Monday, 14 October 2013

Pangbourne in the rain

13th October Sunday

Yesterday we travelled from Maidenhead to Henley in warm sunshine and no wind. The 12 miles or so went very quickly.
Today we woke up to very dark skies, pouring rain (lasted all day) and cold winds and we had decided to do 13 miles. This stretch of the Thames is particularly beautiful. The river widens considerably and despite the rain, the views and autumn colours are lovely. We arrived on Pangbourne meadows moorings at a sensible 2pm, but both of us were soaked through. The boat is now adorned with steaming raincoats, over-trousers, jeans, socks, gloves, hats and shoes. Thank goodness once again for our little squirrel stove, it's got a lot of work to do today.

Pangbourne holds special memories for us of trips here on the barge and one very memorable blow-out meal at a posh restaurant, where we ate in the garden on a warm summer's evening. Apparently this was the town where Kenneth Grahame lived and told his now famous story to his son in 1904 and Harleyford Hall at Hurley was supposedly the inspiration for Toad Hall.

Fish and chips tonight - I am not adding to the condensation by cooking! (That's my excuse!)












                                          Rain finally stopped


                                         Harleyford (Toad) Hall


Those ice creams must be darned heavy


Who on earth would bother creating this little creature? Amused me though.


This little dog was having a lovely time doing twice the walk he needed to by zooming back and forth between a group of walkers. Reminded me of my dog friend; Barley.

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