Thames Path - Marlow to Shiplake

Today was the last of our 4-day walk along part of the Thames Path. We started by driving to Marlow, headed to the river to join the path at the bridge, and walked to Shiplake, the end of our walk. 

This is what Joyce enticed us with to do the walk.

"You can expect a varied walk. Some is urban and some is very rural. Sometimes we are pushed away from the river bank and climb a steeper bank for a view . There is history, railway lines, planes and Red Kites overhead, meadows, wide paths, bridges, Islands, a ferry, a castle, wildlife and much more. It’s a tow path but not like a canal tow path. The river is wide and the locks and weirs are fascinating works of engineering.

I am really looking forward to a change of scenery. Walk as much or as little as you like but do enjoy yourselves."

This was our route today.

Here are just a few of my photos.

Leaving Marlow bridge behind.

We could see All Saints Church, Bisham across the river.

The tranquil Temple Lock.

Look. More mistletoe.... and a nice reflection.

Crossing the footbridge to Hurley Lock island...

...and back again at the other end of the island.

Shortly afterwards we saw some goats.

The cliffs on the other side of the river reminded us we are on the edge of the Chilterns.

Above the cliffs is the impressive Danesfield House Hotel.

We had seen plenty of red kites over the 4 days, and we saw another one here.

I liked this nicely shaped magnolia, although the blossoms were going over now.

We came to the Grade II listed Culham Court, with its manicured gardens....

..and famous herd of white deer.

You can see the grand estate agent's brochure for the house here.

We stopped at The Flower Pot Hotel for refreshments before eating our packed lunches just down the road. It is full of fishy memorabilia.

Onwards towards Henley, passing the C19 Thames‐side country villa of Greenlands.

The temple on Temple Island is close to the start of the Henley Regatta rowing course.

Approaching Henley-on-Thames.

Here we stopped at the Chocolate Café. I had the Chilli hot choclate. Very tasty.

Unsuprisingly, there were a number of people rowing on the river. Here is a 4 with their coach following along behind.

The weir at Mill Bank lock was our last.

Here we had a walkway over the water.

The riverside was getting quite rural now and we saw fewer buildings. This is the riverside of the Park Place estate at Temple Combe.

And here we are at our destination The Baskerville in Shiplake, right next to the station, where we said our farewells. Most took the bus back to Marlow (and got a free ride as the ticket machine didn't work)... 

...while Peter and I took the train.

That was great 4 days walking and we finished just in time to avoid the cold snap of weather. Many thanks to Joyce for all the organising and shepherding.. and to everyone else for the company.

You can see more of my photos here on Flickr and more details of our route in this GPX file or  here on MapMyWalk (although I forget to start my tracker at the start).