Thames Path Ramble 8: Oxford to Abingdon Bridge, which is about 8½ miles, walked on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

Thames Path Ramble 8: Saturday 2nd May 2015 Oxford  to Abingdon Bridge, which is about 8½ miles.

 Sue C, Jem, Dot, Ann, Margaret H, Jean F, Jean H, Peter, Sue H, Judith, Carole, Howard, John, Julie, Ian and I did this walk today; that includes 4 new people to the group and the largest group on a Thames Path ramble we have had.

 We set out along the side of the River Thames from Folly Bridge, with the imposing Head of the River pub/restaurant opposite. Several large cruise boats were moored on the small, central island where Salters Steamers Ltd has a base for their boat hire and public boat trip business. 

 It was immediately apparent that this stretch of the Thames is well used and it seemed grander and very wide. The River Cherwell enters the Thames here. After Magdalen Bridge (where the day before, being May Day, students used to jump into the river after a night of revelry), the River Cherwell flows beside Christ Church meadow and Oxford Botanical Gardens to then split into two branches. There is significant discharge into the Thames and the island formed between these two branches is where many of the University college boathouses for rowing are.  As it was a Saturday morning, there was much activity and many boats and students were out, with coaches on bikes shouting advice from the bankside.

 Many people call this section of the River Thames the Isis (the upper section from Iffley Lock (or Dorchester) to the source). It is associated with the intercollegiate rowing races called the Torpids and Eights. They start in line with each other and aim to catch up and bump the boat in front. The overall winner is the ‘Head of the River’.

No races today: all we saw where fast going canal narrowboats, one with a harassed woman aboard, aiming to bump anyone who got in the way.

Iffley Lock, has a boat slide and two interesting bridges (one wooden similar to the ‘Mathematical’ bridge in Cambridge and the other an ornate stone bridge).

 After Iffley Lock and going under a road bridge (carrying the main Southern Oxford Bypass (A423)) and a disused bridge (that once carried the Oxford to Thame railway), life became a lot more peaceful.

We began to notice the wildlife; more birds including a couple of geese with goslings, a reed bunting but I must confess that I didn’t notice any fritillaries that may have been in the meadows nearby (Iffley Meadows are well-known for the fritillaries flowering in early April).

 We stopped for lunch at Sandford Lock. On one side the Kings Arms pub occupies a large stretch of the river bank. The lock itself has the greatest fall of water in the Thames (nearly 9feet) and the lock is massive (174 x 22 feet).

The whirlpool below the weir, called the Sandford Lasher, has been responsible for several deaths and is mentioned in many literary works.

Just beside here is the site of a very old papermill, now converted into housing.

 Going onwards, we passed Radley College boathouse, with a fleet of moored motorised rafts (maybe for marshalling?). Opposite was a lovely large, but isolated, boathouse and not long after we passed Pumney Farm. Here there is a large, attractive, old, extended farmhouse, maybe flats now, surrounded by the river and water in two large ponds (with midges).

 

 On the opposite bank and occupying a high vantage point, Nuneham House came into view (not Radley College). This is Palladian Villa built for Earl Harcourt in the mid-1700s. The building is currently used as a retreat centre for Brahma Kumaris World University and part of the grounds are where Oxford University has an arboretum. During World War II it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and people there examined and interpreted reconnaissance photographs.

When we spotted the tall, slender spire of St Helen’s Church, Abingdon we knew that we were nearing the end of our walk. The path deviates slightly, away from the main channel through a wood, and then goes over the weir at Abingdon Lock. 

Here we posed for the group photograph and walked on to cross the bridges (originally medieval) into Abingdon. 

Abingdon was once the home of Morland ales and the MG car works. It is now in Oxfordshire, but was the original county town of Berkshire and is famous for bun-throwing from the County Hall (now newly restored and a museum).  The Ock Fair and air-shows continue. We heard, while having a rewarding cuppa at the Crown and Thistle the announcement that a new addition to the Royal Family had been born; a daughter to Kate and William. Is that reason enough to throw buns from the old County Hall I wonder?