The Coach House

Hilary decided that we would celebrate our 23rd Wedding Anniversary (we got married on 31st July 1998 at Langar Hall in Nottinghamshire) by booking a room in The Great House for the night of Tuesday (27/07/2021). Steve agreed that it would be a great idea and she got it booked with the agreement that we could leave The Duke on their mooring.

That morning we walked to the bus stop in Sonning but there was not a bus for another 45 minutes at least, so we walked to the next bus stop which was on the A4. We wanted to get the bus into Reading and go to a launderette so Hilary was carrying two large shopping bags of washing.

Still no sign of a bus, although 2 went in the opposite direction while we waited and Hilary used her mobile phone to get a taxi or Uber, to no avail. We started walking towards Reading and, Sod’s Law, our bus roared passed us leaving us in a cloud of exhaust fumes on the footpath.

We got to Earley on the outskirts of Reading and opposite the forlorn looking Shepherd’s House pub we found a new Johnsons drive-in laundry. It must have replaced the old lorry drivers favourite transport cafe that used to be here.

For two loads it was £40 (how much?!) and Hilary would have to get a taxi to come back and collect it at 13:00 hrs. With £15 for the taxi to collect it, it proved to be an expensive washing bill, which probably exceeded the value of the items that were cleaned!

We trudged back into Sonning and had coffee and a cream tea (Hilary had a chocolate brownie) in The Village Hamper. This was a cafe and shop in the centre which until recently had been an Indian Restaurant.

We tried to get lunch at The Bull but missed the last orders for food by a few minutes (great day so far) so had to do with crisps and peanuts. On the next table a fat couple appeared to be having a first date. “In every job that I have had the boss seems to take against me and block my promotion”, said the tubby bearded buffoon. We could understand why as we were subjected to an hour of these two losers loudly telling each other of their lives of underachieving and overeating.

We walked back to the boat buoyed by the thought that we were moving into a plush ensuite hotel room at The Great House. We were assigned to the Coach House.

Even Vera was in for a superfood treat with bizarre concoctions of banana, berries and salmon and a fluffy dog bed to eat it on. There was also a welcome postcard for her.

We had a lovely meal in the restaurant which was in the Coppa Club garden.

We setup our Roku and Huawei/EE MiFi on the hotel television and watched the final episode of The Handmaid’s Tale Series 2. On Wednesday (28/07/2021) we had a lovely breakfast in the Coppa Club and set off at 11:00 hrs.

We passed the turn off for the River Kennet and passed through Reading, seeing only a few tower blocks and cranes above a screen of trees along the river bank.

There were lots of new buildings by Caversham Bridge.

A new footbridge crossed the Thames at Caversham which Steve last crossed on foot two years ago when he reported as a cider judge for the National Cider & Perry Awards at the CAMRA Reading Beer Festival.

We found a mooring at Pangbourne which was provided alongside a huge recreation park by Pangbourne Parish Council and was free of charge for 24 hours. We were not far from Whitchurch Toll Bridge.

Steve’s friend from BP days (1980 to 1987) drove down for a cup of tea on the boat and then picked us up with our shopping from Green’s the butchers and Pangbourne Co-op. Dave came back in the evening after Hilary had served up a substantial stir fry and took Steve to Bell Inn at Aldworth which was a CAMRA Mecca.

He drove back via The Red Lion at Upper Basildon where we sampled a pint of Good Old Boy from West Berkshire Brewery. Hilary had already gone to bed when Steve got back aboard The Duke at 22:20 hrs.

On Wednesday (29/07/2021) we moved on again. There was a lot of rowing activity on the River Thames. Wild swimmers along this stretch at least trailed bright orange balloon floats. There were also a lot of paddle boarders along the way. Most craft seemed to be making their way downstream, whereas we were going against the current.

We saw some inventive garden rooms including this one which looked like a fish tank.

We went through Goring lock and two others, but only the first one was self service and the next two were manned by lock keepers.

Some of the big houses had historic boathouses at the end of the garden.

The sun came out and it all got a bit Apocalypse Now.

We failed to find a mooring on our first pass through Wallingford but Hilary threw a U-turn and we managed to moor alongside an Anglo-Welsh holiday boat (in the middle distance of this photo taken from the upper terrace of the Boat House pub).

We were later able to move up and moor directly against the bank so that Vera could get on and off the stern more easily.

The town started at what was a ford and then a bridge over the River Thames. The town has played an important role in English history starting with the surrender of Stigand to William the Conqueror in 1066, which led to his taking the throne and the creation of Wallingford Castle. The castle and the town enjoyed royal status and flourished for much of the Middle Ages becoming a successful market town.

We found Waitrose in the centre of town and then popped into The Boat House (Greene King) which is the pub with all the lights in this picture.

As rain was forecast for Friday (30/07/2021) we decided to stay put for another day here.