Cookham, Marlow and Bourne End
Cookham, Marlow and Bourne End
Saturday 13th September 2008
A day out walking in the Berkshire / Buckinghamshire countryside, near the river Thames.
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| 10:51:28 The starting point of our walk - Cookham station. | 11:06:06 The first bit of proper countryside we got to after leaving Cookham. | 11:11:33 |
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| 11:27:21 There was a turkey farm in the route - I have never seen so many turkeys. | 11:33:41 | 11:36:05 My Japanese walking companions taking a wide berth around the mud. |
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| 11:44:49 Blurry picture of a nice woodland path. | 11:44:55 ....that's a bit better. This was a very nice path. | 11:46:06 I told my fellow ramblers this mushroom was called "lawyer's wig" (although I may well have misidentified it) - and was then very satisfied with myself for being able to translate the name into Japanese - bengoshi no katsura. |
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| 11:48:34 A jolly pleasant bit of the walk here. | 12:34:37 After being turned away from the Bull Inn in Bisham for having muddy shoes (yes that sort of thing really happens - at least in fake ex-pubs that are really restaurants in disguise) we headed into Marlow for lunch. So here's a nice shot of the bridge and All Saint's Church. | 12:34:49 Another shot of the bridge, and you can see a bit of the Compleat Angler as well. |
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| 12:42:52 I never grow tired of signs like this. | 12:43:02 A bit of the Thames as seen from Marlow. | 12:43:20 ...looking back to that famous bridge. |
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| 13:22:44 We rather unadventurously had lunch at the Slug and Lettuce - it was the only place big enough (and sufficiently un-snooty about the state of our footwear) to accommodate us. It actually wasn't too bad. | 14:51:30 After lunch I proposed a slight modification to our original route plan, and this "short cut" which took us up a very steep path. | 14:51:41 Still, the exercise did us all good I'm sure. |
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| 15:04:38 At the top of Winter Hill here, where some nice views are to be had. | 15:04:42 Looking slightly the other way. | 15:04:53 Having a well earned rest atop Winter Hill after that steep climb. |
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| 15:05:10 | 15:07:33 The weather had turned out to be quite nice by this point of the day - it was bordering on being hot! | 15:23:50 Not sure why Chie took this picture. |
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| 15:28:56 Chie and one of her colleagues rather contentedly eating apples from a tree that was growing atop Winter Hill (it didn't appear to be part of anyone's garden or anything so it seemed OK to just help ourselves). | 15:44:32 More pleasant English landscapes to be seen a little further east along from Winter Hill. | 15:47:21 Time for some group shots! |
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| 15:47:27 I rather enjoyed the notion of taking a photo of a group of Japanese bankers amongst this very English landscape. | 15:47:42 Another one, but with me in the shot. | 15:57:34 Heading down towards the Thames now. Slightly odd lighting in this landscape shot, but somehow I rather like it. |
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| 15:57:42 I'm sure there's a photography nerd joke to be had here about "depth of field" etc. | 16:06:53 Some cows, and you might just about be able to make out a couple of tumuli behind them. | 16:25:34 Almost at the end of our walk now, we decided to cut it short at Bourne End rather than returning all the way to Cookham again. This decision was strengthened somewhat by the presence of this rather jolly pub (The Bounty) just before we got to Bourne End. |
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| 16:25:40 ....so here's everyone enjoying a glass or two of Pimm's at The Bounty. | 16:25:54 Our table, and doesn't it look summery in this picture? Alas this would probably be our last Pimm's of the season... | 16:25:59 |
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| 16:32:36 I wanted to take a picture of the pub itself, as it was rather charmingly eccentric. | 16:32:42 Apparently this was in the People's Republic of Cockmarsh. I don't recall when the area declared independence, but given the fact there are actually no roads leading here (you can only get to this pub either on foot or by boat) it seemed quite appropriate. | 17:56:07 The railway/footbridge over to Bourne End. Considering this was crossing an international border there was a surprisingly lack of customs and excise. |
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| 17:56:11 | 17:58:12 Our party heading to Bourne End station. | 17:58:20 A last glimpse of the People's Republic of Cockmarsh. |
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| 19:42:41 Back in London now, me and Chie on the tube on the way home. |
