Jane’s Walk 2026: Day 12

Today Sim and his girlfriend are walking with us again and Richard is picking them up at Reading Station later. The canal is still subject to numerous locks and weirs. Some are even more complicated due to the wide extent of the meandering Kennet and the surrounding lakes.

Eventually we are aware of the fact we are walking into the outskirts of Reading, passing through an extensive industrial area. This changes to rather a pretty stretch with numerous terraced houses on the other side, most having designed their waterfront gardens in ingenious ways to make the most of their position. This is a busy path used by Reading residents to get around the city away from the crowds. Unfortunately, the litter along the way makes it less pleasant than it might be.

Eventually we find ourselves in the centre of town which has been developed, making the canal the central feature for the many shops and cafés built round it. We meet Sim and Tsenka and enjoy a cup of coffee before setting off again. I realise that we are nearing the end of the canal as, since our start in Bristol, all the bridges we have been under were numbered in reverse order and we have finally come to number 1 bridge and the canal finally runs into the Thames coming in from our left. It’s a fine sight, wide and dramatic and filled with pleasure boats and canoes as it is Saturday.

The Thames Path feels so open compared to much of the canal and it is a real pleasure walking along the wide open spaces of the flood plains in this area. It must be a picture in the spring as these are wildflower meadows. We have lunch in Sonning and finish at the boathouse at Shiplake School.