Friday 27th February - Spring has Sprung

I had a day off on Friday, and I was very lucky with the weather. I'd intended to take Mishka for a walk around Marlow after dropping first Olga at the railway station, then Lara at nursery. There was blue sky and it was warm, even before 9am when we set off along the Thames towards Bourne End. It's a normal walk for us, taking an hour or so, then coming back in 5 minutes on the train. I did notice that Marlow Angling Club had put this sign up on the riverbank - they are obviously having trouble with Polish poachers!

Once we arrived at Bourne End, I was so enjoying the walk that I decided I'd carry on along the Thames Path to Cookham, the next stop on the railway line. Mishka hadn't met so many dogs in such a short space of time, and he was enjoying it too. It made a nice change to be able to walk him in nice surroundings without having to worry more about Lara. This extended the walk from 2 to 3 1/2 miles, but by the time I arrived there it was still only 10.15am, and I thought we might as well carry on. I'd always wanted to walk the Thames Path down to Maidenhead, it's well signposted (I didn't have a map with me) so this was the perfect opportunity to "recce" it before suggesting we try it out with Lara and Olga one day.
This meant that the "gentle walk around Marlow" became a 7-mile trek to Maidenhead, and a 20 minute train journey back to Marlow (hence the photograph of a tired Mishka on the train). I'd done it in just under 3 hours in wellies, which meant my feet were killing me - I'd not thought I was going to walk so far or I'd have put walking boots on.