Thames Cycle Ride (1-4 September 2009)

Maxwell and I cycled from the source of the River Thames, near Kemble in Gloucestershire, to the Thames Barrier, over four days. We followed minor roads from Kemble to Oxford on the first day, covering 47 miles, then cycling 42 miles to Reading following National Cycle Route 5, 55 miles to Kingston and 30 miles to the Thames Barrier in Woolwich following National Cycle Routes 4 and 1.

The source of the River Thames is marked by a small pile of rocks in a cow field near Kemble in Gloucestershire. The monument beneath the Ash tree bears the inscription: THE CONSERVATORS OF THE RIVER THAMES 1857-1974 THIS STONE WAS PLACED HERE TO MARK THE SOURCE OF THE RIVER THAMES

Thames as a small stream at Waterhay		Summer storm clouds near Clanfield, Oxfordshire		Near Bodlean Library, Oxford, at night

County Hall, Abingdon		Abingdon, Oxfordshire
60163 Tornado, Didcot Railway Centre		Didcot Power Station, taken from Ipsden, dominated the view on Day 2

The Air Forces Memorial is at Cooper's Hill, Runnymede. The full inscriptions read: "In this cloister are recorded the names of twenty thousand airmen who have no known grave. They died for freedom in raid and sortie over the British Isles and the lands and seas of Northern and Western Europe."

View from Cooper's Hill towards Windsor Castle		View from Cooper's Hill towards Heathrow Terminal 5

Deer in Richmond Park		Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC		View from Lambeth Bridge
Tower Bridge and the Gherkin		Canary Wharf		Thames Barrier, 174 miles later

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Last edited 05/09/2009 21:06