BOATING ON THE THAMES

There are five sounds that say 'the Thames' to me: 1. The whoop whoop whoop of the swans as they take flight. 2. The (endless) honking of the Canada geese, especially when you're trying to have a lie-in. 3. The growl of bow and stern thursters in the locks and when boats are mooring up. 4. The 'kerchoomf' sound of rowing blades driving through the water (again, usually at the crack of dawn when you're trying to have a lie-in) 5. The ting, ting, ting of mooring pins as they're being driven into the bank with a mallet. Which are your five?

The Amphibious car rally ... The giant yellow duck ... ...and the sculpture of the happy old man outside a house in the Cookham lock cut 

There's always a surprise around the corner on the Thames. This time it was an amphibious boat club: 65 cars from across Europe.  They cause chaos and queues in the locks - but they put a smile on your face.

  A few weeks ago I was waking up to the sounds of lions and elephants in the Serengueti (see my blog here:  https://www.therichmondreview.com/single-post/2017/05/25/Best-Holiday-Ever ). And at the weekend we woke up to the sound of an air balloon drifting past our barge in Henley.  In the words of Louis Armstrong... what a wonderful world!

Although we've been to Goring many times - and have an ordnance survey map criss crossed with highlighted walks - we'd never done the  Lardon Chase and The Hollies walk.  So we put it on our 2017 Boating Season 'to do' list - and did it over the Easter Bank Holiday. It's a lovely walk and at just 3 miles long, the perfect length for a pre or post lunch stroll with friends.There's one thing I'd change though. Instead of starting at the car park, winding your way down through the Hollies and then walking up Lardon Chase at the end, I'd do it the other way around. I'd walk along the Reading Road, up through The Hollies and then down Lardon Chase. That way you can enjoy the view which - as you can see from the photo - is quite spectacular. Or better still, I'd pack some sandwiches, walk through the gate at the top of Lardon Chase, sit on the perfectly placed benches and have a picnic.