# 🥾 Walk 82 - Bourne End and Marlow

Sunday 22nd December was the day after our Christmas pub crawl of Reading, held jointly with the Berkshire Walkers 20s & 30s group. For that reason, this walk started at 11:30am, a bit later than our normal start time, to give people a bit more time to recover from the night before.

We had fourteen people turn up, including some of us that wouldn't have made it without the later start! It was also a nicer day than expected, with sunny intervals and no rain. It was still very wet under foot and the waterproofing of our boots was tested several times along the way.

Setting off from the public car park at Bourne End, we followed the Thames Path westward to Marlow. This was a straightforward route, ideal for those recovering from yesterdays excesses. We passed through several fields of slushy grass along the northern bank of the Thames, with good views of the variety of fancy houses on the south bank.

![Following the Thames Path from Bourne End to Marlow.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume6/images/bounre_end_1.jpg)

After passing under the A404 we arrived at Marlow, where we went through side streets and alleyways to Higginson Park. This was our lunch stop. Those with packed lunches went and found park benches to sit on while others went to the café for something hot. A couple of us went down to the river's edge where we ate our sandwiches under the watchful eyes of the herring gulls, ducks and a solitary goose.

During lunch we were joined by a regular guest of our group who had already done a 16 mile cycle ride before joining us! So fifteen of us crossed the suspension bridge over the Thames, and in doing so we crossed from Buckinghamshire into Berkshire.

Following a road under A404 we entered Quarry Wood and took a rather steep path up onto Winter Hill. Emerging from the woods gave us a clear view across the Thames to Marlow.

![The Thames by Higginson Park in Marlow. The suspension bridge can be seen in the background.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume6/images/marlow_thames.jpg)

Descending Winter Hill we followed footpaths that took us to the south bank of the Thames, which we followed easterly, passing some riverside residences until we reached the railway bridge. We also passed a riverside pub, but decided that we'd had enough alcohol already this weekend and didn't go in.

Crossing the river back to Bourne End we then followed the Thames Path westerly, returning to the car park where the walk had begun. The sun was still shining and we'd escaped the predicted rain. See our route on Bing Maps.

![View of Bourne End from the south bank of the Thames.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume6/images/bounre_end_2.jpg)

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