Day four: Reading to Goring and Cleeve

12 miles:  5 locks: 4 hours, 45 minutes

After the long day travelling from Cookham to Reading.  I decided on just a half day chug and get to the Goring Gap.

.So, in the morning I went into Reading to the office.  My laptop battery was not holding its charge and I also needed a good internet connection to upload text and pictures to my blog. 

So was I the first National Strategies employee to arrive by boat?

On the way back to the mooring the rain began and although it was light it seemed that the day was going to be wet. (Pictures below are Reading Town Hall and the Kennet and Avon canal in centre of Reading)

So it was on with the wet weather gear for preparing to leave Caversham and pulling out the mooring pins.
It was only a short distance to the lock along Kings Meadow.

Soon after the lock out  the sun was trying to come out and we chugged past the first Reading bridge and then Caversham bridge.

As you leave Reading there are a number of boatyards and one was selling diesel with no set split!

Certainly better than what I was offered the 'other side' of Reading!
Better Boats is certainly better diesel.........

There was plenty of wind about and it was great to have it’s freshness on your face.
After the large and grand houses on the Oxfordshire bank the river changes.
The suburbs of Reading are shaken off and the river becomes open and free.  There is green everywhere and lots of islands dominate this part of the journey.  I managed to spot an alpaca herd grazing in one of the riverside pastures.  There were countless herons too.

Eventually you arrive at Pangbourne and Whitchurch on either side of the river.

Below is the Whitchurch Toll Bridge is one of the only two toll bridges spanning the river.

Suddenly the sky darkened and thunder roared and it rained and rained……… it was very heavy too.
I thought of stopping but pulling over and mooring in this heaven opening was going to be highly tricky.  So I chugged on!

As the storm lessened and finally ended we arrived at another pair of villages.  These are Goring and Streetly again on different sides of the Thames.

Quickly after Goring lock comes Cleeve lock.  The pound between them is the shortest on the Thames and Cleeve is the shallowest on the Thames.

Soon after the lock is just the place to moor up Hallmark.  Some lovely meadows and not a sole or boat in sight on 'my side'of the river.