Well, well, well, I was wrong again. No farmer turned up to collect the £7 fee and leaving by 8.30am I expect it was also too early for him to check the moorings. So far the only money leaving Ian's wallet for mooring fees had been at Lechlade and that was just a fiver. Considering we have been on the Thames for nie on three weeks, haven't we done well! Will our good fortune continue? Hmm, I do hope so.
Must show the wonderful sunset and then the rising of a full moon. This was a fabulous place to witness the spectacle.
Cliveden house was our aim, NT house which we had visited many years ago. As members entry would be free so we thought we may as well go for another look. Hurley lock and Temple lock both on self-service but not at Marlow. I remember Marlow in the floods of January 2014. Not on FS thank goodness but by road on our way to deposit a cooker to a couple in Chertsey.
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| Marlow. The crew in the boat in front was under instruction |
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| Weir today and... |
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| in the floods of 2014 |
If you want a look at the rest of the Thames floods,
click here
We had thought Cookham to be the last lock of the day, Cliveden house being but a stone's throw from below the lock.
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| Cookham lock |
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| Cliveden House |
Trying to moor though, what a chore! A nice stretch of grassy bank in amongst the trees which looked to be perfect but getting into it was a different matter. First, we swung FS to face upstream, nosed her into the bank and then tried to bring the stern across. No chance as it was much to shallow for FS's backend. Ian's idea was to wind FS again and put the bow in the shallow bit instead. This worked a treat. A quick look on the website to see what time the house opened and....oh for heaven sake....not open on a Wednesday!! Blast, blow, what a b***er so saw no reason to stay and pulled pins to head for Dorney.
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| Looked to be perfect but perfect it was not! |
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| Poling the stern out on the first attempt |
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| Managed to moor facing downstream |
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| One end of the mooring and.. |
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| t'other |
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| Leaving and this time poling the bow off the mud. |
More locks to do but managed only Boulters because just before Brays lock another stretch of mooring showed itself. Managed to get right into the bank although quite a stretch for my short legs, and best of all no sign asking for a fee so yet another night of free moorings, are we lucky or what!
On the journey,
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| Another open water swimmer |
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| Serious cleaning will be needed here! |
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| Ice cream anyone? |
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| Remote control pond yachts |
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| 40 winks |
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| Looks like the cloud has been sliced in half |
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| Lucky shot. Took another photo and the plane appeared. |
And seen on route,
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| I was hoping to see these rose-ringed Parakeets |
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| Red Kite |
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| Pond skaters |
4 comments:
We'll have to look out for that mooring at Bray, not noticed it before!
I was a proud Yorkshireman last year when we did the whole Thames without paying any mooring fees.
At one spot with no mooring signs, the farmer came along and put signs up whilst we were moored and demanded payment. I argued it was unfair as we had arrived with no fee payable. He said pay or leave, so we left and moored for free up river. No way was I giving him my money.
I would have done the same Steve. Many years ago we had moored on a field and this youth came up demanding payment. No way were we giving a complete stranger money without the proper ID. He left, we stayed!
Carol it looks like a wall of cement bags but although the bow stuck out, the rest of FS was in. I will put a photo on my blog tonight. Xx
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