To the Source

 

   Yesterday, Day 3 of our five day walk to the source of the Thames River in England, had been rainy and we had gotten soaked. But the new day had dawned bright and sunny and our clothes were dry after a night on the room radiators. A rainy day is often followed by a cold front and that's what we were having. England is famous for the strength and perseverance of its southwest winds. 

   Our 10.7 mile walk this day from Lechlade to Cricklade was mainly to the west. The wind was indeed strong, but at least it was sunny. There was only a 10% chance of rain predicted. Soon my right eye was running copiously from the sharp wind. I put on sunglasses but what I needed was goggles. We did get relief from the wind in the wooded stretches which alternated with open pastures and fields all day. 

   We saw on our map that Castle Eaton was six miles distant and resolved to stop at the Red Lion Inn for a break. Ann, our fellow walker who we had met at the beginning of our walk, said she was up for that too. The Red Lion is one of those quintessential pubs, with comfy nooks by the fire for enjoying your drink.  

   The pub had just opened when we arrived. I asked if they had any dessert type items. The young bartended listed several items, toffee pudding, cream scone, rhubarb crumble... I ordered the rhubarb crumble. It took a few minutes as they assembled it in the kitchen. It was delish. Couldn't we just stay here on this soft couch by the fire drinking tea and eating all the desserts on the Red Lion menu?

   The sun had gone away by the time we hit the trail, but the wind was still against us. Ann had left a few minutes earlier. It should have been easy to get back on the path but we managed to get lost. We headed for the far end of town but could not spot any of the round yellow trail markers that show the path. I finally had to resort to turning on my phone to get oriented. I don't like using international roaming because I had no idea how much it costs. I use the off line map feature but it can be unreliable out in the field, which is where we were.

   Once we found the trail, a light rain started. I put on my Frog Tog trousers, not because I needed them but because I wanted to be ready if the rain got heavier, which it didn't, but it was nice to have an extra layer against the wind. We were happy to reach our inn in Crichlade. It too was called The Red Lion. There are lots of Red Lion inns and pubs in England. Lots of White Harts and Royal Oaks too. 

   The Red Lion didn't serve breakfast so we were given a credit and advised to eat at the cafe across the street. Unfortunately the next day was Sunday and the cafe opened late and we had thirteen miles to go our last day, so we bought some stuff at the grocery shop and hit the path with Ann somewhere ahead of us.

   The last day of the walk was the best. The weather was sunny and pleasant. We walked mostly through wooded areas with hard packed trails; some stretches were even paved. We were in the Cotswolds area, one of the most desirable areas in England. The river had gotten narrower over the course of our walk. The last tributary of the Thames joined the river back in Cricklade so any water in the river from Cricklade to the source would be from springs or rain. It had been a dry Fall so for the last six miles to the source, the riverbed was empty. That felt wrong. 

   Around midday we had caught up with Ann and we walked together to the source. But we had trouble finding the source. We met a man walking towards us. He had parked along the road further ahead and was looking for the source himself. We consulted our guide books and kept on walking west through a grassy field and eventually spotted a stone declaring that it was the source of the Thames. Check. We now had to walk back another mile to the Head of the Thames Inn. Ann would be spending the night here. We had booked our trip too late so we had a final cup of tea with Ann while we waited for our luggage transport man to transport us to the nearby town the company had booked us in for the night.

   So was it worth flying across the ocean and walking fifty miles through rain and wind to reach a rock that claimed to be the source of an important river, even though there wasn't any river there to dip our toes in? Well, I have to credit Teresa for motivating me to leave my peaceful retreat in Wannaska. And yes, it was good to be in England and meet new people like Ann, and also get some exercise, ten miles is a bit excessive. Thinking about it, we could have driven our 55 mile walk in an hour, but we would have missed a lot.

The Three Musketeers at the Source- 235 total years of crawling /walking experience.