A walk along the river at Henley ...

Long time no see ... apologies ...

Sunday morning (19th) we had minus degrees again and the Thames was still rising ...

Monday morning and you can see that the river has subsiding a little.

It was a lovely day and we thought about walking into Henley but decided that the fields and towpaths would be well under water and muddy so caught the bus instead.   

We walked down Hart Street to the river path ...

to Henley Bridge  where the river was running fast and furious.

A few snippets of information ...

The word 'Thames' comes from the Celtic word 'tamesis' which means dark river and Henley's first flint and stone bridge (with wooden arches) was built around 1170 (Henry II).  The current bridge was built in 1786.

Looking away from the bridge we could see that the river had flooded the pathway in some places ...

we walked round the Hobbs office building and the large trip boats and looked back towards the town with the parish church of St Mary's in the middle distance

This lucky narrowboat has found a good place to sit out the high water and red boards

Looking upstream (left) and downstream

George has walked ahead ...

and the river water is lapping his shoes as he reads the notice on the gate ... it would take a foolhardy driver to attempt to!

A good zoom lens comes in handy!  The information board is titled 'Henley from the Wargrave Road 1698

Looking upstream towards the lock and weir (left) and back towards town again

The owners of this widebeam have a long stride to reach the path over the water which a few days ago must have reached well into the grassed area.

Ice still on the puddles

It was cold but bright with a wonderful sky as we continue towards the lock and weir bridge

A 5-second video showing how fast the water was flowing

I wouldn't want to walk on that!

we stepped carefully through the water here ...

but this was definitely a no-go area!

We turned around and made our way back into Henley to do the shopping and returned back to Still Rockin' on the bus.

Tuesday (21st) was once again very frosty ... these pictures are of the 'windows' of the canopy over the stern deck ... but that sun gave us a promise of another good dry, bright day!

And the river levels are still dropping!

'Twas a cold and frosty morning ...

on Saturday (18th) here at Hambleden Marina

at 7:30

and the River Thames is still rising!

It's even deep enough on 'our' lawn for the Grebe to dive for fish!

And it's still only just above freezing at nearly 10 o'clock.

 The male Great Spotted Woodpecker is back and is fancying the nuts today for a change

But the sun is shining!

We're off for a walk but first we need to be able to get off the pontoon ...

and take a quick look at the weir ... blimey ... that's running fast!

Walking up to Hambleden village we see the calves galloping about the field ... so funny!

There's always one who has to be different!

Arriving at the village shop and post office and we've never noticed the telephone box in the wall before.

Sitting on a bench eating a flapjack for energy ...

looking at the amazing views

Passing the impressive Jacobean Manor house ...

and walking through Hambleden Estate ...

onto Rotten Row on our way home

This is where the mill stream (our mooring) comes in from the main river ... you may just be able to see the bridge hole on the water-line to the right of the narrow boat ... there is usually a gap of more than 3 feet, but today there is barely 3 inches!

‎Simon Shepherdson, Hambleden lock keeper ... posted today
 to

Hambleden Lock UNOFFICIAL river conditions update, Saturday 18th January 1200hrs. Some good news, there was no recorded rainfall here in the last 24 hours. The tail level here has continued to climb rising six inches to 12’7” (4’11” above normal summer levels). The headwater has risen a further two inches and now +18” (14” above normal summer levels). The flow is now up to around 220m3/Sec. Red Boards displayed the entire length of the river. The towpath will be underwater in places. Access between Hambleden Lock and The Flowerpot remains dry.

When we got back to Still Rockin' ...

and out came the sun chairs and a cuppa tea onto the deck ...

where we sat for an hour or so watching the wildlife and the views.

A good day!