River Thames
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The Crown and Thistle Hotel, Abingdon Review
Overview: The Crown and Thistle dates from around 1605, and is a Grade II listed property comprising of three individual buildings clustered around a cobblestone courtyard. It is thought that the hotel takes its name from the uniting of the English and Scottish Crowns under King James VI of Scotland and King James I of…
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Narrowboating on the Thames to Eynsham
The day started with an autumnal mist over the river, but gladly the sun soon broke through. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast on board our narrowboat we walked back to Sandford lock to take a photo of the pub where we’d tucked into dinner the night before (The King’s Arms). It was 9.50 a.m. by…
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Boating on the Thames to Sandford Lock
Drawing back the curtains from our mooring on the Thames, we were greeted by clear blue skies and after a leisurely breakfast on board we decided to take a stroll around Clifton Hampden as it was too dark to see much the night before. Both the village and the Barley Mow pub (where we had…
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Narrowboating from Oxford to Abingdon
We’d enjoyed a peaceful first night’s sleep tucked up in our comfy beds on board Cunningham, our 65ft narrowboat on hire from Drifters Waterways Holidays, Anglo Welsh base in Eynsham. Up first was David, my husband who performed the daily engine checks which had been demonstrated to us during the previous afternoon’s handover. He then turned…
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Narrowboating on the Thames
I’ve spent many a happy hour strolling along canal towpaths and riverbanks enjoying watching narrowboats pass by. I’ve even seen 3 of the 7 ‘Wonders of the Waterways’ yet had never been on a British narrow-boating holiday, that is until now. Our adventure started one bright and sunny October morning when we drove to the…
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Reading Riverside Walk: Discover the Thames and City on Foot
We decided to spend the day in Reading, a town in the Thames Valley to the west of London. It’s Berkshire’s biggest town and also the largest in the UK to not have city status. Reading is a popular commuter town with a train almost every five minutes into London and the fastest services taking…
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How to Spend a Day in Greenwich, London: Must-See Sights & Activities
I had a spring in my step as I boarded an LNER early morning train between Leeds and London Kings Cross. Using public transport and travelling by train is something I do constantly but alas not in these strange times so I was excited to be taking my first journey for over four months. I’ll…
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How to Spend a Day in Abingdon, Oxfordshire – Top Sights and Activities
Abingdon is a market town in Oxfordshire nestled on the banks of the River Thames. I was long overdue a return visit as the previous occasion was more than 25 years ago when I attended a wedding in the town. Although Abingdon does not have a railway station the nearest one is located only three…
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A walk along the Thames Path
Leaving our hotel in Clapham Junction we walked the few steps across to the railway station in order to board a service to Putney in south west London, just 10 minutes away. We then enjoyed a hearty breakfast on the high street before wandering round the shops and making our way towards the river. Strolling…
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Scenic Walk from Kingston-upon-Thames to Richmond: Riverside Views, Parks & Historic Sights
A 20 minute rail journey from Clapham Junction lies the south west London town of Kingston-upon-Thames and our starting point for today. The large town has some attractive Tudor buildings and a small market selling fruit and vegetables takes place in the central market square at weekends. The town has a good range of shops including…
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Exploring the Woolwich Foot Tunnel and Walking the Thames Path in London
This morning we took the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Woolwich Arsenal where we enjoyed breakfast in the ‘Great Harry’ pub which was in the main square. Woolwich is a historic naval and military town situated three miles to the east of Greenwich. Leaving the pub we walked towards the river passing the historic site…
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A Walk Along London’s South Bank and a Visit to Portobello Road Market
We started the day with a cooked breakfast near Tower Bridge followed by a walk along the south bank of the Thames Path as far as London Bridge, taking a few minutes to walk around the attractive Hay’s Galleria. Originally a warehouse and enclosed dock this listed building was converted in the 1980’s to offices,…
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A weekend in London
Although I live in the north of England I’ve been fortunate to spend countless weekends in London over the years. There’s always something happening and I never tire of a visit to the capital. Hopefully on this four day visit I can introduce some lesser known attractions in addition to the city’s famous sights.…
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Walking along the Thames at Richmond
We decided to try breakfast in the hotel and were pleasantly surprised to find the Travelodge offerings to be much better than we were expecting. So, feeling nourished, we boarded a main line train from Vauxhall to Richmond, approximately 20 minutes away. As mentioned previously, it’s possible to use Oyster cards on shorter main line…