Talk about spring showers, we’ve had some really dodgy weather recently. So we have only been travelling in short hops, taking in pretty moorings when we see them.
North and South Stoke
It’s the not all overgrown wild mooring, some people have some rather nice spots with manicured homes and gardens below Wallingford.
Having heard that the footpath at Goring was being resurfaced meant the visitor moorings were closed, we set out for Pangbourne. But just as we landed on the lock, the biggest raindrops ever started to land on us. I had the foresight to ask the lockie if there was anywhere close to shelter, there was, we got tucked in around the corner by the weir.
not that we could see the weir initially, but it didn’t take too long for the clouds to run dry and we could see the weir and a little hydro electric generator
and for the Egyptian geese to come and say hello
Goring-on-Thames is another chocolate box village, pop phenomenon George Michael sadly died here at his home, Mill Cottage. Its also where Oscar Wilde lived when he wrote his play “An Ideal Husband” however I dont think his character Lord Goring was ideal. But we shall choose to remember that Goring Village Butchers sells the best Cumberland sausages we’ve had in a long time.
I took an opportunity to walk across the bridge,
into Streatley on the southbank. I was about to start walking up the onto the North Wessex downs ( why are hills called downs not ups?), but the storm clouds put in an appearance so I only made it into the meadow.
Goring and Streatley are also known as the Goring Gap, where the Chilterns on the north of the river come close the the North Wessex Downs on the south of the river. (Although at this point as the river is running north to south, the hills are on the east and the west)
Whilst we were moored at Goring lock, I realised the cover picture on our paper Heron map is Goring Lock.
The weather dictated we stayed 2 nights in Goring
before we continued our journey towards Pangbourne.
Whilst we were