Hurley & Marlow, part 2

The fine suspension bridge, built in 1832 and one of the most attractive over the Thames, indicated our arrival in Marlow. Rising above it is the spire of All Saints Church. Although another of Marlow’s most prominent landmarks, interestingly the church was built in the 1830’s without a spire, this being added in 1898. Jerome K. Jerome described Marlow as somewhere where ‘the river itself is at its best’ – and so it was, but we left it for now to find the welcoming George & Dragon where morning coffee was laid on for us. A pleasant interlude, especially as it was surprisingly warm enough to sit outside on this early March day. Our walk continued in the attractive Higginson Park. Marlow has connections with many famous people, but during our ‘Waterways’ themed year it was good to stand by the 9 ½ foot high bronze statue of rower, and five times Olympic Gold Medallist, Sir Steve Redgrave. A leafy lane runs parallel to the river, and along here we enjoyed the yellow canopy provided by thousands of dangling catkins. Eventually we rejoined the river as we made our way to Hurley Lock. Unfortunately construction vehicles meant we didn’t see the lock at it’s best. Jerome had written, ‘By Hurley weir….I have often thought that I could stay a month without having sufficient time to drink in all the beauty of the scene’. With a £300,000 facelift in operation, we look forward to appreciating this beauty in the future. Our interesting and picturesque walk finished with lunch in Hurley’s youngest pub, The Rising Sun. The others being the 16th century Black Boy, referring to Charles 11, and Ye Olde Bell which dates from 1135 and claims to be the oldest hostelry in England.

Stanford Dingley

We gathered in one of Berkshire’s most beautiful villages, Stanford Dingley, with it’s wealth of old and interesting buildings. We noted the church, possibly Saxon in origin, and with an attractive 18th century weatherboard bell turret, and the brick and weatherboarded mill on the River Pang. Cutting across fields, with fine views back across the Pang Valley, we made our way towards the woodland ahead. A wide track cut through these lovely woods, part of Rushall Farm. A most welcome warm sun shone down on us, and, despite the snowdrops still much in evidence, we felt quite spring-like, as we were serenaded with birdsong, and especially when we came across a field on newborn lambs. We rejoined the Pang alongside another mill, this time at Bradfield. This delightful setting led us to the church, on the site of a Saxon Minster. In the churchyard snowdrops lay in a wave of white, yet showed no sign of surrendering to the daffodils and primroses, their yellow, cowardly hiding from the cold weather of late. Today, at least, we could enjoy the elusive sunshine, warming us as we took a path alongside one of the prettiest stretches of The River Pang. Leaving the shimmering water once more, we climbed through fields to reach Rotten Row, a gem of a village despite it’s unfortunate name! Down between plantations we rejoined the Pang which soon opened up into The Blue Pool. We paused at this special place, where chemicals cause the water to appear a strange blue. Bubbles could clearly be seen rising from the sandy bottom. An easy line led us back into Stanford Dingley where we were made very welcome in The Boot for lunch.

Return to walk report list.