Newsletter February 25, 2024

We’ve been away in South East Asia for a couple of weeks so, whilst England was suffering with heavy rains, we had no rain at all! We arrived back to flood warnings in our area and, once again, the Path is underwater in many places.We still have some six weeks before our first walkers set out. So we’re praying for a dry (or not too wet) March.

There’s an important update on the Marsh Lock diversion which you will find under Thames Path Route News. Do look at that if you plan to walk through Henley this season.

On a brighter note, whilst it may not yet be any warmer of drier, at least the days are getting longer and spring flowers have started to emerge.

Although there are flood alerts in place on most of the Thames, that does not mean that the Path is completely inaccessible. Some stretches will be passable and some not. However, there will be many impassable sections and we can’t monitor these at the moment as it’s out of season. Do take a look at our Route Alerts page where we list those places that we suspect or know are a problem.

Non-flood Diversions Update:

The diversion at Benson is set to be in place for a long time, at least for the duration of this year and probably well into 2024. This diversion is in place because the bridge over the weir is deemed to be unsafe. A boat service ferries walkers across the river to Benson Lock thus avoiding the diversion. The ferry has been unable to operate since the start of the year due to river conditions. There are updates posted on their Facebook page.

Diversions remain in place around the closed boardwalk upstream from Marsh Lock, Henley. Since our last newsletter. we’ve heard that the estate over which the diversion runs will withdraw its support from the end of March. It seems they’ve become a little frustrated at the lack of progress being made by the Environment Agency over this issue which is now approaching two years old. The National Trails office is looking at other possible diversions.

A diversion was put in place in June at Temple Lock, just past Hurley. Once again, the bridge has been deemed to be unsafe. So, instead of crossing the river onto the left bank and walking into Marlow, you must follow paths, lanes and then a road on the right bank through Bisham and into Marlow.  It’s possible to cross the river at Hambleden Lock and follow paths on the left bank through Medmenham and all the way to Marlow. It’s a little convoluted but avoids walking on the road through Bisham.

This may now be over but a diversion was recently put in place near Runnymede Bridge due to flood damage to a footbridge.The diversion starts just before the bridge and takes you to Egham roundabout from where you must walk 0.6 miles along the pavement adjoining the A308

Phase II of the work on Teddington Footbridge is due to start in March. The footbridge will be closed on two weekends during the next six months. We don’t yet know which weekends this will happen although they have ruled out Easter weekend and Early May Bank Holiday weekend. The bridge is regularly used by commuters and schoolchildren – hence the need for a weekend closure. We’ll try and keep an eye out for this.

Further details of all these diversions can be seen on our website. We try to keep this page current so, in the absence of a newsletter, please refer to this.

We have added another hotel to our Thames Path route planner: the Orange Tree in Richmond.  It’s a Youngs’ pub with 13 bedrooms some distance from the river but close to the train station in the high street. As you might expect, it’s a busy place especially when rugby is being shown on the TV in the large bar.

The Swan at Pangbourne remains closed following the first floods in January.

The Cherry Tree Inn at Stoke Row, which lies mid-way on the third day of our three day Chiltern Ramble, received the British Innkeeping Institute’s sustainability champion award.It recognises the work of venues that try to lower their carbon footprint. The Cherry Tree Inn has two colonies of bees to provide honey in the restaurant.

If you were in Marlow last summer you might have seen film crews. We saw them at the Prince of Wales. They were filming The Marlow Murder Club, a TV series due to be aired on the Drama network. It’s based on a book of the same name by Robert Thorogood who created the Death in Paradise series. The trailer is out now and features scenes from the lovely Thames town.

Easter always brings good music to Dorchester Abbey and this year is no exception with a performance on Saturday March 30 of Bach’s St Matthew Passion performed by the Orchestra of St John’s. More details here.

Seasonal exhibitions:

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is showing Bruegel to Rubens, an exhibition of Great Flemish Drawings. It runs from March 23 to June 23.

Tate Britain has an exhibition entitled Sargent and Fashion, exploring the unique work of John Singer Sargent. It runs until July 7.

Tate Modern features an exhibition dedicated to Yoko Ono. It runs until September 1.

Some of The Ridgeway is a byway and 4×4 vehicles are permitted to drive on them. In the winter this can churn up the trail leaving deep rivets. So, restrictions are put in place (Traffic Regulation Order) to prevent vehicles using the route in winter. But these seem to have been ignored. Hence the campaign.