Day 9 - Whitchurch to Sonning, 10m

Today was the through Reading leg, so we were not expecting much.  Leaving Whitchurch, we walked down through the village to the river and crossed over to Pangbourne.

The first two and a half miles were lovely, through meadows along the river bank until we reached Mapledurham Lock.  On the way, we had a brief view of Hardwick House (inset).

The next 2 and a half miles were less pleasant, we turned away from the river and walked through a housing estate which looked very nice but was sandwiched between the railway line and a main road, so it wasn't quiet.  We then crossed the railway line again and walked along the river bank, but the other side of the path was the railway embankment, so once again it was noisy.  We did see some interesting signs though!

Eventually, the railway went away from the river and we were walking in a meadow again, until the path became the very nice Thames promenade in well kept parkland with some very nice houses on the opposite bank.  We stopped for lunch in a pub near Caversham Bridge which specialised in Indonesian cuisine but also served British pub classics.  Then it was on along the tow path between the bridges past riverside apartments and office buildings.  After Reading Bridge the tow path continued and the only blot on the landscape was the bridge across the River Kennett.

When we reached Thames Valley Park, home of Microsoft, we sat on an Oracle bench for a while, then went up to meet Ellie who was doing her first Keeping in Touch Day and Brad and Jude who had gone with her.  They treated us to a hot drink by the lake, which was very welcome as it was rather cooler than it had been earlier in the day. Then it was back to the path and on to Sonning. A much more enjoyable day than we had anticipated and we have passed another milestone as we are now more than halfway to the Thames Barrier.