Mon 21st May - Marlow to Henley

Another wonderful day's walking! Marlow was soon left behind and we found ourselves walking along the riverbank with just the birdlife for company. We passed by Bisham Abbey then soon arrived at Temple Mill Island and Temple Lock. There is a graceful 150ft hardwood bridge over the river here then it was on through trees towards Harleyford Manor. A little further along we came to Hurley Lock Island which meant negotiating two high wooden bridges. Not a problem for me but our friend Sue wasn't too happy with them so I was happy to provide some moral (and physical) support. The scenery changed after the bridges from tree covered banks to a huge water meadow. We had seen a floating hair salon a few days earlier - a floating ice cream seller caught our eye and Sue stopped to photograph it. Margaret and I walked on oblivious to what was happening behind us. We didn't know it at the time but Sue had lost her phone. She had called out but we hadn't heard her so she had gone back to look for it. The first we knew of this was when we reached the far end of the meadow and turned round to find Sue had disappeared from sight. I left Margaret and hurried back as fast I could (not easy with a large pack). I feared the worst and wondered if she had hurt her leg or worse. I eventually saw her at the far end of the meadow. When I arrived she explained what had happened. Sue had already mentioned her lost phone to some passing walkers and a cyclist who were helping look for it. I was ringing Sue's phone constantly and the walkers heard it and returned it to Sue. We continued our walk after that unscheduled bit of excitement and had our lunch on the riverbank a bit further on. After crossing through the rest of the meadows we gained height for the first time near Culham Court and had great views of the river below us winding it's way through the fields. Heading down off the ridge we passed through the village of Aston where the lure of a cold drink at the Flowerpot pub was too much! It's a place where chickens run free in the garden - as we left one poor chap was trying to eat his meal with two chickens jumping up onto the table. Obviously very intelligent chickens these ones as they used a pincer movement so that one distracted the guy while the other made a beeline for the food! What was noticeable at this pub was the number of red kites in the sky above - we had seen buzzards up to now but this was the first time red kites had appeared. A local told us they feed them every morning in a nearby paddock. Continuing on our way the river swung round to the south again soon after and then it was a straight mile alongside the regatta course until we reached Henley Bridge and journey's end for another day. Reading is our destination tomorrow and another 10 miles will be under our belt. Strange to think that we have already managed 78 miles and in a few days we will not be far away from the magic 100 mile mark.