She described the house as “perfect both outside and in” and “like a house in a fairy tale”.The landscape around here was to be a big influence on Enid Blyton’s writing. Our itineraries are hassle free and include daily bag transfer. The River Thames is the reason for London being the city it is today, and to walk the Thames River path, from its source in the Cotswolds, into central London, is an experience not to be missed.

The Scouts own the rights to this play. Stop just before the bridge, look across the river at the rowing club.Marlow’s development was driven by two things – its river trade with London and its role as a river crossing point. Wicker traps, called eel bucks, were placed in weirs all along the Thames right up to the twentieth century.Eels migrate from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic and spend up to 20 years in European rivers before making the 4,000 mile return journey to spawn and die.Jellied eels have long been a popular dish served in the Pie Mash shops of East London.However there has recently been an unexplained collapse in the eel population in the Thames as well as across European rivers. The beautiful settings that they provide have always attracted wealthy people to build houses along the banks. Explore some of the Chiltern countryside that Roald Dahl loved. It is apt to end with one final verse from “A Marlow Madrigal” by J Ashby-Sterry:From here you can take the short train ride back to Marlow. This Chilterns walk takes in parts of the Chess Valley walk at the start and end of the route and a section of the Chiltern Way in between. Stop by the river.You are now back by the river and we will shortly be continuing downstream towards Bourne End Marina which you can see in the distance.There was a wharf here as long ago as the Middle Ages when it was run by the Benedictine Nuns from the Priory at Little Marlow.This is also one of those places where the towpath switched banks but it was not until 1824 that the Thames Commissioners provided a horse ferry.Mr Rose of Spade Oak Wharf had the exclusive right to tow barges from here to Marlow. This quirky pub which usually flies the skull and crossbones cannot be reached by road. They are listed in order of the typical time it takes to drive from Marlow. At the end of the passage turn right into The ferry became uneconomic and was discontinued in 1956.Alongside this, I set out to tell you a story of the river through three ‘Ls’: livelihoods, leisure and Learn how people have earned their livelihoods along the banks of the river, how Marlow was once a poor riverside port and how its trade declined when the railways arrived.Find out about literature written by authors who were inspired by the beauty of this stretch of the Thames. They associated their campaign with General Sir George Higginson who was a well-connected veteran of the Crimean war.Higginson lived in Marlow and was celebrating his hundredth birthday that year. It has a flood marker which shows how high the river reached in 1947.That was the worst flood of the twentieth century but there have been many smaller floods since then. She drowned in the Thames estuary after bailing out of a ‘ferry flight’ (the ferrying of aircraft from one place to another, usually to an RAF base, and a job often undertaken by women) during bad weather.Leave the little park and continue along the riverside path which is narrow in places as it passes between garden fences. So a group of local people created the Great Marlow Railway Company and campaigned for a new line.

It is available from the Society and from the Information Centre in Marlow High Street. Walks last between 1 and a half and 2 hours.

It supports a wide variety of birds which you can see all year round. In 1895 it was advertised as “a riverside hotel for boating, fishing and launch parties”.Old Thatch Gardens are well worth a visit. The 35 seat bus exceeded the weight limit when it was fully loaded and it was only allowed to cross the bridge with 15 passengers on board.Apparently it would stop before the bridge so that some passengers could alight and walk across getting back on at the other side. The train, known locally as the Marlow Donkey, runs via Bourne End to link with the main line at Maidenhead. Most of our tours are multimedia featuring portable, pictures and video while walking through Harlem. Walking Tour Updates. The scouts named this one Sherriff Island after their benefactor. All that is without mentioning swans, eels and a donkey; bomb craters, gravel pits and flood tunnels – and a cardboard castle!We hope you have enjoyed this walk and will want to visit Marlow again. Guided Walks available are: We are going to explore how different aspects of the river have influenced the people who have come to live, work and play on the river over the centuries.There are three themes running through this walk. However it was made of earth and timber and it needed a lot of maintenance. The first is the Monarch.