Onto the Upper Thames

One of the entrancing things about the Thames is that its character changes as you move up or downstream, from the metropolitan excitements of the tidal section, through the ostentation of the lower part of the non-tidal bit, to the scenic splendour of the Middle Thames above Reading, and finally to the more intimate joys of the Upper Thames or Isis.

We’re now on that last section, taking a leisurely cruise to the head of navigation. Last night’s mooring at Iffley was everything you could want, including some unusual cattle on the nature reserve alongside:

They are Belted Galloways, famous for being able to graze less nutritious herbage than many another breed, and here being used to provide the traditional, post hay making graze on a classical water meadow.

We’ve had an excellent day’s cruise up to Eynsham Lock and Swinford Toll Bridge. After lunch, we took Sally for her afternoon constitutional. An interpretation board at the lock recommended walking up to the next lock, Pinkhill, and returning by field paths to Eynsham, describing it as 2½ miles, which sounded about right.

I’ve heard of country miles, but this was ridiculous. It took us just on two hours, and we are not slow walkers, even allowing for dog rummaging time. In addition, we had to find our way round the tip that is Oxford Cruisers yard, where the Anglo Welsh boats came from that gave us so much grief on the Oxford Canal a couple of months back, and some of the field paths, though reasonably well way marked, were distinctly overgrown and punctuated by the odd fallen tree.

Never mind, it made for a good walk, though we missed a quicker return to the lock by another field path at the end, instead walking over the toll bridge, which is narrow and has only a cursory provision for pedestrians. In the morning, I plan to try the other route, as an excellent pair of leaflets about the village, available from the lock, promises both a butcher’s and a baker’s.

That’ll mean a comparatively late start by our standards, so we’ll probably only go on as far as Bablock Hythe.