Wallingford Bridge was packed with people to greet David Walliams on Wednesday evening as he continued his Lechlade to Big Ben swim for charity.
He is not at all well which is a reminder how dangerous the water can be in both flow and quality.
His support team hopes that David will make Caversham Bridge by tonight.
BBC1’s One Show had good coverage on Monday night of David Walliams setting out on his swim from Lechlade to London.
There was a recording of Halfpenny Bridge packed with people.
Angela Rippon was live at Bablock Hythe ferry with a crowd of people from the Ferryman Inn hoping to welcome David. However, he came out of the water a little upstream at Northmoor Lock.
Let’s hope the One Show stays with the story.
Five years ago David Walliams swam the English Channel for Sport Relief. Now he is going to try swimming to London along the Thames for the same charity.
He begins on Monday 5 September at Lechlade and plans to reach Westminster Bridge on the following Monday.
But he warns others not to try and copy him.
“If there’s a lot of rainfall there’ll be a lot of sewage so I’ve had to have loads of jabs,” says forty year old David Walliams.
He adds: “It’s really not a safe environment to swim in – people really mustn’t try this, I have an incredible team of experts to help keep me safe.”
His last night will be spent in Putney with his arrival below Big Ben planned for 9am on Monday.
David is being filmed for a Walliams vs The Thames documentary which will be broadcast in the build-up to the Sport Relief weekend in March.
Sportrelief has a Walliams webpage.
The current diversion found just before the O2 Dome on the Greenwich Peninsula is shown on a map by the path.
Thanks to Walk London the pictures are here.
See page 14.
Oliver’s Ait, opposite Strand on the Green, is likely to have its trees thinned and its shoreline renewed this autumn.
The island is a haven for birds.
The Port of London Authority is holding a drop-in consultation session on Tuesday 20 September from 2pm to 8pm at Chiswick Pier Trust, The Pier House, Corney Reach Way W4 2UG.
The island is named after Oliver Cromwell although the connection has never been clear.
See page 54.
All stiles on the Thames Path within Oxfordshire have now been replaced with kissing gates.
Oxfordshire County Council has care of 67 miles of Thames Path.
This seems a shame but the countryside is always changing and this does make it more accessible for some.
I have just been walking along the Thames Path at Reading.
Some stretches are closed or about to be for path work. However, this is temporary but the the closure of pubs seems to be more long term.
The Roebuck at Tilehurst is still empty and looking really bleak with the path closed sign at the side.
Passing through Cudham recently it was a shame not to be able to walk up to the Lion which has shut for ever. The frame for the pub sign is empty. One has to walk on to Abingdon where the Nag’s Head on the bridge is still closed.
Or try the George and Dragon in Sutton Courtenay opposite Cudham.
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The path between Reading Bridge and Caversham Bridge is likely to be closed until about Friday 12 August. This is for resurfacing work. It’s a surprising time to do this but the alternative is the pleasant left bank giving a new view of Fry’s Island.
The Thames Path guide is available with a 25% discount from the Cicerone website. Simply add the voucher code CICERONE on the shopping basket page. Offer ends 31st July.
The offer extends to all all Cicerone guides ordered on our website.
The towpath closure which begins in Reading, just west of Caversham Bridge, and runs as far as Tilehurst is likely to remain place until the end of August.
This is allow for resurfacing work.
The diversion is along Cow Lane, right into Portman Road and right into Oxford Road which the National Trail joins beyond Tilehurst Station. It can be rather a grim walk on a hot summer day.
See page 129.