Jane’s Walk 2022 – Day 11

We were joined again by Charles and Angela. It soon transpired that our walk today coincided with at least two major sponsored events, starting at Dorney where we were finishing. One was a triathlon, where the competitors completed the swimming section in the Dorney Lake – we met them as they ran towards Marlow. The other event was a charity walk, the participants all sporting their charity-of-choice T-shirts. We weren’t sure how far they were going but there were a lot of them, many accompanied by dogs. We were glad to be going in the opposite direction!

We passed under the famous Maidenhead Railway Bridge, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Opened in in 1839, it was the largest brick-built arch bridge in Europe of its time and was famously painted by Turner. It is indeed an impressive sight.

This stretch of the river must be one of the most opulent, with endless expensive houses and large riverboats parked at the bottom of their gardens. We had an excellent lunch in Cookham, while Moses happily chewed on a lamb bone given to him by the manager.

We finished at the car park at Dorney Lake. Owned by Eton College, the lake is where the rowing events were held during the 2012 Olympic Games.