Pangbourne

We have turned in the homeward direction which is very sad...however we have a few weeks left.

As we left our mooring in Christchurch Meadows there was plenty of activity on the water.  The fences in the background are round the Reading Festival site.   I saw the site from the train on Monday still with what seemed like thousands of tents and a huge amount of rubbish.

The right bank was more pleasing with the lovely gardens in the grounds of this church

......and the lovely thatched boathouse which now looks as though some tlc is required

Meanwhile the fencing along the left bank seemed to go on for ever, I wonder how long it will take them to clear it all up.  Eventually we came to the temporary bridge which is erected to allow access to yet more camping area on the other bank..

Despite our initial fears about going into Reading whilst the festival was on, we have not had a problem.   Our mooring by the prison was well away and surprisingly quiet, although we could hear the music in the distance.

The only evidence I saw was when I went to the station on Monday to catch my train to Goring and although it was maxed out there did not seem to be any trouble.......

....and so to Mapledurham lock where we needed to use the sani station.  This is the huge weir to the side of the lock.  

Alone in a huge lock

We were able to water and get rid of the rubbish but the Elsan facility had been vandalised....apparently someone had taken all the stainless steel........the next sani station is not until Days Lock which will be next week so we have to resort to taking the cassettes to Giles.  We are planning to stay at Beale Park for a few days whilst I go down to London for a reunion.

Just a short hop to Pangbourne now and there were several spaces and we managed to get an ideal spot at the far end (Southern end).

At tea time Giles brought all the children down and they had their picnic supper in the field (whilst we had a glass of wine!) followed by an hour on the swings and then they went home and we went back to Petroc for a peaceful supper on Petroc.

Sunset over Pangbourne

6.07 miles, 1 lock, 2hrs 29 min