MIDDLE THAMES

In the second part of our guide, we follow the Thames upstream from Reading through the steep sided Goring Gap and quieter countryide to reach Oxford

- Martin Ludgate

On the face of it, you might not expect there to be much real difference between the Thames below Reading, which was the subject of last month’s cruise guide, and the and this month’s length leading onwards and upwards from there to Oxford. True, the river’s got slightly smaller as a result of us having lost the contribution from the waters of the Kennet, whose somewhat understated arrival between the railway lines and gasholders of an industrial area of eastern Reading doesn’t give much clue to the 100 glorious miles of the Kennet & Avon route through to Bristol. But as the Thames runs through the north side of town, climbing Caversham Lock, dividing in two to pass either side of Fry’s Island - there are visitor moorings near here for a short walk into the town centre and its shops - and passing the modern Environment Agency Thames headquarters and Caversham Bridge, it doesn’t seem significantly narrower. And the locks, while not quite as huge as some down in the lower reaches, are still generously sized by canal boating standards, and power operated by keepers (or by boat crews using pushbutton controls when the keeper is absent and the ‘self service’ signs are on display).

And yet, as we gradually leave Reading behind, with the site of the annual rock festival on our south side and one or two impressively ornate waterside houses - complete with turrets - on the north bank, there does seem to have been a slight change of character from the lower river. Partly it’s the geography: having wound its way across flat terrain between old face each other across a Victorian iron tollbridge; likewise Goring and Streatley are separated by Goring Bridge. In between them the river passes Beale Park, a wildlife park and scene of boat festivals in earlier years (see inset).