Day 12: Pangbourne to Reading

Wednesday 19 April

Back to Pangbourne Activity Centre to start our walk out across Pangbourne Meadows on the Thames Path.  This is the spot where I went to playschool when I was a toddler!

Almost immediately we spotted a random rhino in a garden across the river, I've tried to research why it's there or who made the sculpture, but no luck, if you know - please message me!

Looking back at the bridge crossing from Whitchurch into Pangbourne.

The River is sweeping past at this point, it's really wide and we noticed it was much slower than last week when it was moving so fast after all the heavy rain.

It was a bit of a grey day but ideal walking conditions, we had packed a towel this time incase we had flood waters and needed to remove our boots and socks.  So pleased to report we didn't need to!

Below is a cormorant high in the trees, there was another nearby having a chat.

Robert Gibbings (Irish author) described this section of the Thames in 1939 (Sweet Thames Run Softly) as so crowded with views "they might have dropped from the gold frames of the Royal Academy".

This is Hardwick House, believed to have been built by Richard Lybbe, who purchased the Manor from the Hardwick family in 1526. With many additions over the centuries the south wing was rebuilt in about 1660 to replace part of the house damaged by bombardment from Cromwell's troops during the Civil War.

I found this research from Steve Turner on the Historic England website:

"During the mid 1500s, Hardwick hosted Queen Elizabeth 1st on one of her many grand tours of the Kingdom. To mark this Royal visit, Lybbe had the Queen’s bedchamber richly decorated with magnificent plasterwork, which survives to this day.

 In 1643 the house was sacked by Reading Parliamentary troops who removed £800 worth of goods that included a £200 plate, and a bed with velvet hangings. 

King Charles 1st reportedly visited the house while he was a prisoner on escort from Oxford, to drink ale and play bowls on the green.

In 1672 Anthony Lybbe borrowed £500 in order to restore Hardwick, presumably when the south wing was rebuilt. The debit was repaid by his son in 1676 after his death.

Sir Charles Day Rose bought it in 1909, and he is thought by many to be the inspiration of Toad in the book 'Wind in the Willows', as it was written by his fellow banking contemporary Kenneth Grahame who lived in nearby Pangbourne.

The Rose family continue to own and run the Estate to this day, there are many enterprises run from it, they also have camping, moorings and an organic farm.

Shortly after this we arrived at Mapledurham Lock, linked with the Mill throughout the ages, and it's the only Mill working on the River Thames today.  The Mill appears in the Domesday Book so there was either a dam or a weir here in 1086.  

An interesting fact is that the lock is located in the Berkshire village and Parish of Purley-on-Thames on the south bank of the river where we were, rather than in the Oxfordshire village of Mapledurham on the other side of the river.

In 1956 it made history by becoming the first lock on the River Thames to be mechanical.   It wasn't that successful though and was changed to a hydraulic one in 1974.

The Eagle has Landed film was partly filmed at the Mill in 1976.

We had so many geese around us today and the occasional swan along this quiet stretch.

At this section we left the riverbank and walked upwards towards the town, where we crossed over the railway and walked through some peaceful residential areas and up onto the A329 pavement for a short while.

We spotted our first cowslips

Our first 'Welcome to Reading' sign, although we are still quite a way from the centre at this point!

This is the Roebuck Inn, which marks the half way spot of the Thames Path (from Source to Thames Barrier).

It's on the Purley/Tilehurst border, it was a popular pub in Victorian times when it was the nearest pub for most people due to Purley being strongly teetotal.  The Red Lyon pub was closed around 1800 and the owners of Purley Hall and Purley Park were strong supporters of the temperance movement. (complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages).

In 1882 it was expanded to accommodate boaters and anglers arriving at Tilehurst's new station.  A pedestrian bridge was built with very steep steps to give access to the tow path, ferry cottage and the landing stage, which is now part of the Thames Path.

It achieved fame when it was one of the stops for the boatmen in Jerome K Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat".  This book was published in 1889 and is a humorous book about 3 men (and their 'dog') and a 2 week boating holiday on the Thames from Kingston upon Thames to Oxford and back again.

We had to take a selfie to celebrate our half way moment!

Here we are welcomed again into Reading ...

There are various houseboats along this stretch.

And of course Lara Croft!

We were getting hungry at this point and I knew there was a Waitrose a short walk away from the Thames path.

(definitely a restoration job below)

Into the comfort of Waitrose where we had a great lunch followed by our customary order of cake, cappuccino and hot chocolate.

We had walked 5.95 miles to Waitrose, 13,397 steps and it had taken us just over 2 hours, we noticed how much faster our walk was going today as we weren't negotiating flooded pathways or uneven fields, we were on a much flatter/easier walking surface.

Along this stretch there were quite a few rowing crews out.

Through the trees I spotted Chazey End, a redeveloped property, £4.5 million.

We were coming into Caversham where there were some lovely houses on the other side of the river, many with their own boathouses and moorings.

Unlucky tree!

We reached the Thameside Promenade area with Reading's high rise buildings and cranes seen through the trees in the distance (having passed the fields and area where Reading Festival is held).

Beautiful fritillaries in the lawns.

You can see Caversham Bridge in the distance.

(This is a designated swan sanctuary, 200m up and down stream, and pleasure cruisers launch from here)

There has been a bridge between Reading and Caversham since the 13th Century.  The old bridge was breached during the English Civil War so that the Caversham half was supported by small stone arches and the Reading side was a wooden structure.

By the 1860s both sides were inadequate and unsafe, so groups from the two sides came together to plan building a new iron bridge.  This iron bridge was again replaced by the current concrete bridge in 1926.

Below is the view from the bridge pointing in the direction we need to go.

We crossed the bridge to walk through Christchurch Meadows and by Fry Island, there were ducks and geese everywhere!

Fry's Island is also known as De Montfort Island, a natural island with the only access to it by boat.  Home to a private house, a boatyard with a residence and a private bowling club.  It is knows as De Montfort Island following a famous duel on 8 April 1163 between Robert de Montfort and Henry Earl of Essex.

De Montfort had accused Essex of cowardice and treason. This followed a battle with the Welsh, where De Montfort alleged that Essex had dropped the King's Royal Standard and called out that the King was dead in an attempt to demoralise the English troops. Essex vigorously denied the charges and the two protagonists were always quarrelling. 

Whilst this was happening the Royal Court was in temporary residence at Reading, Henry II decided that he had suffered enough of the constant bickering and it was decided that the dispute was to be settled by a combat between the two on the island in the middle of the river.

The duel was watched by thousands of spectators from the riverbanks. 

Robert de Montfort won and the King ordered that the body of Essex was to be transported to the local Abbey for burial, but when the monks arrived they noticed he was alive with serious injuries, they looked after him until he made a full recovery.  But he was judged to be guilty of his crime and was stripped of his lands. The King let him live as a monk, so he spent the rest of his time in exile at the Abbey.

We spotted Mother Coot on her nest by the riverbank ..... and a little further on we saw Father Coot swimming back with more nesting material in his beak .... aaaaaah!

They produce 2 broods a season in their floating nests.

We could see the sloping roof of Reading station coming into view our final destination for the day and our route home to Newbury.

We crossed Christchurch Bridge and completed our walk.

We had walked a total of 8.5 miles today, 21,000 steps in 3 hours and 40 minutes.

PS: Following this walk Susan has developed a really sore hip, so we have pressed pause until she has some treatment.