A special sunny September Sunday

Today we're moored in Rickmansworth, opposite a large Tesco's store, taking the opportunity while it's dry (for a change) to do a spot of boat maintenance and cleaning.

Sunday 12 September

We were up and about surprisingly early this morning and happily no-one came knocking for the advertised £10 mooring fee - phew!  I'd previously raided our change jar in readiness to give someone a pile of two and five pence pieces!  In New Zealand they scrapped all the small change a while ago, the lowest denomination we have is a ten cent coin - I loathe carrying the weight of coppers and those dreadfully tiny five pence pieces that are still legal tender in this country - move forward England, just round it up to the nearest ten pence!

Kim and Joe walked into Marlow for an early cup of decaffeinated coffee, managing to find a place just opening up at 1000hrs.   Meanwhile I cooked a 'fry-up' breakfast, then we all mooched about as usual and were late leaving - possibly also due to the fact that Kim and I made another visit to Marlow to do a spot of girlie shopping.  As I'd 'saved' £10, I bought myself a long purple (my favourite colour!) cardigan from Phase Eight, using the excuse of an early birthday present to myself!  The boys had to text us to ask when we were coming back to the boat, whoops!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always swans and mallards milling around      Barry, Kim and Joe feed the ducks after breakfast

Lots of families out and about on a sunny Sunday, checking out the birdlife

A rainbow of kayakers rowed past us - awesome!

We finally left after midday, heading only a few miles and three locks to Maidenhead, where Kim and Joe could catch a train back to Marlow for their car.  We cruised leisurely along another extremely prosperous looking section of the Thames, ogling at the many superb homes to be seen ...

Taking the son out for a Sunday sail

Many fine houses and cruisers to be gaped at ...

Leaving Marlow past the weir

Phenomenal!

Of course everywhere looks more impressive in the sunshine, but these places would look incredible whatever the weather!

Into Marlow Lock with one of the finest looking lock cottages we've seen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of families out and about enjoying the river

 

 

 

So many grand houses ...

 

 

 

 

 

and shiny boats

 

 

 

We had to skirt carefully around the outside of this sailing club's activities

The cows bask and bathe in the glorious sunshine

 

 

 

No credit-crunch apparent around here ...

 

 

 

 

 

though the clubhouse wasn't exactly thriving today

 

 

 

 

Bourne End Railway and Footbridge

Very simple, but classy, house and boat

 

 

Kim and Joe, after working hard all week like much of the country, chilled for most of the journey at the bow - shame it wasn't a longer visit, but better than nothing, and so good to see them both relaxing

 

 

 

A few thousand pounds worth of beautiful boat ...

 and the palatial 'Libertijn' that we previously moored behind in Mapledurham

 

 

 

Cookham Bridge ...

 

 

 

 

 

and badly organised boats, no room for Northern Pride in Cookham Lock, so we had to reverse back to the lock mooring and wait a while

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loving the river at an early age

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A quick view of a turret from Clivedon House and the river cottage

Looking back at Cliveden House sitting majestically on the hillside

Boulter's Lock, on the outskirts of Maidenhead, was on self-service when we arrived so I jumped off ready to work it after the boats inside left - in came Northern Pride when I noticed another three boats turning the corner and heading our way.  There were two massive cruisers, and after the debacle at the last lock when we couldn't fit in, I wasn't sure if these were going to either - far too much responsibility - luckily the lock keeper arrived from his break just in the nick of time to save me from having to make a decision!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boats of all shapes and sizes make the most of the beautiful day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandra on Lock-keeper duties ...

a few gongoozler's look on - you don't want to make any errors with such an audience!

Crikey!  All packed in - that's the way to do it!  Hold on tight to the ropes folks ...

and don't let go until the last minute to prevent any 'bumping'

More beady eyes watch from the pub balcony - a fabulous portrayal of a sunny day on the river

 

 

 

Cruising nonchalantly into Maidenhead

 

 

 

 

 

More splendid homes on the oustkirts

 

 

We arrived in Maidenhead around 1500hrs, and found a mooring just after the railway bridge.  We only had an hour or so before Kim and Joe had to catch a train back, but made the most of it with a picnic lunch on the bank.  The board alongside advertised an £8 mooring fee - would anyone call to collect it or could we get away with another free night?

 

 

Maidenhead Bridge makes a striking contrast to the bright blue sky

 

 

 

 

 

 

A most graceful structure ...

 

 

 

with a large hotel and cafe alongside

 

 

 

Another remarkable riverside residence

 

 

 

 

 

Mums must be having a day off while the dads take the boys to feed the ducks

 

 

Sandra, Joe and Kim enjoy a hastily prepared pizza picnic

Then we walked to what we thought was the train station as marked on the Nicholson's map, knowing there were hourly trains from Maidenhead to Marlow and hoping to catch the 1635hrs.  After arriving we were horrified to discover that we'd gone to Taplow Station rather than Maidenhead and there were no trains running on a Sunday!  Yikes!  As luck would have it though, the bloke at the station ran a taxi firm and he did them a deal of taxi to Marlow for £15 - thank goodness!  Bless them, they still had to drive back to Brighton.

 

 

 

Another farewell for now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spotted a poster in a window in Maidenhead for the Henley Show, held the day before

 

 

 

 

 

 

The taxi dropped Barry and I off close to Maidenhead on their way to Marlow, or so we thought - it was actually a bit of a walk from the bridge that we'd asked to be let out at!  We weren't at all impressed by the town, it was totally different to the places we've recently visited and was too much of a challenge even for Barry to find anything worth photographing!!

The most attractive part of Maidenhead appears to be along the river

 Built in 1839 by Brunel, Maidenhead Railway Bridge has reputedly the two largest spans of brick built bridges in the world - each one is 123ft long on only 24ft high

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the smaller archway on the path is amazing - it's staggering to imagine these being built by hand in the nineteenth century

 

 

 

 

The best Barry could take of the town of Maidenhead from our walk

We considered returning to Cliveden House as it's a National Trust property and we really haven't got money's worth from our annual membership, but we were tired after the excitement of the last few days, so just chilled doing some blogging and had a fairly early night. 

Tomorrow we plan to be in Windsor and Barry will take the train into London to collect his son Tom, who will then be with us for almost three weeks ...

Pretty pink dahlias

Magnificent Marlow - finally getting the right glasses and swapping guests

Yesterday we bypassed the 'Sloff' Arm, unable to justify wasting diesel visiting somewhere we couldn't imagine was terribly enthralling (or did we miss something amazing?).  Early afternoon, after a miserable day weather (and most of the scenery) wise, we moored at South Harefield, just before Widewater Lock.  We're heading for Hemel Hempstead by Friday, so taking our time while we still have it to while away ...

Saturday 11 September

Barry's son Tom commenced his journey from Wellington this morning, spookily on 9/11!  We had an early phone call from him, so were reassured that all was going to plan ...

Leaving Hurley late morning, we pottered along the river a short way to relish the delights of Marlow, another charming Georgian town skirting the Thames. 

Only one lock today, Temple Lock, not too far from Hurley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bisham Abbey, now a sports centre; and the church beside the Thames at Bisham

To give you an idea of the size of this property, there must've been at least 50 of these stone pot plant holders along the river wall!

 Approaching Marlow, we cruised under the bridge then circled back towards the moorings at the gardens 

 This little chap was squealing with delight feeding all the birds

Shortly after arriving in Marlow, we walked through the rather lovely town to the train station, as Jill was heading back to Reading to collect her car and visit another friend, and I was able to accompany her to collect my glasses as our next guests, Kim and Joe, had called to say they were delayed due to two poorly cats.

I finally collected two pairs of glasses worth the money I paid and importantly that I'll wear!   Hoorah!  A big thank-you to the Reading branch of Specsavers.  I'd also been able to order a pair of reading glasses and had the anti-glare and reactions on my now single vision lenses, for the same price as I'd previously paid for the varifocals, and was so relieved it'd all eventually worked out.  Doug, one of our readers, commented that his partner had experienced a similar problem - it's good to know I'm not alone and not just an old grouch!

We managed to find Jill's car again which was safe, but sadly not looking as shiny clean as expected, and there was no sign that a valet had been done - but we had no time to complain as she was taking me back to Marlow before heading to east London!  On a positive note it was still cheaper than the station car park.

Meanwhile Barry headed back to the boat from the station, and took a few photos along the way ...

A view towards Marlow Lock and weir from Marlow Bridge 

''The Compleat Angler' Hotel by the bridge, preparing for a wedding - a fabulous venue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlow Church watches a rowing crew practicing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlow Bridge, opened in 1832, and the bridge linking 'Buda' and 'Pest' across the river Danube, are the only two remaining suspension bridges built by Tierny Clarke - so says the other sign mounted on the bridge

 

 

Our mooring was on the banks of Higginson Park, containing 'Court Garden House', now a leisure centre.  This was the original home and grounds of Dr William Battie, a mental physician (where the term 'batty' comes from), who designed and built the house in 1758.  Local folk-lore has it that he initially forgot to include a staircase to the first floor, which had to be added later.

The house and gardens were sold off at one stage and were going to be turned into a housing estate, but luckily in 1926 it was saved for the people of Marlow, largely due to the efforts of local resident General George Higginson, who rallied the town to purchase the estate - hence it's name 'Higginson Park'.

Court Garden House in Higginson Park 

The view from our mooring - what a delightful sight

Jill dropped me off mid-afternoon, and Kim and Joe drove up from Brighton once they'd made sure their cats were okay, arriving around 1800hrs and easily finding a parking place by the train station in Marlow for nothing!  It just goes to show that we never know what parking arrangements guests will find in places we visit, and sometimes we're happily surprised.   Barry walked the short journey to meet them and bring them to the boat.

Our mooring site must've been one the most stunning we've experienced - the towns just seem to get more and more affluent along the Thames.  Even more amazing was that the people we saw in Marlow on our brief visit were all so happy and friendly; a pretty perfect place really if you could afford to live there!

 

 

There were no shortage of swans, ducks, geese or of people to feed them - despite the sign saying 'Don't Feed The Birds'

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon, the bride and groom from 'The Compleat Angler'  wedding passed by

 

 

 

 

 

Marlow House

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Such a picturesque place

At one stage there were storm clouds brewing until magically the sun burst through, creating a surreal light over the river ...

 even in colour 

After Kim and Joe's stressful day, we chose a chilled evening with a delicious dinner, a few drinks, and a couple of games of 'Six handed Rummy'. 

Who would live in a place like this - very lucky people we reckon!