TP5
Thames Path - Walk 5
THURSDAY 7TH OCTOBER 2021: In June 2019 I left the Shepperton ferry not knowing when I would return, but 2¼ years on – with the world changed forever by pandemic – I am back. The reason perhaps due to covid, as with travel rules relaxing I spot a chance to get off ‘the rock’ of Guernsey and hop across to the mainland for 3 days walking along the Thames Path
Arriving at the ferry landing it is exciting to be back to the river, something I first have to cross. Apparently, there has been a ferry crossing here for 500 years so my chances are good. Ringing the bell to summon the ferry seems wrong as it breaks the peace of a dead-calm morning but across comes the ferryman (fresh from the boating school-run!) for the short trip. So by 10:30 I have travelled by plane, train and boat…now on to the legs. Well, after a stop for breaky at the café
It is good to be back walking the Thames as there is so much to interest the eye aside from the beautiful, natural environment – such an eclectic mix of houses, boats and things: new, old, manky and fancy and everything in between. And so many things are river themed: the names, the decorations, the little nick-knacks…the river seeps in to every aspect of life
After a while the human impact disappears and nature takes hold in the form of Dumsey Meadow, one of the few remaining ‘grazed, unimproved’ Thamesside grassland areas, important for wildflowers, butterflies & insects. Civilisation returns in the form of Chertsey and then the M3. Fisherman congregate around the bridge and I wonder why. All those scenic, peaceful spots available and they sit under a throbbing motorway! Maybe the fish like it
A little further and I take a quick side trip into historic Laleham and mooch around All Saints Church, then onwards with yet another side trip, this time a circuit of Penton Hook island, a nature reserve sitting within a nearly complete loop of the Thames, with some fancy houses hidden on the far side. I see no one else on the island, although it is fairly quiet generally in most places. A convenient bench makes a good spot for a break and snack time
Next stop is a larger town, Staines (or Staines-on-Thames), which has a few notable items of interest. There is the London Stone (replica), marking the upstream limit of the City of London’s jurisdiction which existed for 7 centuries through to 1857 and the Coal Stone, similarly marking a limit, this time entering an area of coal levies. Also various art, including the rather enticing Swan Master statue, which I am assuming is some reference to the annual ‘swan upping’ (counting of the number of swans on the Thames)
Onwards through spells of rural peace: fields, forested tracks, broken up with occasional houses and the flotsam of people, but mostly just me and the ducks, swans and err...parakeets!
Further down the river, the big event is Runnymede, a site of major historical significance, famed for being the place where King John placed his seal on the Magna Carta in 1215, arguable the origin of our modern freedoms, liberty and democracy. Oddly, the site seems more memorialised by the Yanks than the Brits, the Magna Carta temple being provided by the American Bar Association and a separate monument to JFK on land given in perpetuity to the USA. In any event, these and the few other miscellaneous goodies that you can find spread over the large area are all fascinating, certainly something to make you think, that liberty should never be taken for granted
That thought is emphasised by the remaining major memorial on the site, although slightly removed being at the top of Cooper’s Hill. This is the Air Force Memorial, opened in 1953, honouring the more than 20,000 Commonwealth air crew lost in WWII who have no known grave site. Everything about this is superb: the setting, the building, the ability to make this a heartfelt, human tribute to all those named. A place of quiet contemplation and remembrance, the only sound being the planes on the above flight path…very apt. We will never forget
Re-joining the Thames Path I complete the final leg into Windsor, leaving behind the rural peace as I come into a busy Town. I will be exploring tomorrow morning, so for now it is a quick mooch, then finding a place to eat. I sit outside and catch up with those at home whilst waiting for food, then it is off to find my bed for the night. After an early start to catch my flight and with nearly 20 miles on the clock (allowing for bits at the beginning and end of the route and quite a lot of wandering around Runnymede) I am ready for that after a very satisfying day
