G & J away from home

Wednesday, 20 May

It doesn't seem right that the town's name is said 'redding'.  Visiting in Read-ing sounds like a very much more suitable post title.

We had a bit of a late start this morning after the unexpectedly long day yesterday but when we did peek out the window we found our motorway services hotel backed onto a little grassy space on an otherwise overgrown hill - and that the grass was full of rabbits!

Good morning rabbits!

And birds, including some of these black and white ones that Gary thinks are wagtails.  The rabbits do not like either these or the crows sharing their space and will chase them off.  (Though perhaps that is the adult rabbits chasing off the birds since they have baby rabbits with them.)

Wagtail?

Mid-morning we headed off back down the M4 to Reading where we were to meet up with Greg, the son of an old friend and fellow Danvers researcher Bernard.  When we found a car park and wandered back to Greg and Kathryn's place I spied these small blue flowers growing out of the walls in front of the houses.  If only I had a stone or brick wall at home I would love to have something like this!

Flowers growing on the walls

Greg and Kathryn took us out for lunch at The Swan in Pangbourne, and as you can see it is a very old building (c. 1642).

Lunch in Pangbourne

Here's a photo of Gary at our table with the Thames flowing along in the background.  It was a beautiful spot and a great meal.

Overlooking the Thames

After lunch we went to Goring for a walk along the Thames Path. The weather had continued to improve and it turned into a lovely warm evening as we walked.  As we approached this viaduct (the Gatehampton railway bridge, built by Brunel in 1838) a boat came through and it was the African Queen ... well, the African Queen of London.

African Queen (of London)

As we passed under the bridge we could hear a roaring and seeing the culprit on the ridge-line Gary decided it was a dinosaur.  It did look a bit like that as it grumbled backwards and forwards!

'Dinosaur' on the ridgeline

While we were admiring the 'dinosaur' a fox ran across the paddock in front of us an headed down a wide path.  He stopped a couple of times to look back at us and I eventually had time to take a fuzzy photo of him.  He certainly looked good running across the field - very English.

Hard to see, but a fox in the distance

Here's a photo of the signage on the Thames Path - very nice and rustic.

Walking along the Thames Path

When we went back to Greg and Kathryn's for tea the cat of the house, Freda, came to make a fuss of Gary and I.  She was a very sleek-coated girl who wanted to see what we were doing (sorting papers) and check us over to see if we had been near other cats.  (Sadly we haven't- not for weeks and weeks!)

Getting a cat fix

After tea we have cheese, served on a mouse cheeseboard exactly like the one we bought home from Robert Thompson's shop for Dad many years ago.  The day we bought it we were visiting the Mouseman visitor centre with Greg's parents, Bernard and Kate.  (And on the cheeseboard was my new favourite cheese - camboloza, which is a sort of blue brie.  Superb!)

All-in-all a lovely day.
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