The arrival day in the UK is mostly about survival, i.e., not going to sleep when it feels like 2am. One of the best survival tips is walking! Add torrential rain and lightning and it really wakes you up…
After a smooth and uneventful flight from Houston, we took the Elizabeth Line train from Heathrow to Reading, arriving at The Market House Hotel at about 11am after a five minute walk from the train station. We were overjoyed that our room was ready. The first task was a 30 minute nap – not too long – and we were amazed how it refreshed us. With our bags safely in our room and our bodies somewhat alive, we headed out to explore a Tesco for lunch, a Banksy mural, and back to Reading station to take a train to Pangbourne for our warm up hike.
Our first walking task was to find the river. Fortunately, we were well mapped. However, even before we’d reached it (and it was close), it started bucketing down with rain. We paused briefly under a tree but it did not look like it was about to stop. We weren’t cold so decided to go for it – we weren’t taking the train back and we had eight miles to walk!
It rained for the first few miles. The flat trail meant it was muddy. It followed the river on the edge of a broad field, nipping in and out of woodland every now and then, but the rain did not encourage photos.
The rain slowed down allowing us to appreciate the river’s peacefulness.
About half way on today’s walk, and at the midpoint of the Thames Path, was Mapledurham Lock. There is evidence that a water mill has been at this site since 1086, though the large mechanical lock dates from 1956 and was the first of its kind on the Thames. The weirs were retrofitted with fish ladders in the 1980s to enable upstream passage.
We hadn’t needed trail signs, until we needed them… The path along the river stopped, forcing us on the long detour inland through a housing estate, and there we found the clearest sign yet! It was a shame there hadn’t been on as clear earlier to avoid the detour! It was the first black-and-white one we’d seen so we knew what to look for from then on, but there were still plenty of other sign types.
Arriving back at Reading’s city limits after about six miles lifted our spirits. We had mostly dried off by this point too.
After the sign, we headed back down to the river, over the railway line. As railways try to stay at the same height, they often follow rivers, as this one did. It resulted in a thin stretch of land being sandwiched between the Thames and the railway for about a mile. There were plenty of rundown boats in this section, but between the boats, we found a pretty path and even some horse chestnuts (aka conkers).
After about a mile, the path on our side of the river opened up, and we had clear views of the beautiful houses on the other side of the river, with their boat sheds, and the Chiltern Hills behind.
We had seen quite a few ducks, geese, and swans. As we approached Caversham Bridge, marking Reading’s centre, there were hundreds of them! We weren’t sure whether the geese were migrating, but the huge swans let us know not to get near their young with loud hisses.
It had been a fun and reviving first eight miles. We’d avoided napping all afternoon and the heavy rain did not last. The lightning in an open field was a bit disconcerting but what could we do? Next to our hotel was a Tasty Greek Souvlaki restaurant which was perfect for dinner, bringing back memories while allowing us to plan the next day. We had started walking the eastern half of The Thames Path – but we still had a long way to go!
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 