Catch the 9.57 Great Western train from Paddington (10.05 Ealing Broadway) to Maidenhead, arriving 10.28.
OR
Catch the Elizabeth Line at 9.30 from Farringdon (9.33 Tottenham Court Road, 9.35 Bond Street, 9.40 Paddington, 9.49 Ealing Broadway) to Maidenhead, arriving 10.18. Please wait for the Paddington train to arrive before starting the walk....
OR
As a "hybrid" option, catch the 9.35 (Heathrow Terminal 4-bound) Elizabeth Line train from Farringdon (9.38 Tottenham Court Road, 9.40 Bond Street, 9.44 Paddington) to Ealing Broadway, arriving 9.57, to connect with the above train from Paddington, departing 10.05. (One advantage of doing this is that the GWR trains have loos...)
Buy a day return to Marlow (or Bourne End or Cookham, if you definitely plan to finish there).
I thought it would be fun to try out the Elizabeth Line now it is through-running from Central London to the Thames Valley. (We have only waited 16 years for this moment...). This walk is a pleasant little outing along the Thames which can have fine autumn colour (particularly on the Cliveden reach in the morning, and on Winter Hill in the afternoon). The morning is a fairly simple, though very scenic, river path walk once you have walked a mile or so through urban Maidenhead. In the afternoon there is a steep climb up and descent from Winter Hill, with fine views on the top.
Lunch is at one of three pubs in Cookham - the Kings Arms is often favoured - and tea options in Marlow are myriad.
After tea you can walk back along the river path to Bourne End (another 3.1 miles) or Cookham 1.2 miles beyond that: but note that this can be slithery or even flooded in very wet weather.
Trains back from Marlow are at 01 past the hour, calling at Bourne End at 12 past and Cookham at 15 past, changing at Maidenhead for trains to London. The shortest connection here is to the GWR train to Paddington, though there is a Liz Line train a few minutes later. If you want to head into Central London on the Liz Line, it saves 10 minutes if you take the GWR train and change at Ealing Broadway.
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At least N=23 on this walk, possibly a few more. There was confusion at Maidenhead where lots congregated at the front of the station when the walk starts from the rear entrance. We soon met up but I only got to do a hasty count.
Still, an amazing turnout for a Thames Valley walk. Since all but four or five came on the Elizabeth Line, it was clearly an attraction. For the record - for the future reference of walk posters - people got on at stations as diverse as Canary Wharf, Farringdon and Tottenham Court Road.
Train service on the Liz was OK in the morning - the train had an unexplained stop beyond Paddington, but only for three minutes - but chaos in the evening. My party got a GWR train back to Paddington and took the Bakerloo.
With such a big group, we inevitably got split up. If others want to file a separate report, feel free. I know of 11 who ate at the King’s Arms and heard mention of some at the Crown. Some apparently went to the Indian restaurant and walked along the river to Bourne End. Five of us who continued to Marlow squeezed into Burgers, providing employment to the town’s youth, and two went to the pub.
In the morning a few of us did the diversion onto Ray Mill Island, a charming spot with a fine view of the Maidenhead Falls (aka Boulters Weir). There is a new bridge here to the east bank of the river, which may be worth exploring on a future outing.
The weather was disappointingly cloudy in the morning but W=sunny-in-the-afternoon. Despite the mild weather, autumn colour is ticking up - golden beeches, yellow Norway and field maple, some tinting on oak. The views from Winter Hill were lovely and crisp. The ground was largely dry.
Five of us set off from Marlow at 4pm-ish to walk in the lovely dusk light along the river to Bourne End. The rest of you missed a treat - the golden afterglow behind us, Jupiter and Saturn in the sky, the lights of the riverside houses reflected off the water. We had drinks at a riverfront tapas bar (which mysteriously served beer in two-thirds of a pint) and got the 6.12 train, fortified with “supplies”.
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