We were joined today by my friends Wendy and Terry again. They live at Burnham and because the Thames winds so much they aren’t far from the river for a long way. We left Windsor and went up to Boveney Lock where we had lunch on the hoof and then on up through Bray Lock and finally Boulters Lock in Maidenhead. At Maidenhead there are two l
ovely bridges one built by Sir Robert Taylor in 1772 and the other, a railway bridge, by Brunel in 1838. The railway is carried across the river on two brick arches, which at the time of building were the widest and flattest in the world. Then we came to, what is probably, the nicest stretch of the Thames – Cliveden Reach. Not only is it beautiful but Cliveden House stands at the top of the reach like a “master of all it surveys”. Cliveden was the home of the Astors and is where John Profumo met Ch
ristine Keeler in 1961. After Cookham Lock we went along Cookham Reach – the place where Stanley Spencer painted his famous painting “Swan Upping at Cookham”. We finally found a nice mooring spot just short of Cookham railway bridge. We set up the chairs, tables and barbeque on the bank where we had to use the gang plank – now Wendy is rather accident prone and after a couple of glasses of wine I was rather worried that someone was going to have to jump in the rescue her but she managed to negotiate it each time! We had a lovely evening but they had to leave us as a friend was coming to pick them up. It had been a lovely day.
ovely bridges one built by Sir Robert Taylor in 1772 and the other, a railway bridge, by Brunel in 1838. The railway is carried across the river on two brick arches, which at the time of building were the widest and flattest in the world. Then we came to, what is probably, the nicest stretch of the Thames – Cliveden Reach. Not only is it beautiful but Cliveden House stands at the top of the reach like a “master of all it surveys”. Cliveden was the home of the Astors and is where John Profumo met Ch
ristine Keeler in 1961. After Cookham Lock we went along Cookham Reach – the place where Stanley Spencer painted his famous painting “Swan Upping at Cookham”. We finally found a nice mooring spot just short of Cookham railway bridge. We set up the chairs, tables and barbeque on the bank where we had to use the gang plank – now Wendy is rather accident prone and after a couple of glasses of wine I was rather worried that someone was going to have to jump in the rescue her but she managed to negotiate it each time! We had a lovely evening but they had to leave us as a friend was coming to pick them up. It had been a lovely day.
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