During the last weeks of August we've been spending time in Berkshire and Oxfordshire before returning home to Yorkshire.
At the first opportunity we went out into the countryside near Henley-on-Thames, which is located on the border between the counties of Oxfordshire and Berkshire. We stopped near the independent day and boarding school of Shiplake College and took a short walk down a public footpath which leads to the church, the college playing fields and farmland. After visiting the church we started to walk down to the river and Shiplake Lock, but turned back as we had arranged to meet a friend in Rotherfield Greys where we had booked a table for lunch at a pub in this village. Hopefully we can return to the area, walk along a different path and find our way down to the river Thames.
Shiplake College
There were blackberries and other fruits
that have ripened earlier than usual this year.
a butterfly (speckled wood)
Rowing is an important sport for many of the students of Shiplake College.
Shiplake Parish Church
The shaft cross in the churchyard was erected
in 1908 as a memorial to the local Phillimore family.
an area of the churchyard
the Lavender Walk leads up to the south porch
inside the south porch
Shiplake Parish Church, dedicated to SS Peter and Paul is where Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate, was married in June 1850 to Emily Smallwood, a cousin of the vicar's wife. She was a talented writer herself. I will share more of the interesting interior of the church next time.