Journey to the source of the Thames

Not wanting to waste another glorious winter day we crossed another “todo” off our list. This time – walking to the source of the River Thames.

Its in Gloucestershire; about 1.5hrs drive near the Cotswolds. There is a footpath, the Thames Path, that runs from the source to the mouth. We picked up the path a little over a mile from the source just out of Kemble. Although we had originally planned to intercept the path a little futher away in Ewen, we arrived in the village to find absolutely nowhere to park anywhere near the path. So we headed back to Kemble and parked on a layby on the A429.

Whilst a beautiful clear morning it was only about 6 degrees as we arrived about midday. So we rugged up and donned our trekking footwear. For us, this meant hiking boots, and for James this meant his wellies. Turns out that James was probably best suited to the walk.

The walk to the source is basically through fields with a few fence crossings. Each crossing is well maintained so its no trouble.

Although only a little over a mile from the source we noticed that the Thames was flowing reasonably strongly although it is very shallow at this point. We crossed a little wooden bridge and continued along a thicket line. The ground was a little soggy and we could see the Thames as a stream that joined a series of large shallow ponds in the field.

It was a wonderful walk and we hardly saw a soul. James tackled the walk well although it fair to say the pace was leisurely! But that was fine by me.

Along the way we passed stone walls that crossed the path of the river. We stopped at one of them for some lunch. James was perched on the wall and devoured some sandwiches as Merrilyn and I enjoyed a nice hot coffee.

Through another fence crossing and we spied the source at then end of a depression (aka soggy track) in the edge of a wood. By this time the ground was sodden with lost of pools of crystal clear water. Approaching the source we spied a monument under a tree. It read:

THE CONSERVATION OF THE RIVER THAMES
1857-1974
THIS STONE WAS PLACED HERE TO MARK THE
SOURCE OF THE RIVER THAMES

At the base of the tree is a basin lined with stones. It was full of water. Here it is! It was wonderful to be standing at the head of such a famous river. We looked for bubbles in the basin but didn’t see any.

After a chat with some fellow walkers we decided to head back for the car. It was probably about 3pm at this point and James – whilst doing very well – was clearly starting to get a little tired.

The sun started to dip into some clouds on the return. You can certainly notice the change in apparent temperature when it does!

James made good use of his wellies by stamping through the shallow water that lay about the path.

About 4pm we were back at our car and removing muddy boots and clothes. What a great experience!

Photos are here. And a short video here.