Sonning Lock and Village

  "The floral tastes of the lock-keeper generally make Sonning Lock very bright and gay"

                                                                                           Charles Dickens (1882)

Watering the plants on a hot Summer's day.

The lock-keeper's garden on the island.

There's a tea garden on the island
with views of the weir and backwater.
(This is where we saw the black swan).

"Is there a spot more lovely than the rest,

by art improved, by nature truly blest?

A noble river at its base running

it is a little village known as Sonning

James Sadler (1845-1885) Sonning lock-keeper

    

A short walk along the south bank towpath is the pretty village of Sonning. Walking up a narrow, leafy path, passing the flint-walled St. Andrew's Church and going through the churchyard visitors and locals can find another popular resting place at the Bull Inn. 

You can read more about the history of the lock here

River rambling

The Thames is the longest river in England and it's possible to walk the entire length by way of the Thames Path.

The stretch of the river I know best is where it flows through the villages and towns of Oxfordshire and Berkshire between Oxford and Windsor.

                                  Sonning.....

                                  "the most fairy-like little nook in the whole of the river."

                                  Jerome K. Jerome in the book Three Men in a Boat

A boat waiting to go into the lock (going upstream).

The lock keeper begins to open the sluice gates from the island.
The weir is on the other side of the island.

The boat goes into the pound lock.

That was a beautiful boat, but there were plenty more smaller ones.  The lock keeper was being kept busy and we enjoyed watching the boating world go by from the river bank and the island. Sonning has always been a popular spot and the towpath was just as busy on this sunny weekend. 

Tranquil waters for boaters and ramblers near Sonning Lock.

A walk by the river

We took a walk by the river at the weekend. It was not surprising

that we saw many water birds, particularly swans, slowly cruising by.

Caversham Bridge, River Thames
  

Nearer to town the swans gather along the bank near 

the promenade.

There seem to be more and more of them

in the same spot each time I come back to my home county.

Sunny moments

We had many sunny moments this weekend.