Cookham, calm, still & dewey – Big Fat Frankie Lampard’s house in the background!

What a great breakfast; two eggs, two sausages, three bacon, toast, mushrooms AND tomatoes, and nice cup of EG, not PG!

It all looked a bit touch and go this morning as Captain Colin took on a new role as Colin the Cabin Boy (not Roger!), and went to war with cooker and the grill. At one point breakfast didn’t look like it was going to make it, because “the f’ing pan won’t fit in the f’ing grill”, “it’s not like my narrow boat, where we’ve got a great little galley”…..”f, f, f,” and few more f’s” just for good measure. Penny the Purser and I managed somehow to hide our smirks and winces behind our cups of tea, as Captain Colin worked out that he had to stick his arse end into his bedroom (“Cabin”! said the Captain), in order to light the grill. But, oh boy, when it came… it was a feast, and no one more grateful than me for a good feed with the day ahead.

The breakfast of charity champions – how he did it i’ll never know!

It’s funny, isn’t it, when you stay away with people you don’t normally stay with, you can wonder at some of the little nuances they have. I haven’t spotted Penny & Colin’s yet, but they sure found me a little strange as I went through my routine of green juice with kale, vitamin tablets, turmeric supplements and a probiotic yoghurt, followed by EG tea, later a coffee and a couple of cigarettes – it’s how I start my day! The oddest thing they found was after washing and brushing my teeth it was Henny’s turn at the toothbrush “I’ve seen it all now” said Colin. It wasn’t my tooth brush, I told him … it’s Tania’s!

Bourne End

Henny and I set off about 9.15 leaving Cookham and headed for Marlow. A beautiful walk in the morning dew and a slightly misty Thames. First notable point for me was Bourne End, we used to go to a club here as youngsters – it was called Woburn Grange Country Club, and the building was used for all of the outside shots in the iconic TV series Fawlty Towers – you can just picture it, the arch, the white house and steps up to the hotel. What a shame it was badly fire damaged & it’s now a housing development.

Fawlty Towers – Woburn Grange Country Club, Bourne End

As we approached Marlow, I instantly recognised all the big grand houses built into the hillside overlooking the river, I must have seen them 10,000 times from the Marlow bypass this past 40 years. They were somewhat comforting as I knew we weren’t far from our first stop of the day. It wasn’t long before I was slightly disappointed – The Two Brewers, Marlow’s oldest pub was closed and The George & Dragon (Whitbread owned) had road works in progress all along the front of it – pneumatic’s and so on , so this was a no go, off to the park for a coffee, and glad I did.

Marlow (poor sods with a flooded garage!)

The path leads you off the river by the weir, and memories started to come at me from all angles. I lived in Marlow with my Dad & Stepmum, Shirley for a few years, at No7 Ryan’s Mount. Dad had a Wolseley 6 with drop down mahogany tables and chrome cup holders – funny what makes an impression on a kid! I attended Holy Trinity primary school, had to have corrective help with my knock knees, and fell off my bicycle one day causing a scar I still bear.

1960’s Wolseley 6 with Mahogany Tables & Chrome Cup Holders

The path took me past the Church, where I attended the choir for a short time – never much of a singer (as some who know me can attest), was in 3rd Marlow Cub pack, and I recalled my sister getting caught for shoplifting a troll from John Menzies on the high street – sorry Kanchan.

There’s a great cafe in the park, I had a latte and they kindly gave me a few dog treats for Henny. Sitting outside the cafe I recalled some old photos and cine footage of myself, my sister and my cousin Kelly aged somewhere between 5 & 8 between us, on the bank by the bridge, Kelly had lost a sock in the River – the picture was as clear as day.

L-R. My Sister, Cousin Kelly & Me Marlow Bridge 1960’s

As we left Marlow I looked across at The Complete Angler, a classy hotel that dad liked to take us to on rare occasions, and where my good friends Craig & Sarah held the most lavish wedding reception I’d been to – they only walked with me the day before!

The Compleat Angler & the Suspension Bridge – Marlow

Captain Colin to the rescue – I needed to cross the river at Temple Bridge

The footbridge to cross the river at Temple was closed for renovations, it would have been a horrid walk up the road via Bisham, but for me seeing Captain Colin & Penney the Purser coming under the pretty suspension bridge at Marlow- here I hatched a cunning plan… we arranged for them to stop at Temple Lock and ferry me across to the other side of the river – it might have saved me a 100 yards or so, but with plenty of other to’ing and fro’ing I’ve done up the tow path I still reckon I’m well and truly in credit.

I met my long time friend Sue Neale (nee Powell) at Hurley Lock. We been mates for 40 odd years – where did that time go, and she’s godmother to our twins. I can’t tell you everything we talked about – some of it’s confidential, but we chatted like mad for the next 6 hours trying catch up since we last met and reminiscing as we always do. I must confess, I’d already walked for half a day, and Sue, who’s a fit girl, was joining me for the second half of the day, I was hoping she wasn’t in the mood for marching, while id prefer to amble along – she wasn’t, she was as keen to settle in to the pub for a Guinness as I was!

The deer park was beautiful, white deer, a first for me, and then… The Flower Pot at Aston, bear Remenham. Wow, great pub, real pub, old fashioned and a step back in time – they could almost have filmed American Werewolf In London here, you know The Slaughtered Lamb, but that could be me being a tad unfair. Funny though, some old biddy left their false teeth behind! We got through a couple of Guinness, and could have stayed all afternoon but had to get back to the path – it was harder from here with a couple of beers in me, but soon we made it to Henley.

The first real memory for me approaching Henley, was to see the Red Lion Hotel looking no different to how it was 36 years ago this coming August when Tania and I spent our first wedded night there. I remember it well, I watched Match of the Day in bed, while she had a bath and marvelled at the twins moving around in her heavily pregnant tum. Don’t worry, we’d done the consummation before we married! Tania didn’t want much for breakfast, but it was included in the wedding gift, so I had a plate of Full English AND a plate of kippers with scrambled eggs – rude not to use the full room service facilities I thought!

Red Lion Hotel, Henley – Tania & I spent our honeymoon night here in 1983!

Round the corner was the Catherine Wheel, it’s a Wetherspoons now. Dad would take us here for special occasions. Prawn Cocktail, Steak & Banana Split to follow as I recall.

Catherine Wheel in the distance on the right – Henley

Over the road we went to The Angel On The Bridge, a smashing little pub with a deck on the river. Henny and I took time out to sit at a bench on the deck to remember some 34 years ago spending time there with a work friend and colleague and his family who were visiting us from Bury. Derek and Julie Mather and their son Mark, who can’t have been more than a two year old, were set to become good friends we thought, we all got on so well, and I’d met Derek a few times before. I couldn’t believe or comprehend it; Derek committed suicide the following week! I’ve always wondered how on earth I never got to understand what was on his mind, or if he could have talked about it with me, for a long time I felt I failed him in some way. So sad, he was such a lovely man – spitting image of John Lennon to look at.

It’s been another fabulous day on the river, met up with Peter Elliot (Peter the Trees to some). We’ve known each other for some 10 years or so now, Pete used to cut trees & did some landscaping for us at the Frog, and is always good company for a chat and a beer – despite being a Millwall fan (no one likes them, they don’t care) – I think that’s the song! Met up with Sue’s husband Steve, who’d kindly run her down for the walk and met up with her to get her back for a dinner guest, that she was wondering how it would go with since she had about a 3 pint of Guinness head start on her!!

Henny taking a well earned rest at The Angel on the Bridge

Dinner at The Angel, and back to the boat for a night cap and a much needed sleep. Henny is definitely Dog-tired, but loving it. Fundraising went well today, kind donations approaching £200, my target is not that far away and we may even exceed it – I hope so.

Tomorrow is another day – Henley to Pangbourne, my longest of the week so far 15 miles and a nasty blister forming on the ball of my left foot – damn!

Tucked up in my bedroom (“Cabin”, says Capt Colin)!