"Hey, Lawrence! Lawrence of Arabia!" A few young people are sitting on the other bank and call over to us. Their still winter-pale torsos bare, their feet dangle in the lazily flowing Thames to cool off. With their arms outstretched, they laughingly point at their colleague Morten, who is sitting next to me on the flybridge and has wrapped a white towel around his head to protect himself from the sun, in the tradition of proud desert peoples.
But what else can we do? With the best will in the world, we didn't expect it to be this hot; it's not even the end of May and we're in the south of England, not Sudan. The old thermometer at the lock in Benson - "Benson Lock", as it's called here - still reads in Fahrenheit, but even so the mercury column is dangerously close to the upper limit. 30 degrees Celsius in the shade, at least.
As I said, we are travelling on the Thames. We want to spend a week travelling downstream by charter boat, "one-way", through the English heartland to the royal town of Windsor. And it really will be a "royal" experience, our trip on the Royal River. We picked up our "Tango" houseboat yesterday just a kilometre above the lock, at the Le Boat charter base in cosy Benson. The fact that the rural village at the foot of the gentle Chiltern Hills was once an "important royal centre", as the chronicles report, is no longer apparent even at second glance. No wonder: these "great times" were almost a millennium ago. But the Thames has remained, after all.
The good-natured Thames makes it very easy for us, a real beginner's area that is easy to navigate. We hardly encounter any buoys during the entire course of the trip, and when we do, they are very small and indicate individual points with the usual colours, red on the right bank and green on the left. Otherwise, the navigational information is limited to labelled signs: "Danger" warns of a weir, "Lock" (with arrow) indicates the direction to the lock, and "Channel" (also with arrow) marks the side with the fairway in front of islands.
In Wallingford, a large stone bridge with wide arches spans the river. Children stand in the centre, lean over the parapet and drop several sticks into the water in front of our boat at the same time, only to run quickly to the other side - followed by loud cheers a few seconds later. What we think is an innocent game is actually a "serious" matter: every year, at a different time but at this exact spot, the highly official world championship in "Pooh Stick" takes place; the "sticks" are the little sticks that float under the bridge, with the winner being the one that comes out on the other side first. As the name suggests, the "competition" originates from the well-known children's books by Pooh the Bear, who uses this method to pass the time with his friends ...
We pass Cleve Lock and now approach the "Goring Gap": while the Thames crosses largely flat land, the banks rise on both sides at the village of Goring: At this point, during the last Ice Age, the Thames had to carve its way through a range of chalk hills - today's Chiltern Hills. Goring, with its friendly whitewashed fieldstone houses and magnificent rosebushes, is located in the deeply incised valley and was rightly named "South England's Village of the Year 2010". We moor behind the lock at the free public jetty. You are allowed to stay here for a maximum of 24 hours.
There are already two "narrowboats" in front of us, the typical English canal boats with their narrow hulls, crocheted curtains and lovingly tended flower boxes on the roof - and names that could hardly be more lyrical: "Melodeon", "Wyvern Song", "Lady of the Lake". We've only travelled 7 km and passed three locks since the start, but we have plenty of time - and Goring is definitely worth a stop. If you want, you can take a longer walk along the "Ridgeway", which (as a hiking trail) leads along the ridge and rewards you with sweeping views of the countryside. For refreshment afterwards, head to "Pierrepont's Bridge Café" or "The Miller of Mansfield", a quaint pub-restaurant. There is also a small supermarket in the village.
The next morning, we cross the Gap. To the north, on the left bank, we are now accompanied by the Chilterns with their beech woods, to the right by the gently undulating meadows, pastures and fields of the Berkshire Downs - an idyll that seems to be waiting for landscape painters with a romantic streak. The boat traffic is considerable, no wonder given the weather: in addition to charter boats and narrowboats, there are steel displacers, cabin cruisers, sloops and classic "launches". Larger excursion boats, on the other hand, can only be found around the towns, otherwise there is no commercial shipping at all.
The river meanders through the countryside in wide loops; the maximum permitted speed of 8 km/h guarantees stress-free travelling, and the process in the locks (there are only two on our route today) is also relaxed.
All locks are operated by staff from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; outside these times (including during the lunch break), a blue sign on the gate indicates "Self Service". The procedure depends on the respective technology and is explained in English. If you are not quite so confident with the language, let someone else go first - or simply stick to the operating times. The average gradient per barrage is around 1.50 metres.
In the evening, we moor in the first larger town: Reading is on the south bank and Caversham on the north bank, whose public moorings are right next to the town park. Mooring here (as almost everywhere) means hammering two long pegs into the bottom of the bank to which the fore and aft lines are attached. The mostly straight edge of the shore is well suited for this. Caversham is certainly not one of the
highlights of the area, but the facilities are excellent. By the way, mooring fees are collected almost everywhere on the boat - if someone comes to collect them. If there is a "debt to be discharged", this is pointed out. In Caversham, however, nobody shows up to collect the £4.95 fee.
After Caversham Lock, the land flattens out again and the river widens. In Sonning, we are allowed to "help ourselves" for the first time during our lunch break in the lock. The weekend homes on the banks increase in number; wide lawns that would do honour to any golf course, meticulously trimmed hedges, small works of art from English landscape gardening. In addition, modern low-energy architecture next to ancient, ivy-covered half-timbered houses and Victorian sandstone. The boat sheds on the waterfront are at least as elegant as the wooden gems inside. Their polished paintwork shines out from under dark tarpaulins.
Through the back garden of the English "upper class" and two more locks, Shiplake and Marsh Lock, we finally reach the time-honoured Henley-on-Thames.
At the Rowing Museum, it quickly becomes clear that the town owes its great history as a centre of rowing primarily to the simple fact that it is located on one of the few stretches of river suitable for boat duels: Henley Reach. The Thames runs straight through the meadows for almost two kilometres, ideal for the Royal Regatta Course. We moor up on its banks, pay £6 for the honour at the cash boat that comes alongside and explore the town, which is very British and well prepared for tourists and guests. Those who want to fit in with tradition wear "boaters", the flat straw hat with a coloured band, and drink "Pimm's" - a refreshing herb-based cocktail that is often served with slices of cucumber.
Back on the boat, we make ourselves comfortable on the flybridge while the air is cut by the whipping of the rudder blades. Twos, fours and eights shoot along the track marked out with white fins - just for training, of course. There are schoolboys, college girls, clubs with colourful pennants on their slender hulls and, of course, ambitious recreational athletes. On the shore, the coaches follow on bicycles and shout instructions across the water: "Smooth, now, steady!" After the beautiful nature of the Goring Gap, Henley is the second highlight of our trip, but the third is not far away: Windsor.
While the wind brings some cooling for the first time the next day and conserves the ice cube stocks, we continue to follow the river and tick off five locks before we reach the town of Maidenhead and Boulter's Lock - the last lock of the day - after the almost enchanted wooded section of Cliveden Reach. It is almost dark by the time we are once again moored on the shore, alone far and wide. It is supposed to cost £8 this time, but once again they seem to be able to do without our money. The late hour doesn't bother us either, because the only thing you can say about Maidenhead is that it's on the way to Windsor.
London is getting closer, no question: after Bray Lock, not only does the river become more urban, with more buildings on the banks, but the traffic noise of the nearby "Motorway" - the motorway - is now constantly resonating in the background. Wide-bodied jets are now hovering above us as they land at Heathrow Airport. They come from all corners of the former empire, from Pakistan, Singapore and Australia. One more lock at Boveney, and a racecourse begins on our right, which we have to circle almost completely, then pass under an old cast-iron bridge, and the majestic silhouette of Windsor Castle with its mighty round tower lies before us. Almost in its shadow are the public moorings on the banks of a meadow.
We quickly hammer in our stakes in a free spot. Under a blue sky, we make our way to the castle, just in time for the changing of the guard, which passes through the gate bearing the name of Henry VIII to the sound of marching music. Of course, a visit to Windsor Castle is not to be missed - even if the Queen is not at home, as the missing standard on the highest pinnacle shows. In any case, it is a fitting experience at the end of our cruise on the "Royal River" - because we have almost reached our destination; there are still 10 kilometres to Chertsey. You can almost see it from the castle.
WHAT SKIPPERS NEED TO KNOW
The company Le Boat is the largest provider of houseboat holidays in Europe; the company, based in Bad Vilbel, Hesse, is part of TUI Travel and offers 43 charter bases in eight countries, with a fleet of more than 1000 boats of various types. In the UK, Le Boat offers cruises in England (including the Thames), Scotland and Ireland. The one-way option we travelled on has only been available since 2010.
Information and booking: Le Boat, c/o Crown Blue Line, Theodor-Heuss-Str. 53-63, 61118 Bad Vilbel, Tel. 06101-557 91 66. www.leboat.de
The boat We travelled on an 11.45 m long Tango class houseboat. The layout with two (separable) double berths or two cabins in the stern is ideal for a family or two couples. The interior is spacious and cosy and the kitchen is fully equipped. In addition to an inside steering position, this model also has a second outside steering position. A bow thruster helps with manoeuvring, and a sufficient water chart with all the important nautical information is on board as a basis for navigation. The robust boat is ideally suited to the area.
The precinctThe section of the Thames that we navigated, which is just under 60 km long, is licence-free and easy to master even for beginners - especially on the way down. Navigation is easy, the comparatively frequent locks (21 barrages) due to the low lift and the helpful staff are also suitable for beginners after some initial familiarisation. You should only self-serve if you have understood the English instructions and there are at least three of you so that two people can hold the boat. Caution is advised in the area of the weirs, as some of their steps are close to the fairway. There are plenty of moorings for overnight stays everywhere. If the public moorings (which rarely have any kind of service) are all occupied, the other places along the banks marked on the map are a very attractive alternative - especially in the natural surroundings on the first section of the trip. When mooring and casting off there, you should not accelerate too much so as not to damage the embankment. Incidentally, mooring is not permitted on private land marked with signs ("private" - "no mooring").
The cruise stages:
