service.  The train was reasonably busy but emptied out along the way, and soon I had arrived at Marlow and ready to begin the walk.

 

Following the map to get from Marlow station to the river front, I swung via the Marlow Suspension Bridge for some photos before joining the busy towpath for the walk, like the previous week the river was alive with river traffic which was nice to see.  The path quieten down away from Marlow (seems there is a footpath which goes back towards Marlow cross-country), as I reached Temple Lock.  Beyond the lock is the Temple footbridge where the towpath swaps sides, and the footbridge is quite steep to allow clearance of the river.

 

The 1832  Marlow Suspension Bridge

 

Now on the Berkshire side of the river, I continued along the towpath to reach Hurley lock, where the towpath crosses over another steep footbridge to a little island where the lock is located (along with a busy café).  I did a little detour over the lock onto another footpath leading to the village of Hurley itself, for no reason other than to try and get some photos before doubling back to the main towpath, and I continued walking towards Henley, pausing on a bench overlooking the river to have my lunch.

 

After lunch I continued along the towpath, reaching a static caravan park timing it as a trio of aquacars was coming across the grass to launch into the river at a slipway which was certainly an unusual sight to witness (cars driving into the river, I suspect it was the same couple cars I saw last week in Reading).  Passing the caravans and some houses near Frogmill, the Thames Path splits into 2, one part goes straight across a field; the other follows the loop of the river before joining back together near the site of the former Medmenham ferry.

 

3 cars making a splash into the River Thames

The Thames Path continues along the south bank of the river, before heading inland near “Culham House” (as the tow path switched to the north bank), climbing up gives some good views of the river & hills to the north before it reached the road at a village called Aston.  The path follows the road back towards the river, passing a busy car park (and what looked like to be a good looking pub).  Back onto the river towpath near the site of the former Aston Ferry, and my walk continued towards Hambleden lock, where I crossed over the lock for some photos of the large weir as there is a footbridge across the weir giving nice views of the power of water.

 

The weir near Hambleden Lock

After my little detour to the weir, it was back towards the lock and to continue along the tow path, passing Temple Island and the straight used by the Henley Royal Regatta rowing races, this is when the towpath got quite busy in places, lasting all the way towards Henley itself, where I crossed over the river at Henley Bridge and into Oxfordshire.  I followed the route of the Thames Path to where I started the previous week, before heading towards the station, swinging via the public toilets next to the station, before taking up a bench on the platform and relaxing.

Henley on Thames station building from outside

 

I had around 10 minutes before the hourly train arrived, so it was time to head back home, with the 165 taken to Twyford for a 15 minute break before a 345 took me to Reading, where I transferred to a pair of voyagers for the short run to Basingstoke (allowed me to pop out to the supermarket to grab a couple bits) before a sprinter took me back to Grateley.   

It was a very nice walk, mix of surfaces (grass, dried mud, loose stones, tarmac), certainly one I would recommend, although probably not after heavy rain as some of the paths would get quite muddy, especially when it narrows to go over bridges or other pinch-points