Goring & Streatley to Shillingford (Thames Path)

 

Goring bridge leading to Streatley

We left London on a wet day, but I had high hopes of two good days walking with the worst of the rain gone. I am ever the optimist and study the forecast well (essential when you are carrying everything you need for two nights stay in a backpack). 

Arriving at Goring, the umbrella went up, though it wasn't heavy rain. As we were earlier than we thought we'd be, we stopped off a cafe in the square and enjoyed a cuppa and a slice of coffee and walnut cake.

The rain had stopped by the time we checked into our hotel. My room overlooked the main street. There was time to unpack and unwind. The rain came as a deluge and I watched two pigeons on the roof opposite enjoying a shower, lifting their wings high to make the most of it. By the time we met for dinner, the sun was out. We had a drink in the bar first and then ate in the restaurant.

The Miller of Mansfield, our hotel for the night.

The evening was looking nice, so after we'd eaten, we went for a stroll to look at the bridge and the beginning of our route the following morning. We walked over the bridge and found the turn-off back to the Thames Path.

Goring

St Mary's Church, Streatley where Lewis Carroll preached in

We came across St Mary's Church in Streatley, and even at the time in the evening, it was open. So we took a look.

On our way back to the hotel the bells of the Norman church in Goring were ringing. I think it must have been practice night as they rang out until about 9.30pm. I could hear them from my open bedroom window.

The following morning after breakfast, we set off in the direction of Wallingford. The sun was already shining. This was the better of the two days. The weather was good, warm, and the scenery lovely. Some of the pathways were pretty sticky with mud, but we have had a lot of rain in the month. We went slowly, walked around the edges and tried not to get a foot full!

We stopped at the Beetle & Wedge for a comfort break. I must admit it wasn't that far into the walk, but the setting was just too hard to resist. Positioned right by the river in Moulsford, it was ideal. It would have been an ideal lunch stop, but we were too early for that really.

A little mud!

One of two double arched viaducts crossing the river built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1839.

What a sky!

We arrived in Wallingford a little later than we expected, slowed down by the mud, but it had been a good walk. We stopped at a tea room for a cuppa (of course) in the town. I rather liked the look of the town and hoped to do some exploring. Our hotel was just around the corner from the tea shop. We checked in booked a table for dinner and for breakfast the next morning. We were pleasantly surprised to find our single rooms had been upgraded to executive doubles.

Wallingford

The George, our hotel for the night

View of the courtyard from my bedroom window

At dinner we discussed our plans for the next day's walk. My friend was suffering from a knee problem which had started to bug her late into today's walk, and had really hampered her in the final stages. She wasn't sure whether she would be able to continue. Of course this would be a disappointment as we had planned to walk to Dorchester-on-Thames, about five and a half miles in all. I said we could maybe just have a look around Wallingford and then go home. We decided to leave the final decision until morning and see how my friend's knee was. I was fully resigned to the fact that this was the end of our walk this time.

In the morning my friend was keen to 'go for it', as she said. She'd taken painkillers and it was feeling better. We looked at the map and made note of where bus stops were where if it became too much. We could then opt out of the walk. The day was not helped by the diversion due to an unsafe bridge at Benson. We found the signage confusing when we got to the bridge. I knew about the diversion in advance, and online there was a phone number of a ferry operating (if there were enough volunteers) at Benson. The signage was saying the path was closed on our side of Wallingford Bridge. We felt we had no option but to follow the diversion out of Wallingford. Firstly, we took a walk up to the ruins of Wallingford Castle, which meant doubling back. 

Then it was back to the bridge. The diversion took us along a main road and finally left along another main road. When we came to Manor Cafe at Howbery, we were tempted to stop just to take a look at the building, but we decided time wasn't on our side. We both had to be up early the next morning, and we had to get home first! The road out of Wallingford was actually quite pretty with colourful houses and old cottages, and were worth a look. That was the pleasant side of things.

The view from Wallingford Bridge

Walking along the main roads wasn't a pleasant experience, but finally we were turning off down into Benson. I'm not sure how much this added to the total walk, but it didn't help.

This looked a good place to stop, but no time.

Finally, we found ourselves back on the river and we stopped at Benson Marina (Waterfront Cafe) for a drink and sat by the river.

Upstream in the distance is the offending bridge, I believe.

Waterfront Cafe

It was certainly nice to be back on the river, but it didn't last too long. There was a lovely view of Shillingford Bridge as we came to it, and then we walked up a series of paths and alleyways away from river. We had seen a pub called the Kingfisher Inn and thought we might stop there. My friend's knee was hurting now, and it was getting more difficult for her to walk. The Inn turned out to be more a B&B than pub and looked deserted. We were on a busy main road now and this was a stretch we would have to walk before coming back to the river. A sign post told us it was two and quarter miles to Days Lock. We were coming off before that point to go to Dorchester on Thames, but that was another walk in to the town. I thought we might have another mile and half to two miles to go. We stopped to ponder our situation. My friend wanted to stop and there were bus stops - one route would take us to Oxford, and in the other direction we could go to Reading. We opted for Reading. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long for the bus to come, and then we sat back and enjoyed the ride back to Reading. My legs were aching too by the time we arrived at the station. We fueled up on hot chocolate and muffins, as you do (well,we do!) before catching the train back to London.

Shillingford Bridge

Pink marks the spot of the busy road and the bus stops marked where we finished.

Of course it was a disappointment, and the day hadn't been the greatest. Even the weather was grey, but we had no rain. We discussed our next plans. We are booked into a hotel in Dorchester-on-Thames later in the month. We have decided to go anyway. If my friend's knee is still giving her problems we will just enjoy the delights of Dorchester and maybe finish the route we couldn't do. We have decided that we will only walk back to where the path leaves for that busy road. No point in walking that busy stretch where there are no views.