Author: Leigh Hatts

The latest Grand Designs on Channel 4 sees Kevin McCloud visit Marlow where a couple are struggling to build the first floating house by the River Thames.

The location is the lock island reached only by a footbridge .

The site faces south so the new building, replacing a single storey house, is not seen from the Thames Path which here is on the left bank and turning inland to avoid the lock ahead.

Marlow experienced severe flooding this year. Next time the house should rise with the water level.

The prototype being considered downstream at flood-hit Bourne End.

Wilderness Walks with Ray Mears on ITV tonight sees Ray Mears exploring the River Thames.

Using a canoe, he visits Chimney Meadows and Hartslock Woods on his way downstream.

Wilderness Walks with Ray Mears: ITV Tuesday 14 October at 7.30pm.

Richard Morrison writing in The Times today says that Magna Carta Island has this week been sold to a Chinese family .

The price is believed to be £3.95m.

The Thames island lies alongside Runnymede which has the Magna Carta monument. However, it is thought that the charter was probably sealed on the island with refreshments for the King and barons being provided by the convent on the Wraysbury bank.

The Queen has visited Magna Carta Island which has a house complete with a charter room.

Plans are being made to mark Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary on the banks of the River Thames next year.

It appears that George Clooney and new wife Amal Alamuddin may have purchased Aberlash House on a Thames island at Sonning near Reading.

The 17th-century Aberlash House is usually known as Mill House because it was the home of the mill owner. Just before the First World War it was bought by Godfrey Phillimore, son of the international jurist Lord Phillimore. Later the family briefly worked the downstream mill at Shiplake.

Sonning Mill supplied flour for Huntley & Palmers at Reading.

The Bull Inn, where George Clooney was seen last Saturday, was originally a pilgrim lodging for those visiting the church which had the relics of St Sarik.

The Mill House is glimpsed, and let’s hope it will continue to be, from the towpath between the bridge and the lock.

Hops are growing next to the Thames Path on the Greenwich Peninsula.

They have been planted by Greenwich’s Meantime Brewery which claims it to be “the first permanent hop farm in London in over 100 years”.

The harvesting, or hopping, gathered 9lbs of hop buds for the yet to be named brew being produced at Meantime’s Old Brewery in Greenwich.

The hops, growing just yards west of the Greenwich Meridian line, can be seen immediately downstream of the drawdock next to the O2.

Meantime claims that it is a permanent feature.

Kingston’s Coronation Stone stands slightly ignored outside the Guildhall.

In The Daily Telegraph Philip Johnson compares it to the Stone of Scone which fits under the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey but is kept in Scotland.

He suggests that, should the Scots vote yes, the Kingston stone should get a higher profile.

What he does not mention is that this Saxon stone is soon to be moved back to its original site within the area now occupied by Kingston parish church.

Thursday 18 September has long been in the calendar as Scotland’s Referendum Day.

But is also the start the much-planned 104 mile Thames Pilgrim Way walk being undertaken by the soon to retire Bishop of Oxford.

Over ten days there will be a lot of people walking downstream with the Bishop through the Oxford Diocese.

Bishop John Pritchard starts out from remote Radcot Bridge on Thursday morning. Here the water is flowing into the Oxford Diocese from the Gloucester Diocese.

Radcot has the river’s oldest bridge. It dates from 1393 and is the work of monks from Normandy.

The intention is that the Thames Path within the diocese should be followed in the future by others aware of the historic parishes they pass through.

The first church seen is tiny Shifford Church on a spot where King Alfred is said to have held a very early version of an English parliament.

On pilgrimage’s the last day, Sunday 28 September, the party will reach Wraysbury parish which has deep associations with Magna Carta agreed on the Runnymede riverside in 1215.

The Rt Revd Paul Williams, Area Bishop of Kensington, will greet the walkers at the London boundary.

Piers Plowright’s delightful Thames Crossings series can be heard this week daily at 1.45pm on BBC Radio 4.

Today he explores Port Meadow.

Here are some pictures of the Richmond area towpath this month.

My weekend in Richmond allowed me time to find some places to include in the Thames Path refreshment list.
KEW
First, there is of course the wonderful Maids of Honour teashop in Kew which is well worth a visit. This is a real teashop with the additional attraction of its tarts made to a secret Tudor recipe. Jamie Oliver visited recently and praised the original Maids of Honour tart.

A new attraction I did not know about is the bed and breakfast in the old family rooms upstairs. What a perfect overnight stop on the Thames Path -have tea and stay the night.

RICHMOND
Step out of the station and you find several food outlets.

For a good healthy sandwich and drink there is Cook & Garcia across the road. The Coronation chicken version is delicious and generous.

Almost opposite is Pizzeria Rustica which offers a £7 set lunch. The service is quick without being rushed. In the evening the restaurant is crowded with an informal atmosphere indicating good value and quality.

PETERSHAM
Petersham Nurseries is hard to find but it’s worth it. From the towpath walk up River Lane and at the Old Stables (left) go left down a very narrow alley.

Inside the nursery there not only a cafe (meaning table service restaurant) but The Tea House. Here there are filling salades for under a tenner as well as tempting cakes. You take your food into a greenhouse where there are antique tables and chairs amongst lemon trees bearing fruit at this time of the year and olive trees.

Unlimited tap water is available which is the best drink for walkers.