Blog 17, Walk from Dorchester to Wallingford 5 miles on  Tuesday 29th July.

This walk was going backwards, simply because of finding a place for Jen our driver to park for a couple of hours. I walked with Jen's son and daughter in law, Richard and Jackie who are on holiday from Christchurch New Zealand. We took this stretch out of sequence because of limits on time to manage a walk along the Thames, something Richard and Jackie wanted to do. 

Here we go.


From where we were on Wittenham Lane, Dorchester it was still quite a walk to the Thames Path and not particularly well signposted. However we set off over fields and meadows, passing an allotment site finally ending up at the river. We walked a meadow path for approximately 3/4 of a mile when Richard tracking our route on his phone called out that we should take a path to the road. Richard spotted a broken wooden sign covered in a Hawthorn tree pointing away from the path we were walking. Jackie and I  retraced our steps and headed with Richard to the road. It was fast moving but at least a path. We walked into Shillingford  and then spotted the Thames Path sign which took us back to the river, 

This is a lock near bye


Unfortunately we did not take too many photos as too busy chatting about Grandchildren and Jackie and Richard's children who are all around the same age. We talked about the generation gap, the influence of social media on decision making and life choices. It would appear that both their children are escaping the downside of social media as are my two grandsons in the US and granddaughter in the UK. Four   seem to have ideas about their futures but at the cusp of choosing what they will pursue once they have completed their courses at Uni, my granddaughter embarking on an exciting career in pottery.  

A beautiful walk along the river following meadow paths without too many overhanging tunnels on this stretch. It seems a world away from real life where people all over the world are suffering the effects of US policies, Putin and Netanyahu causing death and desolation to people they consider their enemies. I can't say that Jackie and I put the world to rights but we certainly think alike and fear for vulnerable people the world over. 

We soon saw the tower in Wallingford in front of us, and realised that with all the chatting we were nearing the completion of our walk. Richard had kept us on the straight and narrow as it were. If we had missed the path leading to the road we are not sure where we would have finished, no doubt we would have had a longer walk back to retrace our steps.

The Bridge at Wallingford.


 The next stretch of the Thames Path is from Dorchester to Abingdon it is 9 miles and so I intend to walk to Clifton Hamden and then onto Abingdon on Sunday. I am expecting at least one person meeting me at Culham Lock to complete the walk to Abingdon, I would be very happy for as many people as possible to either walk with us or meet us at Abingdon. I will try to get to Ahingdon Bridge between 2 and 3pm on Sunday. There is a detour to reach the Bridge and so it may be the case of walking through the town to reach a convenient spot for refreshments. 

I welcome comments about my postings, would like to hear from anyone who wishes to respond.

Maureen

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