Hike to The Trout Inn - Oxford Day 4 - Sat, Aug 16

 (Note:  Rather than putting pictures and videos throughout this posting we've collected them into a single video slideshow at the end.  Wanted to first share information with you about our exciting day.)

With great weather forecast - high 60s - our energy was up and we were very ambitious.  We'd previously heard about hiking along the Thames River up to The Trout Inn above the Godstow lock, but we'd never attempted it.  Thus with little more than a vague idea of where we needed to go, we grabbed our hats, sunscreen, comfortable walking shoes, water and set out for an interesting lunch outing.  By the way, it's approx 4.9 miles each direction!

The Thames as it runs thru Oxfordshire is VERY narrow, is sometimes called the Isis River and frequently splits off in small tributaries that eventually find their way back to the "main" waterway.  At regular intervals along the walkway are large round orange containers mounted on posts that contain a life preserver.  (watch for them in the pics below) Although the river is generally slow moving, all of Oxford is reclaimed marshland so whenever it rains heavily  the river turns into a rushing torrent overflowing it's banks.  Signs are posted to NOT walk the path when it is flooded.  We've heard that neighborhoods were flooded just a few weeks before our arrival. 

We also used this time to try out the "selfie pole" that Jim had recently ordered online and brought with us.  It worked out great.  What a fantastic invention.  Can't figure out why none of the local stores carried it.  Our first selfie shot was on the path before we left the center of Oxford. 

The further out we went the more "wild" everything was.  First a manicured path through the back of neighborhoods, sometimes next to a stone wall but always next to the river.  Lots of beautiful flowers and huge bushes of blackberries everywhere.  Glad I've been taking my allergy pills.  One part of the path wound around and took us under a combined road/rail bridge - we had to bend over as it was very short under there.  Once we got further out we were actually walking thru huge fields, some with cattle grazing nearby, so we had to open/close cattle gates as we walked along that path.  Across the river one could also walk thru Port Meadow where cattle and sheep shared the area with wild horses and ponies and walkers and a few people camping in tents. 

We find it SO strange to be walking across fields, going thru fences and sharing the fields with livestock.  Unheard of in the US, but commonplace in the UK.  Basically there are public Footpaths crisscrossing the whole of the UK which cross private land.  You are just tasked with not destroying anything and closing the gates as you pass thru.

The trees we passed were hundreds of years old with humongous trunks. Alot of people were riding bikes or walking like us, others were sitting by the river or exercising their dogs.  Such fun.

We finally reached the Godstow Lock and watched a narrow boat go through the lock.  I've seen timeshares where you get a narrow boat for a week but haven't yet convinced Jim that I/we can handle one.  They only go 2-5 mph but you do have to go thru locks and there are only a few set places where you can turn around - as a 360 - since the river is so narrow and the boats are narrow but very long.

Lunch at The Trout Inn sitting at a table on the riverside terrace was great.  There was  a peacock sitting 6' behind me and a duck that came right up to Jim on the wall.  Thanks to the lunch respite, I WAS ready for the 4.9 mile return walk. 

However, when we got 1/3 of the way back, we did detour to The Perch.  There is a sign on the Thames Path telling you to go thru a gate into the woods to arrive at The Perch.  Once thru the woods, I was intrigued by the metal dragonfly sculptures embedded in the pathway.  There was also an Alice in Wonderland theme with a large wooden teacup on top of the terrace and 3 barrels each with a figurine - Alice, the Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. 

We sat under one of the HUGE weeping willow trees - that seem to be everywhere here - and had a Pimms.  It is like a liquor that they mix with British lemonade (that is sort of like Sprite) and serve in a glass with fruit - strawberries, orange/lemon/cucumber slices.  So were refreshed for the rest of the walk back to our flat. 

So, now that we've acquainted you with our exciting outing, we'd like to share it with you visually.  We even narrated the video so please take the time to watch it. Hopefully you will enjoy it as we share our outing with you.

(Be sure to click to make Full Screen and click HD to make it High Definition)

Hike to the Trout from James Sandefur on Vimeo.