Bourne End to Henley-On-Thames

Bourne End to Henley-on-Thames : 11 miles, 4 lock
To date : 466 miles, 271 locks

I almost had a melt down this morning.  I was up early and as I sat down to work and looked out... well, tried to look out... the dinette window, I just couldn't stand it another minute.  The boat windows have become so absolutely filthy since we've been in London and on the Thames.  There's bugs everywhere and there's dead ones stuck all over one side of the boat from when we moored our first night on the Thames.   I recall asking one of the boating folk we've been in touch with over the years in an email if insects were a problem in Summer in the UK.  I'm always eaten alive by mosquitoes at home.  They laughed at me.. I'm sure I could hear it.   No need for flyscreens in England I think they said. We like to keep a few portholes or hoppers open most of the time and that probably hasn't helped the situation but the bugs are driving me insane.

So this morning with the filthy windows and the dust that seems to come from nowhere inside the boat I went bananas cleaning.  By the time Mick got up at 7.30am there was cleaning clutter everywhere and I'm sure he didn't know what had hit him.  He blinked a couple of times... sighed... and joined in.  It's not the first time he's woken to cleaning madness.  We didn't quite finish the job (there was cruising to do) but that will happen tomorrow.  Mick even got out the hoover while we cruised along.  I'm sure Carol and Barry thought I'd nagged him into it but Mick's more "clean and tidy" obsessed than I am and his favourite jobs are the dishes and the hoovering... really!  There's nothing we both like better than sitting down at the end of the day and the house is spotless.  I'll be so relieved when the outside of the windows are as clean as the inside.  Meanwhile, the side hatch window is perfect!

While we stood outside chatting this morning we saw the tiniest narrowboat ever.

It was a lovely outlook from our mooring at Bourne End.  Across the river there was open green countryside.  Mick and I would love to have the house that was just visible below.  What a fantastic location it was with views to die for.  There was a railway line just across the stretch of grass where this mooring was but the trains went by extremely slowly.  It didn't really bother us.

Today we passed more amazing riverside properties.  In some places it was quite steep with grand houses perched in the hillsides.  The Thames seems to get prettier as we go on.  We're really enjoying it.

Mick nearly jumped off the boat when he saw this work in progress.  I think he's missing work.

And this sign tells us we're around the halfway mark.

As we reached Hurley Lock we had to stop on the lock landing and wait.  I glanced across and the photo below is what was right beside us.  I felt a strange sensation of de-ja-vu and suddenly it dawned on me that we'd seen this place before.  On our last trip to the UK we took a wrong turn in the hire car and stumbled upon this boat building yard.  Mick just loved looking around and seeing inside the workshop.  Little did we know then that there was a lock and the Thames river right there beside the yard!

We stopped for water and a quick lunch just after the lock.  It must be the prettiest lock on the Thames.  There were several people having a cup of tea at tables and chairs beside the lock and there was a large grassy area next to the lock landing by the water point.  Carol, as usual, found someone to chat to.

I tried to take a couple of photos of the weirs on the Thames.  It's not easy to get a decent photo.  Every lock has a weir running alongside.  Some of them are enormous and have quite a strong pull from the flow of the water. Best to keep the boat well away.

How's this for an ice cream store!

We've been taking a lot more notice of the moorings as we cruise around and making note in our book.  This one below was a long curving loop of the river with boats tucked in among the trees all the way along.

Today's destination was Henley-on-Thames.  We're just making it through Henley with a week to spare before the Henley Royal Regatta.  This rowing regatta dates back to 1839 and the preparations were well underway.   The three in the little blue boat below turned their noses up and didn't acknowledge our wave and hello as we passed.  They looked straight at us and ignored us.  I watched as they passed nb Winton's Folly and the threesome conveniently looked away.  Such snobbery.

 

 

 

The town itself is rather upmarket.  We've been here before by car and remember it being a lovely place.  We knew we'd have to pay for mooring here and eventually settled on a spot opposite one of the islands in the river.  We're opposite lush green fields that are well used by dog walkers.  We went off for a walk in search of Tesco and as we were leaving the boat a gaggle of women were passing and peppered us with questions about the boat and how long we were here for.  We found Tesco about 15 minutes away.  Not all that long after we returned it began to rain.  It's been overcast the entire day although not cold.  This evening it really has cooled down and there's a chill in the air.  Mick is hankering for the sun.  I'm not.

Another fabulous day of cruising.  

 

Dorney Lake to Bourne End

Dorney Lake to Bourne End : 8 miles, 3 lock
To date : 455 miles, 267 locks

What a lovely day today.  I was awake by 6am so made the most of it with doing some work.  We decided to go for a walk after breakfast to check out Dorney Lake.  It's the location of the rowing events for the London Olympics and is owned by Eton College.  The surrounding area is very pretty and along the way we saw a lovely rural property with a sign out front advertising free range eggs.  We bought a dozen and got chatting to the lady.  In the end she was showing us around her property and we were checking out the chickens, chicks, ducks and horses.  What an enjoyable half hour... it really set us in a good mood for the day. 

 

It was 9am by the time we got back but when I called out through hatch of nb Winton's Folly it was a familiar sight.  Two sleepy heads blinking like owls in their dressing gowns.  Fay... if you leave a comment with your email address (I won't publish the comment) I'll send you the photo.  I promised not to put it on the blog!  So it was a good hour later before we went anywhere.

This was certainly the loveliest day we've had on the Thames and must surely be up there as one of the nicest cruising days we've had.  The sun was out this morning, the weather was mild, there was barely a breath of wind and the scenery along the way was just gorgeous.  There are such grand houses along this stretch of river.  There is less boat traffic than there was further back on the river and we're more used to handling the boat in the current so we're relaxed about the river now.  Perfect.

We had an island mooring marked in our book.  There was a cruiser moored there but what a fantastic spot that would be to moor.  On the next tiny island there were half a dozen lads larking in the water.  They had a tent pitched and were having a great time.  We saw Cliveden House in the distance above some trees.  There was a couple of cottages that you can rent for accomodation and what a lovely place for a little holiday overlooking the river.

 

At Cookham Lock we renewed our Thames licences.  It was fairly quiet so the extremely helpful lock-keeper dealt with the paperwork and payment while the boats were sitting in the lock.  We asked him for a suggestion of where to moor for a couple of hours so we could have lunch and a look around Cookham village.  He kindly allowed us to breast up at the very end of the lock layby.  It was a picturesque spot with a little bridge just beyond that led to a path into the village.  Mick and I sat on the the steps outside the boat to enjoy our lunch in the sun.  I'd struck it lucky finding some delicious marinated herring in Waitrose the other day.  Reminds me of my mum.  The walk into the village was worth the trip. Our guide book said there were antique shops but not any more.  Nevertheless we enjoyed the walk around and the village boasts some very nice buildings and church.

Shortly after Cookham in our Thames guide we saw that Sue had marked a pub with moorings.  We hoped to get in there but it was busy with boats.  Instead we moored a little further along at Bourne End near The Spade Oak pub.  We'd been lucky at Windsor the other day with nobody collecting mooring fees but this time a fellow knocked on the galley window while we were preparing our dinner to collect the 5 quid.  It's a pleasant spot with rolling green hills opposite so we certainly don't mind paying to moor here.

There's a resident goose at this mooring.  I was inside working and looked out to see him beside Mick, Barry and Carol while they enjoyed the sun.  While I was cooking he knocked on the kitchen window for attention.  The rent collector said he'd been here for years.

After dinner Carol called out to come and watch some sail boats practicing on the river.  That passed a pleasant half hour with a bit of chat with other spectators.

In all it's been a fabulous day.