Jane’s Walk 2022 – Day 2
Back to Inglesham, where we are joined by Angus and his beautifully trained golden Labrador, Holly. Angus is a Trustee of Tom’s charity ZANE.
The Thames is considerably wider here and looks deeper, despite being very low. The dogs are very frustrated as they are unable to swim due to the steepness of the drop into the water. We walk through pleasant flood planes. Strange to think they are probably covered with water much of the winter. Currently, they are totally bone dry. We pass through several herds of cows who are totally disinterested in the dogs. I suppose they are used to walkers walking through like us. We are intrigued that we have seen no travelling boats, although many are tied up along the bank. Perhaps it really is too shallow to sail. We see the wonderful sight of a woman swimming, towing her canoe behind her, with her two elderly Labradors, wearing life jackets, sitting in the boat! We wish her well and take some photos.
Further on, we cross the river and have a very cheery conversation with three women who are swimming; I think it is now called wild swimming. Two are soldiers, and one is married to a Brigadier, all serving in Highland regiments and based nearby. Angus is a retired General in the Royal Scots, so we have a somewhat surreal conversation about army life, us hanging over the bridge and they treading water below us.
We pass the edge of the village of Kelmscott and glimpse the Manor, which was the home of William Morris, textile designer and part of the Art and Crafts movement of the mid 19 Century. The house is open to the public. We arrive in Radcot, stopping for lunch in the Swan Inn and looking over the river. As we arrived, we were blocked from crossing the road by an enormous articulated lorry, trying to cross the very narrow 13 Century bridge, which was on a slight angle to the road. He is very flustered and admits he followed Google maps. After numerous attempts, with traffic piling up behind him, he eventually has to back 1/2 mile through the village, causing mayhem behind him. According to the publican, this is a regular occurrence.
After a pleasant lunch in the sunshine, we set off again, viewing with trepidation some dark clouds coming towards us. Sure enough, the clouds open, and it begins to rain really hard. Tom and I have stupidly left our raincoats in the car, so we are soon soaked to the skin!! We know we should be rejoicing in the rain, but after an hour, we feel pretty miserable and dream of a hot bath at home. Even Moses is not amused. The sight of Richard and the car at the end of the walk is most welcome. I strip off to my bra at the side of a very busy road to put on something dry. I don’t care!
