Thames Path Route News
There are no new diversions to report. In fact, the list of diversions has gone down in that the bridge at Pinkhill Lock has been repaired!
Work continues on the Richmond diversion. You can watch a short video of the works here. Although work is nearing completion on the Benson weir, it’s not scheduled to reopen until the end of the year.
We reported in our last newsletter that the Environment Agency had earmarked £500,000 to progress work on both Temple Bridge and Marsh Lock bridges in Henley-on-Thames. This was mentioned in Parliament last month when local MP Freddie van Mierlo said “I welcome news from the Environment Agency that money has been identified to begin design work, but it is only partial funding, and the future is still uncertain.” This reaffirms our belief that little will happen soon. The total cost of repairs of just Marsh Lock bridge is estimated at £1.3 million. So this £0.5 million will probably only cover design work for possibly both bridges.
In the meantime a number of walkers have struggled with the Shiplake to Henley diversion, caused by the closure of Marsh Lock bridge, as some signs appear to have been removed, or, worse still, turned around. The National Trails office has issued route guidance here. Those on a package with us will have full details in their booklets.
The Runnymede diversion was the scene of a battle where barriers would be erected by the council only to be dismantled by locals wanting to keep the path open. The council finally won the battle by erecting an impregnable fence which would not have looked out of place at Fork Knox – see photo below.
As always, all of these are listed our route alerts page on the website. A question was asked on social media as to how up-to-date the content is. Well, we keep it as up-to-date as best we can given that this is a free service and we have limited resources. Some confusion arose over the fact that we include flood alerts on the page, of which there have been none for some months. We leave these on as it’s much quicker to update the status rather than create a new one – explained on the page. But all have status updates saying “all clear”. Nonetheless we plan to split the alerts into two pages: one for flooding and one for diversions. Watch out for that soon – we hope!
Long-standing diversions:
Sandford: A bridge over a tributary is deemed unsafe and has been temporarily closed whilst investigations are made. In the meantime, the Path has been diverted along Route 5 cycle path which runs alongside the railway. The Path is rejoined just past Sandford Lock.
Abingdon: As you approach Abingdon in a downstream direction, the Path switches from the right bank to the left bank via a walkway across the weir. Due to corrosion, this walkway has been closed and the Path re-routed via Abingdon town centre.
The diversion to avoid the closed boardwalk at Marsh Lock Henley now starts at Shiplake and takes you briefly into the Chilterns. The diversion adds an extra 1.0 miles to the walk although feedback that we’ve received is that it feels much longer! But, bear in mind that the distance from Shiplake to Henley is already 2.4 miles. So the diversion is therefore 3.4 miles in total.
The diversion at Temple Bridge is still in place following its closure. The diversion makes use of the lane running from Temple to Bisham and then a road with a pavement into Marlow
And damage to a bridge over a tributary has caused a diversion from just past the Runnymede Hotel to shortly before Staines. The diversion uses the A308 (pavements) returning the walker to the riverbank just before the bridge at Staines. The diversion replaces about 0.6 miles of the route with minimal added distance. The diversion is set to be in place until 2026. The signage for this diversion is not that obvious.
Between Richmond and Kew a section of the embankment has collapsed into the river. There is no way around meaning that section of the Path is temporarily closed. We advise you to follow the left bank through Isleworth and Brentford. However, development work is ongoing at the Grand Union Canal in Brentford with the Path being blocked. This can be avoided by skipping the walk along the canal and following Brentford High Street instead.
For a full list please see our route alerts page on the website. | 
