Sunday 12 May 2013

So much to see!

There was quite a lot of activity on the river past our mooring at Wargrave last evening.  Even though it was a bit wet, the party boats were in full swing……..

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………this huge replica paddle steamer “The New Orleans”, operating out of Henley, looked very dramatic.

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This state of the art party cruiser “The Waterman” also looked great.

This morning we left our mooring in bright sunshine at 9 o’ clock, with the forecast not looking too good for later in the day.  There is so much to see on the Thames as we get nearer to London – we’ve taken a great many photos of all sorts of things – here is just a selection of what we’re experiencing and seeing.

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We’re never too far away from great wealth, wherever we look.  This is a modest new home for someone – maybe even a week end retreat!  There’s even a classic Thames “Slipper Launch” in the boathouse.

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Homes can get very grand………

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…….. and sometimes they can be quite cute!

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We were soon at Henley-on-Thames where we stopped briefly and walked into town for a paper.  After the bridge the waterfront is really very impressive.

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A pensive looking steerer as we leave Henley, and its lovely atmosphere behind……..

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……. and then we enter the mile long straight where Henley Regatta will take place in a few weeks time. The lanes are already staked out and the marquees are beginning to take their places.

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After the straight, we pass the beautifully kept Temple Island before heading back out into the glorious countryside.

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We had a great treat as we left Henley – this Lancaster Bomber flew over us.

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This must be the most over the top boathouse on the whole of the river!  It needs a bit of TLC though!

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We never cease to wonder at who lives in these places!

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We had another treat further down the river – a close encounter with a Slipper Launch.  They are always kept in immaculate order by their owners.

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After passing through Marsh Lock, and Hambledon Lock we decided to moor up just below Hurley Lock (oh, the luxury of having them all done for us).  After securing ‘Chance’, and putting the anchor down) we had a walk around the delightfully pretty Hurley village before getting back on board for a, much looked forward to, Gin and Tonic.  We were just dosing off when there was a  knock on the side of the boat – the land owner had come for his money!  It was only £5 but the usual is £8/10. (£15 if they think they can get it!) 

The rain came, as expected, about 4 o’ clock but we lit the stove by then and we’re enjoying a relaxing evening.  There’s not as much ‘traffic’ around for a Sunday as we thought there might be – there seem to be as many canoes as boats!

7 comments:

  1. When you get to Runymede, it's well worth stopping on the National Trust moorings (easily missed because they're only about a narrowboat long) and walking up to the top of the hill to the air force memorial. You can see the top of the tower sticking up above the trees. It's quite a hike up there, but it's very atmospheric, and the views right across London are amazing.

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  2. Thanks Adam, we missed that last time, on our last boat, so will make sure we do this time....

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  3. Out of interest what type of anchor did you deploy? Is this the done thing on the Thames?
    A Lancaster bomber...that is pretty impressive.

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  4. See you are still using the recycled mooring pin covers hope to see you both when we start are summer cruise in a couple of weeks Angie & Dave nb Lady Esther

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  5. Hi Paul and Elaine, you do require an anchor on the River Thames, but we use ours just for safety in case our pins didn't hold or were let off, saves floating down the Thames hopefully, we have a folding galvanised anchor as it takes up less space on board.

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  6. Hi Angie and Dave, They are getting a little faded due to over use! I have tried to make new ones but failed miserably, will need to order some new ones! Hope to catch up with you sometime this year, Best Wishes.

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  7. Hi Guys,Thanks for the email reply. I dug our anchor and warp out of the depths of the forward hold before we got on the Weaver. I don't think we will need to deploy it here as it is very calm with hardly any flow, but then again........

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