Having only recently returned from Spain, it was perhaps a little indulgent to head off to Henley-on-Thames at the slightest of excuses. For the record, Moe was visiting family and friends and I needed to collect a second hand awning side panel from a chap on the VW California forum.
Arriving on the Wednesday, a quick turnaround, and I headed to the railway station bound for a train to Twyford. Here I met up with Ian where we spent a pleasant afternoon at the Waggon and Horses just on the outskirts of this Berkshire town.
Thursday I drove to West Oxfordshire – Carterton – to collect the awning panel. What a nightmare. New build estates popping up everywhere and the traffic was insane, particularly given my journey was well away from rush hour. Anyway, the collection was great and the awning panel virtually as new with all the expected Thule accessories neatly laid out for inspection. Here’s the pull-out awning with the new side panel attached.
On the return journey i headed to Vicars game farm shop near Yattenden and stuffed a few kilograms of their finest Venison mince into the Campervan fridge. This visit was for the Venison but they also sell the famous “Sweeney Todd” pies – the very same ones available at their restaurant in central Reading.
With another evening before Moe would arrive, I decided to head out for an Indian meal. Moe doesn’t like spicy food so this was the perfect opportunity. I chose the Pokhara restaurant on the Reading road which turned out to be an excellent choice. The starter was unusual, a kind of fusion between Thai and Indian – essentially a spicy dumpling. The restaurant were very flexible allowing to to mix and match some other dishes. I’d recommend.
The weather remains dry, warm and sunny.
Moe arrived Friday and was immediately entertained by a neighbours dog – the dog having wandered off from its motorhome, she was attracted to my footwear and would not return my shoe… A game I had little chance of winning!
Saturday morning, our immediate neighbours departed – not before I’d snapped the following picture of their campervan heating system. I have fire envy!
Later that day we set off to Shiplake by train to walk back to Henley along the Thames path. Not so fast – the Thames path is still closed for repairs to the bridge at Marsh lock and the diversion route is long.
We followed the diversion through Harpsden woods and eventually arrived at Marsh lock where we watched the boats navigating through before continuing our walk along the river back to Henley.
With the nice weather continuing unabated we headed to the Angel (on the bridge, but not the “Angel on the Bridge!”) and enjoyed late afternoon refreshments before dining at Cote. We headed back to East Devon on Sunday morning.
