Thames Walk, Day 1
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
427
555
Trip End
Ongoing
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The Source, England, United Kingdom
Saturday, May 23, 2009
On day two of the Hadrian walk, we ran into two Geordies, and they told us about walking the Thames, and just like many other times, a thought was put in my head, and it was time to action it.
Day 1
Start - Finish
The Source - Cricklade
Distance - 25 Kilometres
After a two hour drive to get to the Cotswalds, We arrived in the town of Kemble. We parked up, grabbed our book and headed off to the Source. We followed the route, but unlike the Hadrian trail, there were no signs, and it didn't take long before we were lost in a field of stinging nettles. We fought our way through, and headed in the direction of Ewan, and once there, the signs that we desired, came into view !!!
Once we were on the right track, we followed the Thames. This wasn't the big river I see everyday, but a small stream that was not polluted. It was so clean !!! There were even swans and new borns !!!
A couple of hours later, the Thames disappeared. We were walking through an area of lakes, but the Thames was not part of this. This place use to be old gravel pits, but regen of the area had breathed new life. There were ducks, water fowl, boats and water skiers, so different to my everyday view.
As we neared Cricklade, we lost our Thames path signs. Reading the book, we knew we had gone the wrong way but we kept moving until we arrived at the church. It was quite nice inside and out. There wasn't much more to see, so we ordered a taxi to take us back to Ewan.
£30 later for a short distance, we jumped out where we saw our original signs. As we walked back to the start, there were signs everywhere, well, until we arrived back to the point where we got lost !!! This time we tried a different track, and hidden away was the sign. We walked over some stiles, through a few fields until we had arrived at the Source. We had made it, we were at the beginning of the walk !!! Apparently, the water use to bubble out the of the ground, now it just remains below.
And Finally
Total Kilometres so far - 25
Bridges Seen - 27
Comments
Great picture of deer
How did you get so close to the deer? Did you zoom in? They are normally so wary of human beings