Thames Path Part Fourteen: Newbridge to Lechlade

The Thames Path is a 182 mile National Trail stretching from London to Gloucestershire. This year, the group will aim to cover the whole trail from start to finish! For the final 4 walks in this series, we will head into the Cotswolds taking us from Oxford to the Source of the Thames just outside Kemble!

To add some fun to our adventure, you are encouraged to purchase the Thames Passport where we will collect stamps at over 30 stamping stations along the Path. Collect stamps at all the various stations and you can receive a Certificate of Completion for doing the whole trail from start to finish! The link to purchase the passport is here: https://walkthethames.co.uk/thames-path-passport/

Today’s leg is the longest of our Thames Adventure, a tranquil stretch featuring several villages and the two oldest bridges on the Thames. Please be aware that there will be an early morning start for this leg and we will be walking at a brisk pace throughout mainly due to limited public transport options on this stretch and so people can get home in a timely manner. Please read the section at the end on travel to the walk carefully so you can plan your journey accordingly. 

Setting off from the second oldest bridge on the Thames in Newbridge, we will pass through some riverside meadows towards Shifford. Although the community here has since declined, King Alfred the Great was known to have held the first meeting of an English ‘Parliament’ here. We will cross the river at Shifford Lock Cut and briefly glimpse the Old Thames that flows to Duxford before continuing on to arrive at Tadpole Bridge and our first pub stop of the walk at the Trout Inn to collect another stamp for our passports.

After refreshment, we will continue through Rushey Lock and towards Radcot and our half way stop where we will see the oldest bridge on the river, dating back to 958AD.  We will seek to have lunch just shortly after.

After lunch, we will continue to Kelmscott and may pause for a second pub stop at the Plough to catch our breath further. Otherwise we will continue further past multiple river bends to Buscot. There is another passport station at the tea room but at the time of writing, it is temporarily closed so a decision will be taken on the day whether to stop here or not, otherwise it will be at Kelmscott earlier on.

Either way, we will continue to St John’s Lock, across the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire boundary and towards Halfpenny Bridge in Lechlade for the conclusion of the longest leg of our adventure.