Tuesday 19 May 2015

Our First 3 days on the Thames

We’ve had three days on the River Thames already.  Sunday saw us leave Thames Lock at Brentford for a very pleasant cruise upstream towards Teddington lock and the end of the tidal part of the river.

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Being sunny and being Sunday Richmond was buzzing as usual.

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Hampton Court, as always, was impressive – proudly displaying it’s golden gates.

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Our mooring on Sunday evening was at Weybridge where we happened to moor up next to fellow bloggers Dave and Allison on nb “Free Spirit” who we had a very ‘busy’ chat with on Monday morning before we left. Good to meet you guys.

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On the Thames every minute has something interesting to catch the eye, admire or enjoy. For James the endless supply of properties – old, new, stylish, outlandish or whatever keeps him happy, so there’s a lot of “punctuation” with house pics in this post.

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This is one residence which wont come onto the market any when soon!

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Our days are not all leisure, and our mooring on Monday evening in Windsor gave us the opportunity to get some work in. 

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After cleaning the roof Doug got onto Facebook and discovered that cruise friends Jenn and Justin, who we met recently on Queen Mary 2 during part of their world travel, were not only in the country but in Windsor and in a pub only about 500 yards away! Suffice to say they were at our door in a trice and we had a great hour with them before they had to leave to fly to Europe the next day. Amazing and spooky is all we can say – great to meet up with you guys and keep safe.

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Next, after Jen and Justin, came friends Alastair and Chris and we had a great couple of hours with them as well. What a great evening.

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Today, Tuesday, the weather has been off and on with tremendously heavy showers, hail, high winds and thunder. Once the showers were over the sun shone wonderfully and none of it spoilt our enjoyment. Most of the Thames locks are attractive and beautifully kept – Boveney Lock was no exception.

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If the inside of this hotel is as awesome as the outside it must be blooming expensive!

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Cruising through Bray (and you have to go through because they don’t allow you to stop!) is a feast of residential opulence ………

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….. where a Slipper Launch is almost a must outside the house.

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Leaving Bray behind and onto Maidenhead where we’d made arrangements to catch up with friends and fellow bloggers John and Louise on their lovely boat “Plodding Along”. We had coffee and cake and one of those good old catch up chats.

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Thanks for your hospitality L and J and we’ll look forward to catching up again with you “oop north!”

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Outside Maidenhead we’re treated to the huge and glorious “pile” of Cliveden bearing down on us from its imposing position above the river.

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Alone! and very much par for the course all day. So very quiet everywhere.

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Leaving very pretty Marlow with its famous suspension bridge ……

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….. we were pleased to be hailed by blog readers on nb “Black Bess” – great to meet you in passing and we wish you safe cruising.

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A happy chappie amid bright sunshine and the next looming storm.

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Starting the mile straight towards Henley, where they’ve already placed the lane markers and the regatta isn’t until July!

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The river has certainly excelled in atmosphere today.

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The ‘polished’ waterfront of Henley-on-Thames …….

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…….. and, just beyond Henley, this evening’s mooring at Wargrave. (Of course we have to moor opposite something nice!)

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