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Back from holidays = post holiday blues. As the holiday involved running (lots of - 158 miles in 8 days = not a bad mile haul for this week) I feel like I have a valid excuse to bore you all with holiday tales of our Thames Path Adventure.
Day 1: 25.5 miles from the source of the Thames to Lechlade
Started in style with the longest run of the week. As so many things in my life seem to go, we started off running in the wrong direction. The source of the River Thames is, inconveniently, 2 miles away from the nearest train station (Kemble - in case you want to go), so you have to run backwards (not literally, obviously) to the start. Here we are, looking all enthusiastic by the starting stone.
Crikey. That seems a long way.
Biggest memory of the first part of the walk (other than the above thought) is how small and dry the river bed is. This is the River Thames, one of the most famous rivers in the word! And here it is, just a little bit of dust with some weeds here and there. Also, there are a lot of cows in this part of the world, I remember this as I am frightened of cows, but not as frightened as Andrew, so if a cow situation arises, I am in charge (and hopefully the cows won't). They seem like nice cows here. Not long before the river bed starts to fill up with water, and after a few miles, it's a proper little stream. First lunch stop of the week is in Cricklade, where convienlty there is a carnival (they have a carnival here evey year on Father's Day, always on Fathers Day, so that people don't have to remember themselves when Father's Day actually is, because there's a great big carnival to remind you). Had cheese rolls with the biggest proportion of cheese to roll I have ever seen, with banana chutney, which I have also never seen before, but hope to again.
Set off after lunch for the rest of the run. A few miles later had a quick water and sweet stop in the church yard in Castle Eaton, which was a peaceful little spot. Then trundled on blissfully in amazing sunshine, until we reached a sticky part just before the end. All that stood between us and a nice shower and (more importantly) dinner was an A-road with no paths, just grass verges filled with nettles. The guidebook suggests taking a taxi or a bus for this stretch of the run, but stated that they hoped that this section would soon be sorted out to make more accommodating for those travelling by foot. The guidebook was published in 2012, but things seem to move slowly here, as nothing seems to have happened. As there are no buses on Sunday, and halfway through a run is no time to hail a taxi, we braved the road, and emerged shaking, but in one piece, at the other end. The last mile or two was through meadows by the river, which now was big enough for boats and soon the Ha'Penny bridge at Lechdale came in to view (it used to cost half a penny to cross the bridge - half a penny! Imagine! What could you buy with that these days??), like a mirage, and dinner seemed a whole lot closer. We stayed at the Riverside which, imaginatively, was just by the river side.
Dinner time! Oh no, hold on a moment. The pub has run out of food, as today being Father's Day and it being a nice day, they have been very busy. Um, I'm not in business, nor do I own a restaurant. but I can say with confidence that wouldn't you have expected today to have been one of your busiest days of the year? Would you not order extra food? The same happened at the next restaurant we tried, so maybe not. Finally found a Indian restaurant, which did still have lots of food, and was delicious, so it was really just as well everywhere else had run out. Watched Grand Prix for some post run entertainment.. Andrew complains he is broken from the days running, and has recently been introduced to Deep Heat. Fall asleep to the smell (it's more then a smell, more of an atmosphere) of menthol.
Day 2: 17.8 miles from Lechlade to Newbridge
Slept for about 10 hours. Longest sleep in months! I haven't ever slept so much as I did this week.
First breakfast = beans on toast, watching the swans sat on the riverside. There are swans everywhere on this river. A few miles in to the run and it started to rain. Sheltered under a tree and made sure everything was waterproof, which made it stop. Lots of pillboxes along this part of the river, which are from the 2nd Word War. Soon we came upon Old Father Thames, which is a statue from 1854 which used to sit at the source of the Thames, but was moved to St John's Lock in 1974. He looks pretty comfortable here to me.
On for a few more miles, and then lunch break at 10 miles at the Trout Inn at the sweetly named Tadpole Bridge (totally could get used to stopping for a break half way around every run), for soup and double expresso for a boost for the second half.
Caffeine coursing though the veins, jumped straight up, and set off for the next part. The aim for today as Newbridge (which turns out isn't all that new, as it is from the 13th century). Here, we had to leave the path for a couple of miles to reach the B&B for the night - the beautiful Rectory Farm B&B, a 16th century farm house which is so peaceful and pretty. Friendly hosts, fresh cake (lemon drizzle!) and tea, and a lift to a pub as the one up the road was shut on Mondays, made for a delightful time. 2 mile detour completely worth it. Dinner = giant Yorkshire pudding, with sausage and mash, followed but what I'm quite willing to bet is the best homemade ice cream outside of Italy (with Turkish delight hidden at the bottom). Calories completely replaced.
Stats
Total days: 52
Total miles: 517.7 miles
Slept for about 10 hours. Longest sleep in months! I haven't ever slept so much as I did this week.
First breakfast = beans on toast, watching the swans sat on the riverside. There are swans everywhere on this river. A few miles in to the run and it started to rain. Sheltered under a tree and made sure everything was waterproof, which made it stop. Lots of pillboxes along this part of the river, which are from the 2nd Word War. Soon we came upon Old Father Thames, which is a statue from 1854 which used to sit at the source of the Thames, but was moved to St John's Lock in 1974. He looks pretty comfortable here to me.
On for a few more miles, and then lunch break at 10 miles at the Trout Inn at the sweetly named Tadpole Bridge (totally could get used to stopping for a break half way around every run), for soup and double expresso for a boost for the second half.
Caffeine coursing though the veins, jumped straight up, and set off for the next part. The aim for today as Newbridge (which turns out isn't all that new, as it is from the 13th century). Here, we had to leave the path for a couple of miles to reach the B&B for the night - the beautiful Rectory Farm B&B, a 16th century farm house which is so peaceful and pretty. Friendly hosts, fresh cake (lemon drizzle!) and tea, and a lift to a pub as the one up the road was shut on Mondays, made for a delightful time. 2 mile detour completely worth it. Dinner = giant Yorkshire pudding, with sausage and mash, followed but what I'm quite willing to bet is the best homemade ice cream outside of Italy (with Turkish delight hidden at the bottom). Calories completely replaced.
Stats
Total days: 52
Total miles: 517.7 miles
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