Thames Path at Godstow

My holiday this autumn inspired me to take a lot more photos than I have done in recent months and the success of my big hike in Scotland in summer gave me the drive to try and get more exercise than I have for a while. Autumn is our hiking season and because I was too busy for trips out before I left for the long drive to Scotland, I was keener than ever to get out and into the landscape.

I needed to ease into the walking part of the holiday because of coincidental minor strain in tendons in both feet, so after driving to England from home, I checked the various routes from Kent to Scotland’s central belt. I found, to my surprise, that one of the quickest routes was to head across and up to the West Midlands and then up the M6, which is my preferred route from anywhere in the south anyway. (I would’ve expected to be taken up the A1 or the M1 from Kent.) The more westerly route gave me the opportunity to stop at a little pub in Oxfordshire to which I’ve been returning since the 1990s. It was famous back then as one of the filming locations for the “Inspector Morse” police drama episode “The Wolvercote Tongue”, first broadcast in 1987.

Our journeys travelling up and down Britain are often expedient, with people to visit and places to reach, but I had no goal this time other than a Premier Inn many miles distant. After a nice lunch on the pub terrace and a nice warm day, I decided to stretch my legs and explore the river bank for an hour or so. Walking from the pub over the twin bridges, I turned onto the Thames Path and headed for a mile or so towards Oxford and back, limping slightly, enjoying the sunshine, and taking some panoramic-style photographs and a couple of video clips.

The Trout Inn at Godstow
The Trout Inn at Godstow
The riverside terrace of The Trout Inn at Godstow
The riverside terrace of The Trout Inn at Godstow
The Thames arriving at Godstow
The Thames arriving at Godstow
First sight of Port Meadow, with a view to Oxford's spires a couple of miles away
First sight of Port Meadow, with a view to Oxford’s spires a couple of miles away
Thames Path alongside the river
Thames Path alongside the river
Polar and oak trees rustling and waving in the wind
Poplar and oak trees rustling and waving in the wind
Black cattle had waded across the shallow river to find some shade
Godstow Lock
The lock and lock keeper’s cottage
Heading into the Thames where it joins Wolvercote Mill Stream
The ruins of Godstow Nunnery, which, according to the information board, was “notorious for its ‘hospitality’ towards the young monks of Oxford” in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
30 seconds of windy riverbank along the Thames Path

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