A muddy walk along the riverside.

Today John ,Tony and I set off by underground to Paddington station to catch the train to Maidenhead and the start of our walk. We planned to walk from Maidenhead to Datchet  as part of walking the Thames path. The Thames Path is a long distance walking trail, following the Thames for 184 miles (294 Km) from its source in the Cotswolds through several rural counties and on into the heart of London. We have chosen to walk the route from the Thames barrier to it's source. Today the section we were walking was from Maidenhead back towards London so that our journey was shorter for the return trip.

Not far from the start of the walk we went under Maidenhead Railway bridge. This bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed in 1839. It carries the main line from Paddington to Bristol. The arches of the bridge are the largest and flattest brick arches ever built and many people thought that the bridge would collapse the first time a train ran over it.

In 1844 Turner painted the arches in his picture Rain, Steam and Speed on the Great Western Railway.  The painting is part of The National Gallery, London collection.

Image from wikimedia

At Bray we stopped and ate our lunch by the side of the lock. The weather was dry and at times the sun was bright and very warm.  Where the path was properly made up as it is in this photo the going was easy and dry. However most of the walk was along rough pathways and grass which included a lot of large puddles and mud.

Further along we walked past Boveney Church. The church is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches and has recently been restored, particularly the 15th century weatherboarded and timber framed tower.

As we walked into Windsor we could see the castle. We would get a better view as we walked round Windsor towards Datchet.

Going over Windsor bridge we spotted a large flock of swans

Before we started on the last stage of our walk we stopped at the Chocolate cafe for a hot chocolate. Mmm yummy I shall certainly be visiting here the next time I'm in Windsor.

We set off on the final stage of our walk from Windsor to Datchet and as we walked along the river we got a better view of Windsor castle.

The walk was longer than our route information suggested but it was a lovely day and we really enjoyed it. At Datchet  we caught the train home.. This evening I had an appointment with some embroidery whilst watching TV but I'll tell you about that another day.

Lyndsey