I'd been warned that the path between Cricklade & Lechlade was very muddy and tough going by a fellow walker who'd done this walk the week before me. Not wishing a repeat of yesterday's walk in wet wellies, I hatched a Plan B. I would wear an old pair of walking shoes and carry my current pair of shoes in my rucksack. Should the old pair get a soaking I'd switch to my newer pair. I also packed a load of socks.
My aim for today was to walk to Lechlade and then see how much further I could get before my feet said 'Enough is enough!'. I parked my car in a car park close to the bus station in Swindon and caught bus 51 to Cricklade. I then walked down to Tesco to buy a sandwich for my lunch. I continued down the High Street and turned into Abingdon Court Lane to rejoin the Thames Path. A few weeks earlier it had been impossible to walk under the bridge carrying the main A419 road because of the flooding. Today it was completely dry.
This is good I thought, as did the 4 walkers ahead of me. I kept on walking expecting the path to turn into a bit of a quagmire at any moment but it never happened. In fact the condition of the path was really good I thought because if it's rutted and hard it plays havoc with your feet and if it's muddy and slippery it saps your energy. Today it was soft enough to be really pleasant. I really hoped that pride wouldn't come before a fall as it had yesterday. I was enjoying this!
I soon reached Castle Eaton, the only village you pass before Lechlade. The Red Lion pub claims to be the first pub on the River Thames.
Heading out of Castle Eaton the tower of the church in Kempsford could be seen in the distance.
News that I would be walking the Thames Path in the area today had got out and the kind people who maintain the path were out cutting the grass for me to make my journey that much easier. I thanked them accordingly.
Very soon I could see one of my favourite houses along the Thames Path in the distance. It's in the hamlet of Hannington Wick by Hannington Bridge. It's covered in ivy and to me is just stunning.
Approaching Inglesham I passed a couple who looked like they were just taking a breather. We got talking and they told me they were from Canada and were here on holiday. After 2 weeks in London at the time of King Charles' Coronation they were spending a few days walking parts of the Thames Path. They noticed the Papworth Hospital Charity logo on my shirt and gave me a £10 donation. Catherine and Bruce - such nice people!
Continuing past the church in Inglesham and walking through a couple of fields with cows, I arrived at Lechlade at about 13:30.
Time for my sandwich sitting on a bench by the side of the river, admiring Lechlade. Definitely a good time to also get my drone out.
I knew that Lechlade was the furthest I could get today and be able to get back to my car in Swindon using just buses. However, as I still had the afternoon ahead of me and it was such a nice day, I decided I'd walk as far as I could today and then get a taxi to the nearest public transport. So, after a short rest it was time to move on towards St John's Lock. Carrying a spare pair of shoes in my rucksack together with my drone and water bottles etc was weighing me down unnecessarily I decided. The shoes I was wearing, whilst dry, were very old & worn, so before leaving Lechlade I ditched them in a bin and wore my new shoes instead.
Drone time again. St John's Lock just below Lechlade is the furthest upstream lock on the River Thames.
St John's Lock is also where you'll find a statue of Old Father Thames (one of many along the Thames). Apparently Old Father Thames was an old god of the River Thames and would help runaways flee along the river! This statue was moved here from the Source at Kemble in 1974 following vandalism.
Artistic time now. So many of the meadows I'd walked through and would continue to walk through were ablaze with carpets of buttercups. I've never seen so many. It's difficult to capture the scale in a photograph so here's a very short video.
Today & tomorrow would feature large numbers of cows. All very laid back.
Next up Kelmscott. Do I leave here or continue? I decide to continue
Continuing alongside the river I arrived at Grafton Lock. By the side of the lock island was a female swan sitting on her nest incubating her eggs. Keeping guard and making sure no harm came to the swan was a huge topiary cat that I must admit I've never noticed before. I knew the swan was here as I follow the Instagram account of the lock keeper and his family 'life_at_the_lock'. This is full of helpful, useful and humorous posts. Got a pic of the main man himself.
It was now 17:30 and my feet were telling me it was time to stop. I was a little over 1 mile away from Radcot Bridge and more importantly Ye Olde Swan! Whilst ordering my pint I asked the lady behind the bar how far it was to Faringdon, where I knew I could get a bus back to Swindon. She told me it was about a 4 minute drive so at first I thought that would be walkable. After relaxing by the river with my pint I decided that was too far. I called Faringdon Cars who I've used a few times in the past. I was quoted £10. That would be £10 well spent.
When the car arrived the driver laughed at what I'd been told about the distance to Faringdon as it's actually the best part of 3 miles and the road is busy with no pavements. I was dropped off at Market Place in Faringdon and a few minutes later bus S6 for Swindon arrived. Once back at the bus station in Swindon I collected my car and drove to the Travelodge at ................ Faringdon. There is method here. I'll explain on the next stage.
Official distance covered today - 17.2 miles.
