Locks and Follies ....

Henley on Thames - Quintessentially English and a rather pleasant little 'tory borough'. Indeed before being elected Mayor of London, the mighty Boris was its MP and before him Michael Heseltine!
Its dominated by all things rowing and feels like a place where new money ( notable celebs with 'cribs' in the area -  Liam Gallagher, Orlando Bloom and Phillip Schofield) are trying to buy a history and gate crash a society stretching back centuries whilst the old money watches in isolated amusement.

Anyway - the funbus rocked up in fine fettle for a weekend of R&R at this delightful little town that seems to live in a tranquil bubble of 'niceness' as the rest of the world hurries by. A good place to stop and smell the flowers and take a moment to reflect on life, adventures and the universe.

First thing is its old - its been around since 1180. It seems to have had a quiet life, probably the biggest thing of note (apart from the rowing regatta) is that it lost 60% of its population in the 14th century to the black plague. Even older is the Hambleden Lock 2/3 miles downstream from Henley which we rambled to after a bracing visit to the renowned and appropriately named Angel-on-the-bridge  hostelry, ideally located on the famous Henley bridge (that incidentally was struck by a boat in 2010 called the Crazy Love) on a glorious sunny Saturday. There is a record of there being a Lock in-situ as far back as 1086 when the Doomsday book was being written, suffice to say its been updated since then but still well worth the effort to visit.

Along the way we came across the famous Temple Island folly which is what it says on the tin - a small island in the Thames with a temple built on it. The big question is why in 1771 did a rich person want a fishing lodge to look like a temple built on an island. I guess we will never know the answer. All I would observe is that Sambrooke Freeman who made the decision obviously had more money than sense. Still it is a rather fetching Folly now used for weddings!

The Lock is a rather interesting area with a weir beloved by ducks and various water fowl and a long footbridge enjoyed by tourists, ramblers and the general hoi-polloi.

..footpath and weir.

Orderly water fowl

Hoi-Polloi

We were lucky enough to witness inland waterway road rage when a rather imposing lady octogenarian took umbrage when mooring etiquette was not correctly followed by some young bounders...very scary and yet quaintly surreal. I am not sure her ninety year old husband was entirely happy with the situation as the young bounders comprised 3 burly chaps with rather coarse manners! Still you have to hand to the aged lady - her death stare was truly awesome bordering on Medusa like! Thankfully a satisfactory outcome was found when the bounders decided to turn tail and head back down stream.      

We also found a rather nice inn providing welcome succour after our exertions in getting to the Lock. Refreshed and refuelled we ambled back to town for a fun evening of merriment. Stopping off at the Three Tuns and the Old Bell (oldest building and pub in Henley c.1325) en-route. I have to applaud the local Brakspeare brewery for producing some rather refreshing brews!

Sunday dawned wet and stayed wet - it really was good weather for ducks...

We like Henley ... its our kind of town.