Reflections on my walk .. three months later Walking backwards? The day before I set off on the Thames Trail, I wondered if it had been such a smart decision to walk it backwards. After all, I hadn’t come across a single other person who had walked upstream...

To give you some idea of how much water we were prepared to encounter on this last day, take a look at the map .. did you groan as much as my sister when she first saw it? Take a closer look .. Given how much rain had fallen in the previous 48 hours, we knew there was...

During the night it poured and poured with rain. It didn't bother to pause as dawn broke. The day had clearly arrived for my sister to join me .. it always pours when we walk together, usually forcing us to take tea or resort to retail therapy. It did last year in the...

OMG! The skies are grey and there is rain forecast .. I don't remember ordering a wet day, especially for 17 miles by myself! Ah well, the night has been comfortable at The Rose Revived and I feel suitably refreshed and ready to forge on ahead. At breakfast I sit next...

    My rest day in Oxford on Sunday was delicious. There was breakfast with Patrick, Nick and Joanna in the sunny courtyard at Old Bank Hotel, followed by a saunter around the Covered Market, a long nap .. and then a light but exquisite dinner with Anne,...

The day started with delicious porridge, courtesy of the Flanagans. Great to see them, especially with the added bonus of catching up with Anne and the gorgeous Teddy. After juggling cars we arrived back at the Barley Mow in Clifton Hampden, where we'd had dinner the...

  What an uplifting sight to start the day! A field of buttercups. The land to create Streatley Meadows was purchased by the local community in 2011, and has been kept as an open space for the whole village ever since. Like other wild meadows, cattle and sheep...

Setting out on Day Eight, I could not have been cleaner, better watered and fed nor more pampered and cared for. Cara and Hobey had gone well beyond the call of duty by taking in this weary walker and thoroughly revitalizing her. Thank you both. Cara dropped me at the...

At the risk of sounding repetitive, the sun was once more shining strongly out of a blue, blue sky when I left Hurley on Thames. The olde Bell had been a lovely stop, with fantastic food and stylish accommodation. The village church is close to the river and like many...

Long day today and I have to admit to my feet protesting a little at being put into walking boots again after their day off! On my day of rest I visited the castle in Windsor with the lovely Hobarts and returned to St George's Chapel there in the evening for evensong,...

The wet weather gear was once again able to stay tightly packed up at the bottom of the rucksack. The sky was deep blue and the clouds sparse as I set off from Old Shepperton. From dawn I'd had the windows open in my room which had been filled with the glorious sound...

With a little help from my friends, the blog is now behaving perfectly. I spent day four of the trail with Alex, setting out in sunshine and ending with sunshine. Perfect. Almost as soon as we started out we found the path flooded with runners, coming in droves from...

After a delightful evening at London's best Light house .. despite the equine disturbances in the night .. I stepped out into yet another day of sunshine. The first little stretch from Hammersmith to Barnes Railway Bridge was with Freddie, Liz and their three...

Once again, beautiful sunshine to start the day .. what is this about 'grey old England'?! Any vestiges of a Cinnamon Cocktail hangover were soon dispelled with sights of Westminster looking superb in the spring light. Not to say that there wasn't some wind around, as...

Remember that tingly, excited feeling you used to get as a kid, the night before going away for your annual holiday .. well, that was just how I felt on Tuesday before setting off on the Thames Trail .. or the Great Trek, as some of my dear Zimbabwean friends would...

Flying in on a very delayed Qantas flight yesterday morning, I was treated to aerial views of the Thames wending its way through London. I was as excited as the two miniature Dachshunds, who we could almost hear barking in the hold below! Their anxious owner was...

I'm now on the count down for starting the Thames Trail! I've bought my boots and broken them in, the itinerary has been created with gorgeous people joining me for days here and there and I've read 'Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog'. I've done some...