Day 17: Shillingford to Clifton Hampden

The cold weather has returned, but with blue skies (occasionally!) and snowdrops, daffodills and even the first brimstone butterfly, it feels as though spring is in the air. So, off to the river, to continue our marathon walk along the River Thames. Just 5 or 5.5 miles planned today, picking the path up at Shillingford. Here the Thames Path takes a boring detour along the A4074 road, but only for a few hundred metres, before heading down a path to the river. There was a lone angler where we met the river, and he had just landed a nice bream. We helped him to weigh it (5lb 12 oz - pretty good for these parts!) and return it safely to the river.

From here the path skirts along a large water meadow, with Dorchester Abbey in the distance.

Across the river, the trees had still not come into leaf.

The next landmark is where the diminutive River Thame flows into the mighty River Thames.

And then after another half a mile, we reached Day's Lock near little Wittenham. Here the Thames Path crosses over the river.....

... and on to a giant bend in the river. From the map, this looked featureless and the warbing signs adviving 'Beware of the bull' didn't do much to help! But in fact it was a series of many fields and meadows, each with a different character. Some with tightly grazed grass, others rich in clover....

... some with boggy reedbeds, some with clumps of sedge.

The largest - towards the end - was Clifton Meadows.....

And finally we arrived at Clifton Hampden, with its impressive mansion on the hill. (The speck in the sky is a red kite circling overhead).