Goring-on-Thames to Cholsey - Friday 20 February 2015
We left off our story at the end of October 2014 in Little
Faringdon (Stage 21). Sorry we have been remiss in not walking or
communicating with the wider world since then. T apparently injured his knee
and was reluctant to overdo it so walking was off until after Christmas. Then
the usual combination of poor weather and other commitments meant that we just
didn’t get walking again until the end of February, well into the New Year.
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| Countryside between Streatley and Moulsford |
One way to get back to walking and try out the knees and
boots was to do the short walk from Goring Station to Cholsey Station following
the Thames Path which also had the advantage of filling in the gap that we had
created last year when we stopped at Goring, (see Stage 18). It was also easy to access the start and
finish of the route by using the trains from Reading, Didcot and Oxford.
Anyhow – not a bad day for February and we all made it to
Goring Station for a late start, across the river through the car park of the
Swan Hotel at Streatley (SU59508085) and out across the muddy water meadows on
the right bank of the Thames heading upstream to Cholsey.
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| Geese |
Good to get back to walking and catching up on family news
and gossip. We stopped for a sandwich where the county boundary leaves the
river (SU5967 8299) and saw some geese in an adjacent field.
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| Geese close-up |
A
gentle stroll past the Beetle and Wedge Pub (Restaurant) (SU5933 8364)and up
Ferry Lane, Moulsford to the A329. We were last here on 28 February 2014 (Stage
14).
Past the various private prep-schools and their playing fields of Moulsford and under the railway viaduct (SU5950 8477) to re-join the river. There are temporary site works just downstream of the viaduct where contractors have set up base for the overhead electrification of the railway. Another mile and we were walking past the new housing built on the site of the old Fairmile Hospital. By then it was about 1pm so why not find somewhere to have a drink before departing from Cholsey Station.
Past the various private prep-schools and their playing fields of Moulsford and under the railway viaduct (SU5950 8477) to re-join the river. There are temporary site works just downstream of the viaduct where contractors have set up base for the overhead electrification of the railway. Another mile and we were walking past the new housing built on the site of the old Fairmile Hospital. By then it was about 1pm so why not find somewhere to have a drink before departing from Cholsey Station.
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| River Thames in February (near South Stoke) |
We found the Morning Star pub (SU5930 8592), which was
welcome and directly on our route.
The baguettes were good and the beer was reasonable even though it was Greene King.
A fairly friendly local pub which we rated 6 out of 10. The pub (presumably named after the old railway locomotive) is also shared by the Fairmile Sports and Social Club (members only).
Research on Wikipedia later found that the "Morning Star" was the second of the broad gauge, passenger locomotives designed by Robert Stevenson for the Great Western Railway. It was in operation from 1839 to 1869 and would have used the nearby line between London and Bristol.
A fairly friendly local pub which we rated 6 out of 10. The pub (presumably named after the old railway locomotive) is also shared by the Fairmile Sports and Social Club (members only).
Research on Wikipedia later found that the "Morning Star" was the second of the broad gauge, passenger locomotives designed by Robert Stevenson for the Great Western Railway. It was in operation from 1839 to 1869 and would have used the nearby line between London and Bristol.
A pleasant lunch break, easy stroll to the station and
departure to our respective homes stations on various delayed trains.
In summary: Not sure
this short walk of 5.6 miles really deserves a summary. Good to get back to
walking. Could we call this a “training” day? We certainly used trains at each
end of the day!
