Stage 22: Tadpole to Lechlade (backwards)

Dear Bertie,

It's day 2 of our August mega family walk with Me, Lola, Papa and Mamie. 

The sky was a bit grey and drizzly as we packed up the car and headed out East, this time along the big river. 

You helped Mummy in the posh cafe to get a lovely pastry-tastic picnic lunch for today and bravely petted a big yellow dog. 

Back on the Thames path, we walked through the cow field opposite our hotel and you said 'good morning' to everyone living in their boats waking up for their breakfast. We were very brave marching through 3 big cow fields today and you were very friendly to them 'hello vache'. 

We passed our first lock of the day, St John's Lock. 

Here is the famous Old Father Thames statue next to the lockeeper's house. The statue was commissioned by Crystal Palace, but was rescued from a fire there in 1936 and positioned at the source. After it was vandalised, it was brought to this lock instead where Old Father Thames reclines in glory - 

We crossed a rickety old wooden bridge and crossed into fields with enormous tall slim trees. 

Dotted along the river were a number of pillboxes, on the GHQ stop line, a 300 mile long dense line created across southern England as a second line of defence in case of invasion in World War II.  You loved looking into their hidden doors. 

During our morning snack break you practised your skiing with the walking poles, while Lola learnt to roll for the first time!

Next was Buscot Lock and weir, where we stopped for our picnic lunch, but you were too busy working at the lock to eat! You learnt all about how locks work, and used your strong arms to push.

You loved waving to the retired people cruising through the lock. 

Then you stood on the jetty next to the lock with Papa, being careful not to fall in, and watched 2 young paddle boarders climb in to head upstream like us.

We then walked through a very nice village called Radcot and saw a big camping site and some teepees which you would like to stay in 'when my bigger'.  We also saw lots of houseboats and you picked a yellow flower to give to a young boy playing in the mud which was very kind, you made him so happy. 

We walked along the river just south of RAF Brize Norton, the largest RAF station, with over 5,800 service personnel working there. We saw lots of large carriers coming in to land which we thought might be from the Afghanistan evacuation from the Taliban occupation, which you may learn about at school one day. 

On the latter part of our walk, the sun came out and it was getting rather hot! We kept seeing the paddle boarding couple, but Papa's short cuts through the thick grassy fields meant we beat them to the pub end point. 

We crossed our last lock of the day, Rushey Lock and weir. 

Just before the end you went to sleep in a rather uncomfortable side slump and woke up quite surprised as we approached our end point, the Trout Inn at Tadpole.

We had a lovely afternoon at the Trout Inn with hot chocolate, rocky roads, dipped our feet in the chilly water and explored the pub with our bare feet! Before heading home  via (another) pub for dinner and back to your bed and toys at home. 

Well done Bertie - that was a big 2 days of walking the big river!

TOTAL DISTANCE: 17 KM

GPS route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37254471

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5854685735

Feeding stops: 2

Nappy changes: None, in big boy pants now!

Crying episodes: None, you loved today

Feeding stop:
Lunch - Picnic on the river

Afternoon drinks and cake - The Trout Inn, Tadpole

Travel:
Parked in Lechlade, walked Lechlade to Tadpole, Papa got taxi back to Lechlade then picked us up in Tadpole before heading home.

Accomodation: New Inn Hotel, Lechlade

Stage 21: Bablock Hythe to Tadpole

Dear Bertie,

It's back to Oxfordshire to complete stage 21, with Papa this time! We left home the night before, you wore your jim jams in the car and had a picnic dinner of cheese sandwich and big pear slices. 

                                          Then we tucked you into another big boy bed in our big shared room in the

                                          Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge.                            

                                          In the morning, we drove to our starting point, Bablock Hythe - 

And headed on to the path in the drizzle. 

                                           We watched a big white dog chasing a stick into the river - 

We passed under some enormous pylons with electricity buzzing and you told 

 me how you would like to build a pylon when we get home and we talked about what you would need for that 

Our first lock was Lockmoor with pretty tall flowers but no boats going through for your strong arms unfortunately. 

We passed a big field of cows and you were so brave and said 'morning vache' as we tip-toed around their giant poos, but Papa managed to get some poo all the way up his leg and was rather grumpy about it. 

On a narrow path we met a big brown Mummy horse and her baby and you bravely stroked them. 

We had a lovely snack stop at Newbridge on a small pontoon on the river.  You met a giant St Bernard dog, found some funny pedaloes and had a wee, then we headed back on the walk. 

We passed some very tall silver trees with bird boxes on them. 

And we crossed a big, rickety, old wooden bridge - 

We passed the enormous Chimney Meadow Nature Reserve; an ancient landscape and vital refuge for wading birds, and popped to the bird hide overlooking the wetlands. 

Then walked through a beautiful tunnel of pink flowers which smelt very sweet, 

before arriving back at The Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge for macaroni cheese on the lawn  

and your favourite strawberry ice cream. 

While waiting for Papa to collect the car you ran around the garden with a giant stick. 

And you sat by the river watching a big family and their brave yellow dog swim  

and we talked about going river swimming together 'when my bigger'  

Then you played in the summer house 'train station' before we hopped in the car and drove home. What a great day and long walk again.  Well done Bertie!

TOTAL DISTANCE: 15 KM

GPS route: https://www.strava.com/activities/6016399603

Feeding stop:
Picnic on the river then pub at the end.

Travel:

We drove. In the morning we all drove to Bablock Hythe and parked at the Ferryman Inn, walked back to The Trout. Nico then got a taxi back to Bablock Hythe to collect the car and then us!

Travel from London possible via train - Paddington to Oxford, or CLJ - Reading-Oxford, then using the S1 bus from along the route back to Oxford stn

Accomodation: The Trout Inn, Tadpole had lovely, smart and comfy bedrooms, spacious too for toddler and baby cots, and amazing food too.

You can also stay at the start at The Ferryman, Bablock Hythe.

Stage 20 - Oxford to Bablock Hythe

Dear Bertie

It's back to Oxford we go!  It's over 2 years ago since we left the iron bridge over the Thames in Oxford, and now we are back to finish the last few stages of this huge walk we have done together. I feel so proud of us both.

For our next leg from Oxford to Bablock Hythe, your favourite 'auntie' Salad,  (Alys but you get the letters muddled),  is joining us. After a sleepover at her parents' lovely big house (with a moat!) and their massive dog Dotty who you loved bossing around insisting,  'sit Dotty'!   Hooray!

After a yummy breakfast of porridge and wild blackberries in the morning at Salad's house, we hop in the car to Oxford and start back on the river, loaded up with you, Lola and a lot of snacks.

Passing lots of houses along the river and school kids on their way to big school on their bikes.  'Good cycling' you tell them! You are such a kind and encouraging boy.

We cross a lovely big curved wooden bridge. 

Then we headed into some enormous meadows with lots of pleasure boats parked.  You spotted a cheery bright yellow one and said that was Bertie's boat. 

We then walked past a small boatyard where 2 men were using their strong arms to hoist a boat up to fix a problem. 

We passed some ruins - Godstow Abbey - a 12th Century nunnery and explained how all the walls and roof had fallen in. Henry VIII's mistress lived here. More recently they filmed the 'Mama Mia' movie inside the Abbey. You love dancing to that Abba song! 

We passed 3 locks today - Kings and Godstow and Eynsham - where Mummy once swam 10k in just her cossie and no wetsuit. 

We passed a big stone marking an Oxford boundary.  Robert Nucknell served his first term as mayor in 1885 and Francis Twining was his sheriff, that was a long time ago! 

Then we went under the big road - the A40 - which had some 'colouring' on the wall and we tried our echo voices, 'ECHO!'  

We passed the Eynsham lock which was the end of Mummy's big 10k swim she did here before you were born. 

Then we stopped by the river for snacks and Lola's milk.  Uou played with Salad while Lola rolled around and we all did stand up wees in the bushes. 

After snack stop, we passed a huge boatyard called Oxford cruisers which is a family run boatyard. They restore, maintain and repair narrowboats, Dutch barges and cruisers. We saw big cranes and hoists and a lot of building and noise going on.

Nearing the end of our walk, we passed under a very old toll bridge - Swinford - a privately owned toll bridge which costs cars just 5p to cross, though they stopped taking payment during the Covid pandemic Salad's Mummy told us. The bridge is made of the famous Oxfordshire yellow stone. 

Nearing the end, we went through a big field full of happy bouncing sheep then stood next to a huge pen full of sheep which smelt a bit of poo.

Then it was back to Salad's house to play on the rusty old tractor and to eat our sandwiches with Dotty in their outside courtyard. 

You tried lots of food you had never tasted before; pea and courgette soup, corn on the cob and lemon barley water, which you said were all delicious. Then you helped Salad's Daddy chop logs and load them into a wheelbarrow in the rain, before we got in the car and drove home to Papa. Well done Bertie, that was another long walk!

TOTAL DISTANCE: 18.9 KM

GPS route: https://www.strava.com/activities/6034438788

Feeding stop:
Picnic on the river

Travel:

We drove.

Travel from London possible via train - Paddington to Oxford, or CLJ - Reading-Oxford, then using the S1 bus from along the route back to Oxford stn

Our accommodation: Aly's house, Stanton Harcourt.

Lots of options in Oxford, The Ferryman at Babcock Hythe for the start and the pub at Stanton Harcourt also looks nice for the end.