Due to worsening weather (again) on Monday we decided that we'd best move today Sunday (9th June)
At 7:45 these wild water swimmers were passing Still Rockin' and we were to meet up with them later
20 past 8 and we've pulled the pins and cast off from Medmenham meadow ...
passing the campers
and Culham Court ...
one of the swimmers again ...
and three very pretty launches moored near the slipway
and whatever you call seven wild swimmers together!
Our luck is in (or so we thought) a boat is just leaving Hambledon Lock as George pulls over to let me off to drop of the rubbish and operate the lock. But as I entered the dockside from the refuse bin enclosure the bottom gates were closed and the lock was being turned for two cruisers coming down ... just a misunderstanding you understand!
I saw the cruisers through and ten minutes later George is in the lock and Simon, the resident lock keeper was on duty so I got back onboard and off we went ...
cruising through Henley on Thames we could see lots of people having fun ...
and start and finish points for racing ... it was a pop-up camping event run by Embers
Henley is also setting up for the ...
Henley Regattas ...
starting with the Women's Regatta on 21st -23rd June
and the Royal Regatta which takes place between the 3rd and 7th of July
Where this fencing is above, is an inlet which leads to Fawley Court (where I got my feet wet and George played the hero way back in January 2018 ... you can refresh your memory here) ... anyway, back to the fencing ... there was a bridge over the inlet ... you'll see it in the link above ... but now it's gone, so you cannot walk from Hambleden to Henley on this side of the Thames any more!
I just love this riverside home and boat house ...
as we head towards the five arches of Henley Road Bridge which was built in 1786
which has sculptures of Tamesis (downstream) and Isis (upstream) as the bridge's keystones
Washing the waterline of a Hobbs of Henley trip boat
and a fun fair too ... busy in Henley!
This made me smile ... two young Egyptain goslings behind bars!
Marsh Lock next ... there's a lockie on duty and the lock is currently taking the African Queen upstream
This must be one of the most photographed building on this part of the Thames ...
with it's old leaded, and stained glass windows and those beautiful barley-twist chimneys ...
I just love it!
That doesn't bode well!
A new thatch on this property ...
as we pass through Wargrave and this one is for sale!
Punting practice as we approach ...
our third lock of the day at Shiplake which we can see is also manned and has a queue waiting to go up.
Some nice properties here
and there was a narrowboat, a cruiser, two canoes and a rowing boat waiting to go down too!
Blimey! This wide- beam was coming round the corner on the wrong side of the river ...
and then the big cruiser Vicky Baby was hurrying past us ...
belching out toxic and eye watering exhaust ... we pulled back a bit and let him get ahead
We then overtook the widebeam hire boaters ...
and watched this cruiser as it sped towards and past us ... it must have given the little rowing boat in from a bit of a surprise ...
and we hoped that this Environment Agency boat Tillingbourne was going to catch him up and give him a warning for speeding
You really do see all sorts on the River Thames!
Three and a half hours later we have arrived at our destination at Sonning ...
it's the first time we've moored here ...
outside what was Uri Geller's Berkshire 9-bedroomed mansion home from 1980 until 2016 leaving behind this metal sculpture (not bent by him!)
The pretty Sonning Bridge from the stern of SR
G.U.C.C Bullbourne passes by soon after we'd moored up.
Time for a walk now ...
If you could remove all the parked cars in Sonning you could believe you were way back in the past
in a lovely setting
Holding my ice-cream while I take photos - that's love for you!!??
As forecast ...
Monday was wet, wet wet ...
and we stayed inside and watched the boats go by.
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