A Walkers Tale

Today was the second of five days spent walking the Thames Path - having spent the previous day walking from Weybridge up to Maidenhead . This second day would continue the journey across a fairly long stretch of the Thames Path, finishing off in Reading. My day began with a fairly early start, but Maidenhead was already very busy - with the roads jammed full of traffic trying to get away to work before the going got too impossible. Having seen the delight of the river side houses the prior evening - here was a chance to see what must be done to pay for these homes. But having joined back up with the river, the stretch out of town heads north alongside the A4094 - and it is at least quite a pretty stretch of road to walk along. Heading north out of town From here it is on up to Boulter's Lock and whilst there is a footbridge over to the islands, we continue on up the road, before turning off onto a quiet footpath. A boat arriving at Boulter's Lock Once on the footpath there is ...

Today I was starting out on my last major walk of the year - and this would be a five day odyssey that would run from Weybridge up to Oxford along the River Thames. Following on from my previous walks along the Thames, this would mean that I'd have covered the sections that run from the Thames Barrier up to Oxford. Today I would be joined by my parents, who would head off at Windsor - while I would continue on to finish up in Maidenhead. For the first task of the day, we head out on the train to Weybridge - and from here there is a bit of a journey to be done to meet up with the river itself. Not wanting to extend the day of walking, we head out from the station to catch the bus, which takes us up to the High Street - and from here it is a short walk up to where I had last walked along the Thames (walking from Hampton Court round to Byfleet via Weybridge) . On that previous walk I had joined up with the River Wey as it connected up with the River Thames. Today once we meet up with ...

The prior day I had been walking the Dales Way from Dent to Burneside and today I would be continuing to walk along the Dales Way to Bowness-on-Windermere. Since this would be a fairly short walk my plan was then to cross over Windermere and head up the western side of the lake to Ambleside. I had stayed overnight in Kendal, so the first task of the day was to get on the train and head back to Burneside, where I could begin the onward walk along the River Kent to Bowston. From here I continued on past Cowan Head, as initially the river was dotted with small clusters of houses. Having made it past Cowan Head, the next section is a quiet stretch through the fields and it is along here that we officially enter into the Lake District. With this ticked off, we head up to the road, which we follow to the edge of Staveley, before heading up over the A591 and up the ridge on the far side. Looking back towards Staveley From here we join up with a very minor road and after a right turn, head ba...