Day 7: Godstow Bridge to Radley Boat House

 Thursday 21 July 2022

Back to the lovely Trout to start our walk, it had been a very hot few days, high 30s, but the temperatures had dropped for the end of the week and our 7th walk along the Thames Path.

Just across from Godstow Bridge are the ruins of Godstow Abbey

Godstow means 'God's Place'

The Abbey was founded around 1133-1139.  Rosamund de Clifford who was a mistress of Henry II (poisoned by Queen Eleanor) was buried here.  The nuns devoted themselves to God, tended the sick and helped educate young women of the nobility.  When Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church, monasteries and nunneries were closed and Godstow was dissolved in 1539. 

 Henry VIII granted the property to his physician, Sir George Owen, who transformed it into his personal home.  The convent buildings were ruined in the Civil War.  All that remains is a walled enclosure with a shell of a 16th century chapel in the corner.

The Trout Inn was the Abbey's hospice.

(and has featured in Inspector Morse!)

We then found ourselves in a huge area called Port Meadow, 342 acres, William the Conqueror presented it to Oxford as free commmon in return for helping him defend his kingdom from the Danes.

It has never been ploughed or built on and is often flooded in winter.  Rare plants flourish here including creeping marshwort and round fruited rush.  

It is grazed on by cows and horses and there were rabbits everywhere.

Love the above photo, it looks like the cow is floating on a giant lily pad!

We passed plenty of people enjoying a walk or cycle, eventually you see the spires of Oxford in the distance!

There were plenty more houseboats as we got closer to Oxford.

And boys jumping from the pedestrian bridge

And early blackberries almost ready for picking

Susan won the prize for best Heron spotter today, she must have found about 5 or 6.  Always very calm and serene on the river banks.

We also spotted our old friend the Cormorant, who we spotted earlier on one of our walks.

The Thames Path took us past this lovely terrace of houses

And we have officially reached Oxford, standing on Osney Bridge (pronounced Oseney) with buses and cars flying past us.  It has the lowest headroom of all bridges on the river.  It felt rather surreal after all the remoteness of our previous walks.

As we dropped back down onto the path, it was hard to keep conversation going, as we were diving into the bushes as cyclists galore kept going past, it was SO busy, joggers, pram walkers, every day walkers, Thames Path walkers.

We passed Osney Lock Hydro, the first community-owned hydroelectric power station on the River Thames, built between 2013 and 2015.  Local residents wanted to harness the power of the river for the benefit of the local community.  The project was made possible thanks to a £640,000 investment from 200 local investor members who co-own the project.  It is run on their behalf by a team of volunteers.

The hydro uses the power of the river flowing through an Archimedes screw to generate clean electricity, with zero carbon emissions.  The weight of the water turns the screw, and a generator connected to the screw converts the rotational energy into electricity.

Fish are able to pass safely downstream through the hydro channel.

Under Osney railway bridge and onto Folly Bridge, the southern entry point to Oxford. 

The railway is the Cherwell Valley Line, which runs between Didcot and Oxford.  The original bridge was built in 1850, when GWR (Great Western Railway) built a new line from its original Oxford station at Grandpont to Rugby.

The name recalls a tower which stood on the previous structure and not the present Caudwell's Castle, built in 1849.  Folly Bridge Store on the north end was built in 1844 as the Tollhouse, but free passage has been allowed since 1850.

Caudwell's Castle was built for Joseph Caudwell an eccentric Oxford accountant, it soon attracted unwanted attention from high-spirited undergraduates, one of whom was shot and seriously hurt by Caudwell in 1851 while trying to drag one of the cannons that sat on the forecourt into the river.

At his trial, Caudwell was found not guilty after his counsel made much of the malicious intent of the students who '.... after luxuriating at a cricket club supper at the Maidenhead, smoking cigars and drinking beer, sallied forth, and in order to fill up or rater kill time, proceeded to this man's house for wanton mischief and to despoil his premises, for the sake of gratifying a morbid and wicked disposition'.

Click on the photo below to see the white statues and a statue of Atlas.

Whilst googling Caudwell's Castle I found an apartment to rent!  1 bed, £1100 per month.

Salter Brothers still operate from here, although their former boatyard originally an 1830s warehouse for goods sent by river to and from London, is now the Head of the River pub.  You can hire self drive boats or go on larger cruise boats. 

Lewis Carroll set out from here in July 1862 with Alice Liddell and her sisters on a rowing trip upstream during which he unfolded the tale which became Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Above is the tree lined banks of Christ Church Meadow, this is a rowing stretch, once upon a time the bank would have been adorned with ornate college barges, clubhouses, grandstands.  They have now gone.  We did pass a big new shiny University College boathouse.

To our right, we caught sight of this beautiful building.  

Grandpont House

Built in 1785 for Oxford's town clerk, Sir William Elias Taunton.  Then almost a century later, it was the residency of Alderman Thomas Randall, a hatter and unpopular magistrate who attempted to restrict pub opening hours.

Grandpont House has been a university centre since 1959, and acts as a venue for academic, cultural, outreach and religious activities for students an others.  It also offers accommodation to male students.

We were back to walking in calm fields, Iffley Meadows, 82 acres of ancient watermeadow, where you can find the rare snake's head (or fritillary), marsh marigolds, meadow buttercup and oxeye daisy.

We reached Isis Farmhouse after 5.26 miles, our stop for lunch, built as a farmhouse in about 1800 and it became an inn in 1842. 

Only accessible by boat, or bicycle/walk from Oxford.  Until 1979 the beer was delivered by punt.  It was a lovely spot, and we had two ginormous salads to eat, whilst watching boats swish by and swans/geese fly and land.

We could see them setting up for a wedding in the meadow, a lovely peaceful spot.

Onwards we walked to Iffley Lock, which had a beautiful bridge and front that felt very Bridgerton!

Over that we saw the most beautiful Lock Keeper's Cottage of our walk so far, so pretty and the garden was gorgeous.

We waited to cross whilst an Afternoon Tea boat cruise was in the lock, it looked lovely with it's cake stands and tea. I imagine it's a peaceful and interesting trip to take.

We wanted to cross over to visit Iffley's church, as had read it was a 1170 Norman church worth visiting.  The stone decoration has links with sculpture once found at Reading Abbey, and the impressive doorway has flowers found elsewhere only in the cathedral porch at Santiago de Compostela. 

But first, we bumped into Maud - the bride and her entourage, having been dropped off, ready to cross the lock and walk along the pathway to her wedding at our lunch spot, The Isis Farmhouse.  They all looked lovely.

Thank goodness it wasn't raining!

Anyway back to our Church below ....

Until the middle of the 20th Century funeral processions came by river

It was built by the Clinton family who owned Kenilworth Castle.

There are many beautiful buildings in the village including The Rectory here with it's impressive chimneys.

We returned to the tow path and continued our walk, with road noise becoming louder as we went under the A423, the Oxford southern-bypass, but we did stop a while to take in all the graffiti!

Zoom in on this guy reclining in his 'Thames Water' pants!

We came out into the light through some more meadows, these ones owned by the Oxford Preservation Society 

Susan's hip was starting to play up, so we were at calm pace, spotting more herons and identifying plants along the way.

It was a beautiful walk, and we were over the moon to reach Oxford, but oh boy it was SOOOOOOO humid, we were really struggling.  It was quite overcast, we weren't in bright sunshine, but there was so much humidity.

Something I learn today, this isn't Cow Parsley it is Wild Carrot, identified by its tiny central purple flower.  The white flower head is edible raw or lightly battered and fried.  The seeds work well in soups and stews and can flavour tea too.

We didn't spot a soul along this section, just a photographer lying low for some wildlife shots ... we still haven't managed to spot an otter!

Ducks and geese swam across the river to greet us, we looked at the map and discovered it's a hotel, set up as wedding gathering by the waters edge, what a spot!

Another Heron spotted!

We thought this section was never ending, we knew we had about a mile to go, we were running out of water, despite having 2 bottles each, the humidity was definitely taking it out of us at this point.

We did pass by Sandford Lock but obviously had no energy to take photos!  It has the greatest fall of water on the Thames, and the water thunders over the enormous weir known as the Sandford Lasher.  There is a 15th century pub here called the Kings Arms if you need to stop.

We just had this field to go .... with Radley Boat House our destination and pick up point.  

(for those of you reading from America/Canada, Radley is a boys public boarding school for 13-18 year olds, it sits amidst 800 acres and was founded in 1847.  It is well known for it's Rowing. Currently £14,850 per term)

At this point Graham messaged that he had arrived but realised he was on the other side of the river!

So we found a bench and waited for Graham to find a bridge nearby that he could cross, he wasn't spoilt for choice and it took a while!

Our humid-exhausting walk was about 9 miles and we covered a total of 22,969 steps.

Instead of arriving home and putting my feet into cold water and then my body into a epsom salt bath, I just got into bed, duvet over my head and slept for an hour!

Susan did the opposite and almost fell asleep in the bath, and found herself in bed for sleep at 8.30pm.

This was meant to be getting easier!

We are not walking on a no breeze humid day ever again!

We've decided we are probably September/October hikers ....

We will be back on the path after Susan returns from Scotland.

Day 6: Bablock Hythe to Godstow Bridge

 Friday 8 July 2022

We start this week much drier than we finished off last week's walk in the same field!

Next to the Ferryman Inn which this is where the Romans forded The Thames.  There was a crossing there for about 1000 years, a 3-vehicle ferry closed in 1965, there have been passenger revivals in 1981 and 1992 with a 12-seat boat.

We knew it was going to be mega-hot today, so we set off much earlier in the morning and decided to stop at lunchtime.  It was just over 7 miles til lunch, so we'd planned a morning stop for snacks and were being collected when it would be the main heat of the day.  In fact, our day went from 18.5 to 26.5 degrees very rapidly.

These sheep definitely had the right idea in the shade and couldn't believe it when they saw us and had to move away from the gate.

There were so many sheep across the next few fields, we were away from the riverside at this point due to a caravan park owning the riverfront section there.

If it hadn't have been a mega hot day, we would have gone left here towards the village of Stanton Harcourt, it's 0.9 miles away from the Thames Path, it has a pub called The Harcourt Arms which does food 12-2.30pm, there are thatched cottages, church, manor house and a 17th century parsonage with a church and chapel.

We were re-united with the river and plenty of boats

This cute little pup jumped off his boat to come and say Hi

Kissing gates galore on this section of fields and giant thistle heads

We arrived at Pinkhill Lock, which was once known as Pinckle Lock, it dates from 1791

Again, another lock beautifully kept with gorgeous flowers

Past some sweet smelling honeysuckle (Susan confirmed her smell has returned post Covid) and in to some much needed shade, each time we found shade, it was hat off, let head breathe, scrunchie out of hair, swish hair, glug water, put ourselves back together refreshed and into the bright sun and heat.  There was no cloud cover today, just incredibly bright blue skies.

This beautiful bridge is Swinford Bridge, the first of two remaining privately owned toll bridges on the Thames, the other is at Whitchurch.  It was built and paid for by the Earl of Abingdon in about 1765 (for about £10,000) along with the ferry and a ford and is governed by it's own Act of Parliament.  

Free to pedestrians, but 5p for cars!

The bridge left the ownership of the Abingdon family in 2009 (£1m+) and is still privately owned.  There is a pub called The Talbot if you leave the path and walk over the bridge, it's an oldie, it opened in 1774.

Shade and Rest?  Yes please!

If I hadn't had an uncomfortable rucsac on my back I could easily have stopped there for a while.

We had reached our 5 miles to Oxford point and stopped at Eynsham Lock for a rest.

Eynsham Lock had plenty of benches, shade and most importantly LOOS!

Met the lovely lock volunteer, a lady who is also walking the Thames Path in sections with her friend, they have made it as far as Windsor so far.

I knew Susan was excited about her snack, but she hadn't told me what it was until she regally pulled it out of her rucsac and declared it a "marmalade sandwich"!

Definitely the snack of Jubilee Year!

But bears like salmon too, and I had a really good salad that had mixed itself nicely over the miles we'd been walking in my rucsac.

Susan's eyes were on it today, and she spotted 3 herons vs my 0.

Can you spot the one here on the riverside watching the swan serenely float past?

It was around here we could hear traffic, and this is where the B4044 crosses the river, very strange to see lorries after miles and miles of just fields.

We walked alongside the river with really high foliage reeds, grasses and flower for some time with Wytham Woods on our right hand side.  This is a 600 acre estate bequeathed to Oxford University in the 1940s by a man called Colonel Raymond Ffennell, who owned the Wytham Estate.

Along from here the River Evenlode, a Cotswold stream that has travelled close to Stow on the Wold and Charlbury, joins the River Thames

It even inspired a poem:

The Evenlode by Hilaire Belloc

He was born in 1870 Paris and during the Franco-Prussian war was sent to England with his sister.

We did think today, that the River is now the widest we've seen it.

Next a road we know so well, the A34!

Very busy as usual, but lovely and shady underneath despite the heat...

Past King's Lock, we had really started to slow down at this point, it was just soooooo hot and we knew we must nearly be at Godstow Bridge for our lunch.

We made it after 7.76 miles, which was 19,799 steps, it had taken us 3 hours and 47 minutes but we were so so happy to have walked some miles today despite the heat.

Godstow Bridge, Godstow means 'God's Place' and there are nearby Abbey ruins.  It was founded in 1133, described as like a finishing school for the nobilitie's daughters.  The Trout across the river was first built in 1138 as a Hospice.

The Trout Inn

The Environment Agency are replacing the Weir that has been there since 1937, it will include a new fish pass (salmon and coarse fish will be able to travel upstream) and a new access walkway, it will also move 2 metres downsteam to allow debris to be removed.

In the olden days, the bridge (where I took the photo from) was used to catch eels, as they were used for food and to sell, eel nets were made from willow and there are still some steel hooks on the bridge where they once hung.

Don't let the builders put you off, it was great, we would go back anytime.  Lovely staff and service, beautiful inside, great menu.  We opted to sit inside, just away from the sunshine for a while.

I restored my energy with good old chicken and chips whilst Susan opted for the healthy halloumi salad bowl.

     

Best of all we were back to enjoying puddings and cappuccino & hot chocolate!

We stepped outside and could see ahead to where the river will be taking us next, it won't be long before we reach Oxford ...

People, traffic, buildings, it's going to feel so different!

Below is our favourite Tree of the Day, so incredibly shady, a massive chestnut tree, we were contemplating just hanging from hammocks from it if we could find some!

We also identified this flower with the plant app, as it was something we hadn't noticed before

Apparently it's a Chicory Flower, a beautiful blue/purple shade.

They petals are edible in salads and the petals, leaves and root are used for many ailments, it's a common non-invasive weed.

some Chicory info

Until next time, keep cool in the heatwave.