Blog No 23.  The Trout at Wolvercote to Swinford Toll  Bridge approximately 3 1/2 miles

Monday 18th August '25.

Hooray another cloudy and cool day. This was a short walk as my intention is to break the suggested Thames walk to be from Osney Bridge to Newbridge a distance of 13 1/2 miles. This walk is the second stretch, the third being to Bablocke Hythe with the final section from Bablocke Hythe to Newbridge. completing the 13 1/2  mile stretch. 

The picture is of the boats moored closed to the Bridge at Godstow.


I set off at the bridge at Godstow and found a very comfortable wide path, following the Thames to my right and mainly meadowland to my left. This continued right the way to Kings Lock. I met not a soul on this path, but reaching Kings Lock a group of 4 Asian men carrying their fishing gear and seats appeared out of nowhere. They walked on ahead to choose their spot for their day of fishing. The field beside the lock was full of cows with their young. They were curious but as soon as I spoke to them they bounced off to find their mothers. I was sure I had taken a picture of Kings Lock but it was not to be found on my phone. 

Although I walked on surrounded in total silence, my mind meandered with the river with nothing of any note worth writing about. Boring things such as the jam I should be making with all the plums from the trees. I also thought about the berries and sloes now ripe in the hedgerows at least a month too early. This does not bode well for birds and small animals needing food for the winter months. 

 To the left of me the fields which continued easily for a mile was enclosed with an electric fence. Judging by the wool caught on the wires the field had contained sheep which were nowhere to be seen. I thought that if the farmer had strung another wire lower down this would have offered protection to ground nesting birds from predators. 

The river weaved and looped around looking very picturesque. The downside of a cloudy day is that it is not possible to see the sun glinting through the trees dancing on the water. However I could see the clouds reflected and that had to do.

As I walked on past the fields to a wooded section, a notice on a gate informed walkers that they were coming to Bear Wood and that parts were sectioned off to stop deer eating the saplings planted to re-wood particular areas. None of this work could be seen from the pathway. I think the woods are all a part of Wytham woods an area of 'special scientific interest' and managed by Oxford University. I also saw from the map that the cordoned off fields were part of the University Farm. 

Through the pathway with glimpses of the river, more life was stirring with a large narrow boat slowing to negotiate Eynsham Lock which I could see was just coming into view. 


Just before the lock  a group of young boys were fishing. There were warning signs giving notice to take care near the water. It seemed that no one was around to supervise or be aware if they got into difficulties. This is always a problem during summer holidays. 

Well, here is Swinford Toll Bridge one of the only ones left in the country, owned privately. 

I made this walk in good time, now ready to meet Jen at the Talbot for lunch.

Tomorrow the walk will be from Swinford Toll Bridge to Bablock Hythe hopefully starting at 10.15

Thank you for reading

Maureen


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