27th June '25

Blog No 8

On Monday 23rd June I had another opportunity to walk with Graham. He was taking his father to Heathrow and would meet me along the path as I walked from Walton to Staines, approximately a distance of 7 1/2 miles.  It was a sunny day but with a good cool breeze. I realised I had to walk as fast as I could as I expected Graham to walk from Staines and then back with me which would mean he would cover twice the distance from where we met. 

This is a picture of the bridge at Walton described in the Thames Walk book as the ugliest bridge ever. I think it was architecture of the time, minimalist and functional.


From the bridge I walked to the Shepperton Ferry which took me across the river to walk the path on the other side of the river.  Before reaching the Ferry the path was very quiet with very few people passing by. Just one woman stopped with her dog and asked me how far had I come and then how far I was going. When I said Staines she said it was a long way which threw me a bit as I thought I was only about 6 miles away at this point. Because I was walking as fast as I could I thought about my walks with Elizabeth, how she was always a few yards in front and urging me to hurry up. She was 5ft 10ins with long legs making her one stride three of my steps. She would point out objects of interest, such as the parakeets in the trees, houses with blue plaques etc. I often missed what she said because of hearing difficulties and just had to guess. It seemed to work, I think we both enjoyed the walks together, although some yards apart. The blackberry bushes along the way were showing an abundance of berries forming, making it look a good year for blackberry picking. Again something we both enjoyed doing.

Shepperton Ferry

I was relieved that I had reached the ferry and no sign of Graham. I rang the bell and the ferry crossed the river to pick me up, just one passenger, me for the trip. It was a brief stretch across the river, but the ferryman told me he had retired and enjoyed the job of being the ferryman. He pointed the path I should take which although on the road would be alongside the river.

I then reached Shepperton Lock, quite a few people were sitting at the picnic benches admiring the view and the interest in seeing boats in and out of the lock. To my relief there was a public toilet on the bank close to my path. 

 I then came to the Windmill Pub which looked inviting but I kept going. The path varied from a grass path, to gravel and then in places,  along the road. It was along a road section about half a mile on from the pub when a car drew up beside me, out stepped Graham. Very sensibly instead of walking he picked up an Uber after parking the car in Staines. We then walked on together chatting about life in general, bits of our past and possible plans for the future.

 In total I think I managed approximately 2 1/2 miles before Graham joined me. I think it was at that point that I realised I had not taken a single photo. Thankfully Graham was able to snatch pictures of Walton Bridge and the Ferry from Google.

Along the river nearing Staines 


It was a pleasant and easy walk on to Staines, I found the good thing about walking with someone is that  it is possible to keep a good pace without thinking. Reminded me of kids and car journeys, 'are we nearly there yet'. As we walked around the last bend in the river we saw the railway bridge welcoming us to Staines. We also spotted an ice cream van and treated ourselves to a cornet and chocolate flake.


On our previous short respite stop we had managed water, jelly babies and peanut butter M and M's.  I was relieved when Graham said that he had parked the car close to the bridge apparently in someone's front garden. I had no idea it was possible to arrange to park in a driveway and pay the owner. One thing walking with Graham I am learning useful tips on how to use various apps on the phone, he  is very resourceful.

I was relieved when we reached the car as I felt that I had just about had enough, possibly as a result of stretching myself beyond my comfort zone at the beginning of the walk. We are going to walk again on Friday the day Graham will be picking up Michael, his dad at Heathrow in the evening. 

So Staines to Windsor here we come. The stretch is another 7 1/2 miles.

Maureen


I

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Maureen's Walk for MND Elizabeth is my daughter who sadly died last May with MND. She was a great walker and lived in London close to the Thames. She liked nothing more than walking the local area with her dog Olive. To pay tribute to Elizabeth’s life I am intending to walk the Thames Path from the Barrier to the source accompanied by friends along the way. I am hoping to raise £3000 pounds for MND research and also to contribute to the MND Association to help local branches who offer advice and support to people living with MND. I intend to walk two days a week starting on 30th April and hope to have completed my walk by 30th August 2025, I will follow the sections advised in the Thames Path Walk book, hopefully achieving approximately 20 miles per week. I will log my progress, and post an update weekly on my Just Giving page, to let people know where I am, inviting walkers to join me in support of MND. I will also alert walkers to the sections that are wheelchair friendly and a...
Read more
Image
Blog No 3. Hi everyone, I managed to walk from London Bridge to Putney last Friday. I learnt a few lessons along the way which I will tell you about later.    First of all it was a sunny day with a cool breeze so not as hot as the first week. What is more important is that I had company. Elizabeth's close friends Dominic and Juli joined me at the Golden Hinde and we walked together to the Covid Memorial Wall just past Westminster Bridge. More of this later. My skills of photography are sadly lacking and so Tower Bridge still does not feature particularly well in my collection. Fortunately Juli took pictures for the part of the walk accompanying me.  We passed the Globe Theatre, where Dominic and Elizabeth saw Andrew Logan's Alternative Miss World 2018.     I remember Elizabeth saying we should go and see a Shakespeare production but we did not get around to doing it. Looking across the river Dominic pointed out St Brides Church which has a tiered tower and ...
Read more
Image
Hello everyone, I began the walk on Wednesday,30th of April, it was the hottest day of the year. I travelled from Oxford to Paddington, on to the Elizabeth line and got off  at Woolwich and walked to the Woolwich footbridge.      I am not at all familiar with this part of London and was impressed with the space, the signing for Thames Path and just how clean, litter free and how well maintained the whole of the area right the way through to the Thames Barrier.   From the Thames Barrier I made my way to the O2 Arena but did not manage to get a good picture of it, worried also I would run out of battery before getting home. Seeing 02 Arena reminded me of all the gigs Elizabeth managed to get ‘door passes’ for me to see her playing her saxophone for all different pop groups. One I remember at the Camden Garage a punk group absolutely packed. Often found myself at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford, notably the early days of Primal Scream. Elizabeth managed to get me...
Read more