Henley to Maidenhead

Monday July 17th and it was a glorious hot Summer's day in Henley so shorts and T-shirts are all that's required! We left just after 10am after John had walked Dex and I had made lunch (having to have it on the move) and updated the blog.
As we left we saw lots of the classic boats that had taken part in the Henley Boat show last weekend. What we hadn't realised was that they would mostly be heading back towards London and so we would travel with them a lot of the way. This also meant a lot of queuing at the locks but at this point we hadn't thought about that!

 We also saw some great ducks, also some Great crested Grebes.

As we were leaving we passed this wide beam boat that had a complete sundeck and garden on top! Don't know how he managed to see to steer but we did see him move her across the river. It had a wheelhouse on top instead of a tiller so I guess that was the secret.

We passed the beautiful temple Island as we left Henley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Island

Soon after we reached Hambledon Lock.

After this Lock I decided to be brave and have a go at steering. I hadn't yet had a go on the Thames. As you can see I took it very seriously!

The scenery was lovely, more gorgeous houses and boats and rolling countryside. 

We saw some amazing old churches and so many varied houses, some magnificent, some not at all to our taste but for certain all were very expensive!

Soon we arrived at the next lock which was Hurley Lock. 

It was really busy with lots of the boats from the classic boat regata at Henley and we caught up with Gloriana again on her return journey.

 It's really funny going into the locks with boats of all different shapes and sizes. Canoes, rowing boats, dinghy's, large and small they all cram in together. It's even more daunting when you know your boat weighs the most and could easily crush other boats if it's not kept tight to the side of the lock. It was our responsibility to make sure we held on tight to our bow and stern ropes and sometimes it was quite difficult as we were dropping in height. Thankfully Gloriana went in with another boat!

We passed lots of kids having rowing lessons and they seemed to be having a fine time. 

Woops who let that dog on the roof!!

John and I fell in love with this classic boat from 1925. 

We shared the next lock, Temple Lock, with another narrowboat, it was a hire boat and the crew were Auntie, Uncle, nephew and niece. They were really friendly and we had a nice chat with them whist we were queuing. We had to moor up alongside their boat as there was no room on the mooring.We saw them a few times after and waved as we passed by. Most people on the water are really friendly and wave and chat when you get the opportunity. It's amazing the conversations taking place in the lock and waiting for the lock. I guess most people are happy to be on the water and are relaxed so open to chatty banter. You get some who won't speak but on the whole most people are friendly. 

Next we passed through Marlow which was really pretty.

Then onward through Bourne End, Cookham and finally we reached our destination for the evening, Maidenhead. 

Our mooring was lovely, it was a council owned mooring and far enough away from the railway bridge not to be noisy. Dex seemed happy with it anyway! We decided to explore and went on a lovely walk across fields to Taplow where we found the only pub there, the Oak and Saw. Their flower display was wonderful. 

http://www.oakandsaw.co.uk/