Wallingford to Pangbourne 18th May 2025

Wallingford To Pangbourne – Thames Trip – 18^th May 2025

Early start to head to Wallingford, a fifty-mile journey, where Dave and Chris met up with Brendan. After the shuttle led by the trusty Graham, we were on the water by 1100, two kayaks and a paddleboard.

It was a lovely day to tackle this nice stretch of water with lots of greenery and not many properties, although those seen were quite upmarket! We saw a few other small non-motorised craft, sadly many with owners and no buoyancy aids, as well as the occasional motor cruiser.  There were a number of Duke of Edinburgh teenagers canoeing the same stretch for their challenge and Dave was able to impart canoeing knowledge to some which was much appreciated.

We saw three Kingfishers darting along the banks with their flash of iridescent blue. There were lots of Geese and Ducks along the way. Some had been busy, as we saw Geese with nurseries of 9 and 19 Goslings, followed by Swans with 7/8 very young Signets.

Lunch was taken at 1300 at the halfway stage which is the first lock.  The journey involved three locks which were self-service and this gave Dave the opportunity to show Brendan how to operate them for future reference. As Brendan was on a paddleboard and has to portage the locks anyway, in future he will be able help Kayakers use the locks while he is portaging.

Near the end we were surprised to meet our trusty shuttle driver, Graham, on a motor-cruiser with his brother in law, heading in the opposite direction! We continued at a leisurely pace enjoying the scenery and completed the 16.6k (10 miles) at Pangbourne at 1550.  The trip took longer than the winter ones as the Thames flow was minimal, so little help.

An enjoyable paddle in good company with Brendan completing his second Thames section while Chris has only two more sections to complete the 134 mile source to Teddington challenge.

Write up by Chris H

Pic Gallery of the day below

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