15 Polyramblers assembled at Henley station at 10.27. Unfortunately, the leader and 3 others did not arrive until 10.57 due to delays on the Elizabeth Line.  They say that every cloud has a silver lining and, in this case, at least the rain had stopped by the time we eventually set off.

We started walking by the Thames in Henley then the path took us out into a broad valley, to the church at Rotherfield Greys, followed soon after by the church at Rotherfield Peppard.  The rest of the walk was through fields, beech woods and small villages, with a few stretches of road and lane walking.  We stopped for lunch at the Unicorn Pub in the village of Kingwood and many were able to sit outside in the sunshine.

A few miles further on, 4 Polyramblers decided to take advantage of the opportunity to pick up the bus to Reading from Cane End. Alas, they were not able to avoid the sudden downpour which struck at that precise moment and the whole group were briefly drenched! Fortunately, it did not persist and by the time the remaining hikers reached the Bozedown Alpaca farm most of us had dried off, although there were not very many alpacas to be seen.  

On the final leg the walk then carried on to the Whitchurch parish church beside the Thames, from there to the toll bridge over the Thames, and finally into Pangbourne where most of us took the train and a few decided to stop for a cup of tea at The Swan Pub on the river.

On the train we reflected that it had been a lovely walk but had felt quite long and after comparing various phone step counters we concluded that it was at least 13 miles, rather than the 11.9 miles in the walk description.

Rochelle

Photos by Jo, Gillian and Chris