The Thames Path XIII:Abingdon to Oxford (No Surprises).

"Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden. No alarms and no surprises" - No Surprises, Radiohead

 

Radiohead come from Abingdon and three of them were born in Oxford so yesterday's Thames Path walk (the thirteenth stage and the final one before we get into a brace of two dayers and round the whole thing off) was, in some ways, a Radiohead walk. Although when Thom Yorke sings about pretty houses and pretty gardens (not to mention jobs that slowly kill you, carbon monoxide handshakes, and hearts like landfill) it is with a magnificently sour note.

The pretty houses and pretty gardens we walked through yesterday were simply just that. It was one of the, possibly the most, beautiful stretches of the Thames so far (admittedly the glorious May weather could have been a factor) and it was also one of the shortest we've done (even factoring in a wrong turn or two). Perhaps because of that it also ended up being possibly the merriest stage of the journey so far. 

Well, Oxford on a Saturday evening in the sunshine is an opportunity not to be sniffed at. I'd woken early, as so often, picked up a Guardian, got the train to London Bridge and a couple of tubes to Paddington where I met Pam. The two of us took a fast train to Oxford where Shep was waiting outside the station. The three of us then took a taxi to Abingdon. More expensive than getting the bus but a lot quicker.

 

On arrival in Abingdon, the town was certainly showing its best side. We walked down past the 17th century County Hall, the upmarket apartments that used to be a jail (sorry, gaol), and the tempting looking - but it was way too early - Broad Face and Nag's Head pubs. We'd been into The Nag's last time.

Instead we dropped down to the bustling Abingdon Riverside Cafe on an island in the river. All the outdoor seating was taken but we'd be outdoors most of the day so the three of us took a couple of tables, ordered, and waited for Naomi, Sharon, and Jason to arrive. There was a forty minute wait on food so I had a pack of Pom-Bears (oh yes) to tide me over. When it eventually arrived the veggie breakfast was decent enough. Shep happily eating my tomatoes for me and leaving me room to indulge in a delightful couple of scoops of gelato before, after some 'fannying around' we all headed off.

In the wrong direction. It wasn't completely our fault. Colin, sadly an absentee this weekend, had warned us of diversions but we thought there'd be signs. There were but they'd fallen down the back of a wall. So after a lovely little stretch down to the weir looking at various waterfowl as well as a shag/cormorant we met with another pair of walkers who told us we couldn't cross the weir and the path would soon come to a dead end.

Back to Abingdon, back over the bridge, and down a quiet road and into a little alleyway which brought us out into Abbey Meadows with the ruins of the abbey behind a wall to our left. The meadows were busy with kids running around and playing on swings. An ice cream van did a good trade. I popped into the loo and said I'd catch the others up but while I was doing so (catching the others up, not dropping the kids off at the pool) I got an initially confusing call from Sharon.

It turned out she had dropped out and wanted to know when our first pub stop would be and where. We were some way off it but I gave her the name and an estimated time and, remarkably, we'd only be ten minutes later than planned in getting there but for now there was lots of lovely paths, beautiful countryside, and gorgeous river to admire as we spread out, closed together again, and spread out again. Naomi and Shep often leading the way. Although it's not a race. It's never a race.

 

 

It was a really lovely, flat, sunny stretch with occasional cover of trees and even a little dingly dell section. No major sights. Just fantastic walking all the way to Sandford-on-Thames. Not sure if we saw Colin's place but we did stop at the delightful King's Arms pub. Sharon was waiting in the garden with a glass of Pimm's that had so much fruit in it that Carmen Miranda could have fashioned it into a hat.

I took a lager and inevitably a highly enjoyable two pint mistake was made as we chatted about famous Busters (none of them are actually called Buster, it's a nickname not a real name) and various other nonsense. Then we had to pass back across and away from the river for a bit. Another diversion. This time along a cycle path that runs parallel to the railway and, after a fashion, rejoins the river again.

Shep and Naomi again got ahead while Pam, Sharon, and Jason brought up the rear. I tried to hold the middle but was, to be honest, quite happy just being in my own space for some time. Just taking in the wonderful countryside and beautiful weather. I love sunny days.

It wasn't long before we reached the second pub. The Isis Famhouse (not that ISIS) has a huge beer garden and it was predictably very busy. We managed to get a seat though and I must say it's quite an impressive place. Oxford rowing teams and cyclists passed by on the river and its path while we enjoyed another cheeky one before beginning on our final stretch of the day. In to Oxford proper.

Of course, this stretch was getting busier and at times the Thames split into two or more, there were cute bridges (both wooden and stone), the confluence of the Thames with the Cherwell, unusually shaped boats, more rowers, some fancy houses, and, far quicker than I expected, the dreaming spires of Oxford itself.

Rob had agreed to meet us in The Head of the River pub (where he'd take over from Naomi - they have kids, priorities) and had a pint as he'd decided he wouldn't be running the Town & Gown 10k in Oxford the following day after all. A fantastic yakkage was had in the pub as Rob told Pam, and reminded me, of a rather worrying story about children's television presenter Gaz Top. And another far more famous story about Rolf Harris.

The book we're using (sort of - the river kind of does the heavy lifting itself) as a guide provided us with a suggested walk around Oxford and all its wonderful history and amazing buildings but I'd been to Oxford many times before (remarkably, it was Sharon's first visit - she needs to go back and check out the city itself properly) and even arranged a TADS walk in the city back in 2018. Not sure how that can already be seven years ago.

Instead we sped up to Chutney's in the city centre where we had a couple more beers (or at least some of us did) and I had a masala dosa which was tasty but I was a bit bloated on beer by that point. Then it was a rush back to the station, a train to Paddington, Bakerloo line to Elephant & Castle, 63 bus home to fall asleep in front of the television with an untouched bottle of beer in front of me.

Next time we'll convene in Oxford and, over two days, head to Lechlade via Newbridge. That's a long one. A very long one. So we'll need to put some training in. Looking forward to it though. Hope it's as much fun (though likely a very different kind of fun) as yesterday's walk was. There may have been no (or relatively few) surprises but sometimes that's for the best. Thanks to Pam, Shep, Naomi, Sharon, Jason, and Rob for making the day such fun and thanks to Sharon and Pam to contributing photos to this blog. Thirteen stages done. Four remaining. Sit pax in valle tamesis.