Walking on water
gorgeous old English towns and villages, with stopovers at the sleepy picture-postcard village of Goring and the buzzing, riverside-chic of Henley on Thames.
On this Trails of the Riverbank self-guided walking trip with Inntravel, idyllic boutique hotels have been arranged en route, with baggage transfers meaning I only need to carry a necessary rucksack.
Following the flat meandering of the river, walking here is not difficult. But sturdy boots are needed to tackle the softened terrain from the overnight rain, which has left some areas pretty muddy.
Two nights in each hotel – at Oxford, Goring and Henley – gives walkers the opportunity to explore the host locations as well as continue their journey.
A hugely detailed guide also gives more reluctant strollers easier options of shorter routes, tells you what to look out for on your journey as well as suggesting reliable watering holes at which to take a break.
Because of the distances involved due to the winding nature of the Thames, some bus and train travel is factored in, either to reach your destination more quickly, or to return to the hotel from a linear route.
Five minutes away from the commercial hubbub of riverside villages and towns, including Benson and Wallingford, I find rural relaxation. Indeed, the landscape on this trail is ever-changing, from shady
riverside cut-outs where cow parsley bobs above bristling nettles, to wide open fields with big skies, where walkers follow the path between waist-length pink-hued grasses or look out for deer in the vast parks of stately residences.
There’s time to explore the churches and old streets of pretty towns and villages including Sonning, home of the Clooneys, and Shiplake, where poet Alfred Lord Tennyson married Emily Selwood in 1850.
We venture to the Thames-side marsh of Cholsey, home to kingfishers, warblers and corn buntings, while iridescent blue-banded demoiselle damselflies flit between foliage and water.
Vessels of all shapes and sizes grace the river, from the punts in Oxford, to the schmoozing cruisers and classic canal boats which easily dodge the sculls of practising rowers and the groups of paddleboarders just out for a bit of fun.
History is never far away from the riverbank, either. Deep grey sombre
concrete pillboxes secreted in lush foliage in woodlands or in more open situations, are testament to the river defences manned by the Home Guard in the Second World War.
Castles at Oxford and Wallingford should satiate medieval history buffs, while walkers can also admire the quirks of architecture, from a post-modern interpretation of an Egyptian house known as Sphinx Hill – on the way to Goring – to a small-scale railway running through the grounds of a huge garden and its accompanying scaled-down station.
And then we’re back to rowing focus, first at Henley and then later at my final stop, Marlow, which on the day we visit, is bustling with its own regatta.
It’s the first real crowd I’ve seen for almost a week, and it feels a little overwhelming trying to negotiate the hubbub of waterside competitors against a heaving backdrop of picnicking families out for the day. Time to get the bus back to Henley.
My feet are tired from my 50-mile jaunt, but as I see the rowers powering to the finish lines, my efforts feel like a drop in the ocean.
My journey takes me through gorgeous towns and villages