To see or not to see? (Thames River Ramble, Leg 2–Abingdon to Wallingford)

Yesterday (Thursday, 9/2/2022) I completed the second leg of my Thames River Ramble, covering a 14.5 mile stretch running from Abingdon-on-Thames to Wallingford. My journey included a few detours and missteps that took me off track, so all told I covered closer to 18-19 miles on foot yesterday. I’m giving a big shoutout today to my ACU colleagues Kelly Elliott and Jonathan Camp. After the first leg I solicited suggestions about how to address the blistering problem I was running into with my feet. Kelly recommended moleskin, and both she and Jonathan strongly encouraged me to get some wool hiking socks. I’ve done both, and the second day was much better. My old blisters are still healing, but I noticed a big difference during the second leg just from making these adjustments.

All told, I’ve covered about 25 miles of the 185 mile trail. If I cover 25 miles per week I should be able to complete the trail in 8 weeks. My original goal was to cover about 3 miles per hour, but I’m discovering that trail conditions can really slow you down on a ramble. I’m confident I can do at least 3 miles per hour on a paved trail, but large stretches of the Thames River path are grass trails, with pitting that makes for uneven walking. Yesterday I was doing closer to 2.5-2.75 miles per hour, including stops for picture taking, etc. The pace was very manageable. I may be genetically designed for this kind of walking. I am hopeful that as I get closer to London the increasingly urbanized trails will allow me to pick up my pace.

To see or not to see? That is the question, isn’t it? It’s a question I asked myself repeatedly during yesterday’s ramble. It’s an unexpected conundrum. The Thames River Path runs through quaint English towns and historical sites I’ve only read about. When I began planning this ramble I envisioned strolling for miles along the Thames and then hopping into a local small town pub for conversation. But how realistic is this? Given that I plan to hike the entire trail, I experience a quandary every time I hit a new town. Do I stay on the trail and make my way to my final destination, or do I head off the trail into the city to do some exploring? To see or not to see?

Consider my options yesterday. I left Oxford on the Express bus to Abingdon around 6:30 AM, arriving just before 7:00 AM. In the 14.5 mile stretch I covered yesterday are the following small towns: Abingdon, Culham, Appleford-on-Thames, Clifton Hampden, Burcot, Long Wittenham, Little Wittenham, Dorchester-on-Thames, Shillingford, Benson, and Wallingford. You see the problem, right? If this is to be a day trip and not an overnight excursion, I’ve got to choose when to stop and see something new, and when to go on. To see or not to see?

So what choices did I make yesterday? I began with a stop at the Abbey meadow in Abingdon, once the sight of a thriving Abbey founded in 675 AD. I visited this site back in 2012. The Abbey was prominent and powerful until the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1538. Walking through the town, there is evidence everywhere of the pride that locals take in the historical significance of what surrounds them (note: again, I have posted more pictures of my ramble on my Facebook page). At some point I want to reflect more on the value of investing oneself in local history, a lesson I learned from my grandfather a long time ago. I’ve got more to say on this. That’s for a future post.

Leaving Abingdon I made steady progress toward Wallingford, encountering brief patches of drizzle through the first part of the ramble. Breezing past Culham and Appleford, I couldn’t resist the temptation to peak into Clifton Hampden, a small village with some old, picturesque cottages and a town church that caught my attention. I wanted to stay longer and explore, but Wallingford beckoned.

Friends, you can’t miss the Clumps. I mean this as both a declarative and an imperative statement. The Wittenham Clumps are two giant hills located near Little Wittenham. You can see them for miles; they are impossible to miss. They are also something you need to see. You are allowed to hike to the top of them.

One side journey I did take was to Dorchester-on-Thames. I almost missed the trail to this city, but I sought assistance from a local man, Gary, who was walking his dog on the trail near this quaint historic town. Originally from Long Wittenham but currently residing in Didcot, Gary was kind enough to walk with me into the town, giving me the chance to pepper him with questions. The 15-20 minute conversation we shared was one of the highlights of this leg of the ramble.

Gary was friendly, but unfortunately not a font of knowledge about local history and culture. A brief snippet of our conversation went something like this:

Vic: “So can you tell me something about your town, something that I wouldn’t be able to learn from reading a guidebook?”
Gary: (after a long period of thought), “Hmmm, well no, I’m afraid I’m not a very good storyteller. These towns are all very laid back and boring. Nothing much of interest happens here.”
Vic: “No worries. Maybe you can answer this question for me. There is a Long Wittenham and a Little Wittenham. Why is one called Long, and the other Little?”
Gary: “No, I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to the question either. You’d have to ask me ex-wife.”

I didn’t learn a lot from Gary, but we did have a pleasant conversation, and he may have learned something from me. While walking through Dorchester he began asking me about U.S. gun laws. “So what happens if a police officer stops your car and you have a gun in your glove box?” he inquired. I replied, “Well, it depends on if you have a legal permit for the gun. If you do, then you are allowed to have it in your car. In fact, in some towns you are allowed to carry your gun openly in public.” Wide-eyed, Gary nodded. “You’re from Texas, right?” he said. “I’d guess that you all really like your guns, ehh? Cowboys and all?” “Yes,” I replied. “Texans really like their guns.” Our gun laws are a source of fascination and horror for locals like Gary.

I said farewell to Gary and made my way to Dorchester Abbey. Tara and I visited the Abbey, which dates from the 12th century, back in 2012 with our kids and ACU students. It was nice to return and relive those memories. The Abbey church stays very much as it has long been…

Dorchester is just past the halfway mark to Wallingford from Abingdon, so with rain approaching I attempted to pick up my pace in order to make it to Wallingford for lunch. Note to self: bring some food with you on future walks. Not to worry family, but I was so excited to get on the trail yesterday that I left the ACU house at 6:00 AM with water but no snacking food. I did not eat beforehand, and I did not eat a meal until arriving in Wallingford, around 1:45 PM. It was manageable (again, perhaps I am genetically made for such things), but I could definitely feel the hunger setting in the last two miles of the journey. The pub food in Wallingford was a refreshing conclusion to the ramble.

Because of the rain in Wallingford, I did not take pictures of the castle ruins, another of those things that one must see. My plan is to take pictures when I’m back in Wallingford (hopefully early next week) for the next leg of the ramble which will take me to Tilehurst. Final thing of note. While near Shillingford I came across what appeared to be an old World War II pillbox. I’ll share a picture here, with apologies for the blurry image (it was starting to rain, so I had put my good camera in my backpack):

Doing some internet digging, I’ve discovered that there are a significant number of old pillboxes still standing in points all over England. How many of them I’ve already passed, I cannot say. I know now to be on the lookout for them. Among the many treasures along the River Thames, they are a must see.

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