Day 12 - Bray to Runnymede, 10.2m

Our car parking at Bray was on the far side of Summerleaze Bridge which was built to carry gravel across the river on a conveyer but has now been converted to be a footbridge.  The path which was very well made continued close to the river giving views through the trees to more lovely houses and Oakley Court Hotel (pictured above with the towers).

On the other side of the path were the Eton Dorney Rowing Lakes but we couldn't see much of them, just the building at the end of the course.   The far bank was equally uninspiring, with another big static caravan site near Windsor Marina.  Later on we also passed the chapel of St Mary Magdalene, Boveney and Boveny Lock.

The next part of the path was uninspiring but we did see some unusual graffiti under a road bridge, a theatre in Winsor and a nicely-painted railway bridge as we neared Eton. 

All of a sudden Windsor Castle came into view as we crossed a grassy area belonging to Eton College.  Eton is really pretty but like everywhere else on this leg of our walk, blighted by the noise of the aircraft which come over every few minutes.  It was just possible to see the top of Eton College Chapel over the trees.

For a while we walked along the edge of the public part of Home Park until we reached the Victoria Bridge, where we had to cross the river.  The royal lawns across the river looked lovely, in stark contrast to the path which was badly overgrown.  We were glad to emerge onto the road at Datchet, where we spotted what looked like a yellow submarine, but turned out to be a lifeboat!

The awful path continued when we turned off the road at Datchet and after we recrossed the river on the Albert Bridge. The path improved towards our lunch stop at a Harvester pub across the road from the river.  It was OK but definitely not the best food or pub location on our walk.

The two Lutyens-designed gatehouses mark the start of Runnymede Meadows from which the Runnymede Monument is visible across the road.  We spotted an orange buoy in the river which seemed to be moving - which it was as it was being towed by a swimmer!  And finally, after what seemed like a long hard day we reached our car at Runnymede.