Another leg of the Thames Path checked off ✓. This time an 8.5 mile quiet and rural stretch bookended by Abingdon town and the city of Oxford.
Here One Minute, Gone the Next
For the first time since we started walking the path, we were joined by some friends on this stretch. They kindly offered to collect us from Didcot station and transport us to the start of this leg in Abingdon. This means that this is the only time that we haven’t gone completely on public transport, but it was in an electric car, so still green.
We headed out, but unfortunately our friends had to turn back after half an hour, leaving us on our own once more. And we were very alone, as on this stretch we saw very few people until about a mile out of Oxford. This was just as well, as for most of the way the path was only wide enough for one person, which did have the side effect of being sociable between the two of us harder too.
There wasn’t much of note on this leg other than a lot of very attractive plant life.
We arrived into Oxford three hours later to be met by our friends who had wisely decided that they didn’t want to miss out on the lunch time meal we had planned at one of our favourite restaurants, Dishoom.
We now have only five legs left of the path to do. We won’t finish it this year, but I hope that we can get another three done. Then again, I said that I’d hoped to get to Oxford by the end of 2025, and it has taken us until now, so maybe not. Either way, we are inching closer.
To Date
Day: 16
Start: Abingdon
End: Oxford
Distance: 8.41 miles
Cumulative: 134.55 miles
To go: 53.5 miles