Backup Only

This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Midweek day walk Marlow to Henley-on-Thames

Marlow to Henley

The Thames Path with a gentle hill in option 1 and Thames Valley meadow land. 

Book 2 Walk 8     

Length :  16 km or 10 miles

Toughness :  3 out of 10

Getting there :  Catch the 9:57 am train from London Paddington to Marlow changing at Maidenhead.  (Don't forget that Baker Street tube trains are not stopping at Paddington until mid-August)
FAQ: Does the train stop at Ealing Broadway? Yes it does departing 10:05 am

Meeting point :  Marlow Station at 11:01

Tickets :  There is a Thames Branches Day Ranger for £12-90 with a rail card (which would allow you to travel back via Reading), otherwise I'd suggest a cheap day return to Henley-on-Thames and be prepared to pay for a single from Maidenhead to Marlow

Brief Description

I had hoped to post a Dover to Deal walk, but the trains to that neck of the woods are on the fritz and the replacement bus journeys a wee bit too long.
Anyhow, as it looks like a right scorcher on Wednesday, here's a gentle stroll in the Thames Valley with Old Father Thames providing a pleasant backdrop.
As usual you may find full details here where I've posted option 2 (Marlow to Henley).
This option has two possibilities.

  1. Via Remenham Hill with Lunch at the Flower Pot
  2. Via the River Path with Lunch at the Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden

I suggest walkers decide which option best suits the majority at Marlow Station

Suggested Lunch stops

Flower Pot Country Inn in Aston t: 01491 574721
The Stag and Huntsman in Hambeledon t: 01491 571227

Suggested Tea stop

The ever popular Chocolate Theatre Café in Henley t:01491 411 412

Maps

OS Explorer : 171 and 172

Return train times

Trains return from Henley-on-Thames to Paddington at the following times ...
16:20 | 17:09 | 17:46* | 18:17      * via Reading
You will need to change at Twyford

7 comments:

Marion said...

At last a sensible walk avoiding southern region trains. Intend going from Ealing Broadway.

Anonymous said...

Don't temp fate Marion - FGW (now GWR)don't have the best claim for punctuality and reliability!

Anonymous said...

Hope to go jfk

Marion said...

On the subject of tempting fate Ive just returned from Weymouth using South West trains £16 fare and spent 4 hours getting there courtesy of signal failure at Basingstoke. 6 hours getting back as the signalling problems are still ongoing and coincided with a drunken brawl involving police action. No connecting trains at Clapham Junction resulted in taxis being required to get home and insufficient numbers of cabs being available to the cab-line service due to so many passengers being stranded throughout the south west network. Got home eventually at 3.30am!!! Check your homeward service on-line before staying late for drinks and supper after our walks as there are ongoing engineering problems with a number of train companies currently.

Walker said...

Yes, I went to Eastbourne yesterday and unwisely relied on the last train home. Total meltdown. The train was delayed, no staff available to tell us why and when some appeared they more or less shrugged. Complete disorder. Finally a driver turned up and took us back to London but since we would arrive after the last tube, I changed at Clapham Junction hoping for a Waterloo train. An extraordinary scene there with all the mainline Waterloo trains severely late due to the problem Marion describes and signal delays at Feltham affecting local trains. I eventually got home at 2am by night bus.

Anonymous said...

n=8 of the train with one Walker tempting two others to join. One explained he had to drive the train back to Maidenhead and the other, although a walker, explained she lived in Marlow and had other tasks to attend to. Nice try C!
Weather started w=slightly_overcast_developing_into_the_forecast_scorcher
Two were tempted into Burgers in Marlow High Street and all set forth to the Flower Pot. One dallied at Hurley lock for a welcome cuppa and caught up with most others at the Flower Pot. The Pub sports a two year old African Grey Parrot, which whistles a number of tunes (and words) learnt of the locals. It also has a great garden (the Pub that is).
The heat continued to build, but walkers refrained from throwing themselves in the Thames and three staggered into the "Angel on the Bridge" at Henley for a welcome cuppa/Brakespeares finest.
I'm happy to report the trains ran on time and no tracks melted.
A real sizzler of a day though.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous weather and lovely stretch of the Thames jfk