Marlow & The River Thames

Meet up in Court Garden Leisure Centre car park, Pound Lane, Marlow SL7 2AE and walk through Higginson Park to the Thames path passing the statue of the renowned oarsman and Marlow native Sir Steve Redgrave.  I will be in the vicinity of the payment machine - big old bloke with beard and glasses, wearing a hi viz yellow(ish) jacket.

Phase One - If you walk downstream from our meet-up point you will soon arrive at the junction where the town meets the river. There is no better way to describe this section of the walk than to suggest you log on to the Discover Britain website and search out the walk entitled ‘Tales of a riverbank’. Our Phase One Is pretty much the same as points 1 - 12 of this walk and gives a very thorough description of the history of Marlow and the river. It’s worth noting that both a written version and an audio version are available for download - and if you have sufficient supplies of ink and printer paper a copy might be beneficial!

Phase Two - Return to the start point (picking up on any missed images first time round). You can walk upstream viewing Bisham All Saints Church, Bisham Abbey, and some very stylish residences on the far bank. If you want you can get up as far as Temple (across the water) - but please be aware before making plans to pop across the river, the footbridge is being renovated (2 years and growing - rather slowly, some say!) and may still be closed. Return to the starting point by the same route.

Photo opportunities en route: Birdlife: Swans, geese, ducks - and of course pigeons. Water transport: Rowers, tourist boats, private motor boats. Chain bridge - design copied for the much larger version over the Danube between Buda and Pest. Compleat Angler hotel and restaurant. Statues on approach to the bridge. Churches at Bisham and beside the bridge. Marlow weir.

There are of course many other opportunities - Tales of a Riverbank will inform you of many of them