Walking the Thames Path from Source to Barrier - 184 miles
To be done in stages during 2014 by Elaine.

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Day 1 - Wednesday 16th April 2014

The first day was a most marvellous April day - warm, sunny, with just a light breeze. The weather had been dry for 2-3 weeks so the ground underfoot was firm and dry mostly, even though the early part of the year had seen one of the wettest January and February in recent years with floods along parts of the Thames between Oxford and London.

The source of the Thames is marked by an inscribed stone tablet in a field just off the Fosse Way near Kemble in Gloucestershire. This first section covers about 12 - 13 miles.

                                    Thames Path - Source                         Thames Path - Source                          Thames Source

                                    Stone marking the source        Initial sign post            Crossing the first water meadow

              Thames Path                                                               Thames Path                                         Thames Path            

The Thames appears shallow and weedy       A lovely path alongside the water led through woods to the village of Ashton Keynes where I lunched.

                                       Thames Path - Cricklade    Thames Path - Cricklade

                                  Cricklade at the end of the first day.