Friday evening moored at Pangbourne Meadow after a rainy start which then turned sunny. The river continues to be wide and pretty and Mapledurham is especially picturesque. We are now the people I used to envy when we had the barge. Because we have time, we can moor early and there are usually plenty of spaces. On the barge it was usually 4 or 5 pm before we moored and all those retired slow boaters had nabbed the best moorings! Haha, now we do it!
We walked in to Pangbourne which is an average sort of town, but we found a nice friendly pub opposite the church and a co op for a few supplies on the way back, so this mooring on a peaceful leafy well kept pathway gets the thumbs up from us.
On to Reading on Saturday for our last couple of nights before safely securing Ani in the Thames and Kennet Marina for a return to Kingston and home.
Clear blue skies this morning and consequently lots of boats out. Many rowing 4s and 8s training hard, so hard in fact that they and their trainer's motorised boats don't notice other craft. Tricky to navigate sometimes - best left to Pete!
It's lovely to see the river on sparkly days like this, with so many enjoying it, even a drummer sitting on the bank!
We moored on a public park in Reading, which wasn't so pleasant. The Nicholson guide states that Reading does nothing to welcome it's boating visitors and this was evident. In the summer these sad moorings cost £4.80 per night. Given that we were told it's a favourite drug selling area at night and there were some rowdy heavy drinkers sitting around when we arrived at lunchtime, you wonder how the council have the cheek to charge anything. We weren't at all impressed with Reading although we did have a quiet night.
We could get no signal for the TV here either!
On Sunday morning in the relentless rain, we decided to move, filling up with diesel on Frys Island at Caversham boats whose very helpful and pleasant owner also sold us some coal, which means we can keep the fire in overnight! The new mooring was no distance, but in a less busy residential area. Fire alight, we stayed put for the rest of the day.
We walked in to Pangbourne which is an average sort of town, but we found a nice friendly pub opposite the church and a co op for a few supplies on the way back, so this mooring on a peaceful leafy well kept pathway gets the thumbs up from us.
On to Reading on Saturday for our last couple of nights before safely securing Ani in the Thames and Kennet Marina for a return to Kingston and home.
Clear blue skies this morning and consequently lots of boats out. Many rowing 4s and 8s training hard, so hard in fact that they and their trainer's motorised boats don't notice other craft. Tricky to navigate sometimes - best left to Pete!
It's lovely to see the river on sparkly days like this, with so many enjoying it, even a drummer sitting on the bank!
We moored on a public park in Reading, which wasn't so pleasant. The Nicholson guide states that Reading does nothing to welcome it's boating visitors and this was evident. In the summer these sad moorings cost £4.80 per night. Given that we were told it's a favourite drug selling area at night and there were some rowdy heavy drinkers sitting around when we arrived at lunchtime, you wonder how the council have the cheek to charge anything. We weren't at all impressed with Reading although we did have a quiet night.
We could get no signal for the TV here either!
On Sunday morning in the relentless rain, we decided to move, filling up with diesel on Frys Island at Caversham boats whose very helpful and pleasant owner also sold us some coal, which means we can keep the fire in overnight! The new mooring was no distance, but in a less busy residential area. Fire alight, we stayed put for the rest of the day.
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