On 4 th May 2007 Humphrey, along with an intrepid group of walkers from Thames Water, commenced upon a 186 mile walk from the source of the River Thames in Kemble, Wiltshire along the Thames Path to the Thames Flood Barrier in London 4 weeks later. Big camel hugs to everyone who supported me on the way round !.   Humphrey's Blog - The Thames Path ChallengeWeekend One: Kemble – Abingdon (62 miles)After my marathon walk this weekend I’m a little tired but I’ve had a great time. I was a little apprehensive about how I would cope with this endurance challenge, as well as meeting my fellow walkers but they were all fantastic!
On Friday we started our journey in Kemble at the source of the River Thames. I was a little surprised to find that this was marked with a giant stone. Our journey took us through many fields, whereby we came in contact with lots of sheep, horses and cows, unfortunately however not all of them were happy to see me! We pushed on through pretty villages, but my main problem was navigating all of the styles!
 
On Saturday I had a day of rest as I had a lame back leg, but I bounced back with a vengeance on Sunday completing the 14 miles in record time.
We were caught up in a few rain showers on Monday, but being the sensible camel that I am, I was fully prepared with my ponchos at the ready! After a long weekend of walking (we covered 62.5 miles) there were a few tired legs, but we all soon had a spring in our step as we reached Oxford and met up with a photographer from the Oxford Mail, and all the participants and supporters of the Go with the Flow celebrations in Oxford. I made lots of new friends along side the river in Oxford as most people wanted to know what I was doing so far from home!
Weekend Two: Abingdon – Sonning Bridge (98 miles)Half way through already! This weekend saw us complete our 97th Mile as we entered Sonning.
We were a little unlucky with the weather this weekend as we were caught up in a few heavy rain showers, however this didn’t dampen our spirits.I was really worried on Saturday when we discovered that one of the bridges across the Thames was closed! Luckily we managed to find a detour through a nature reserve and didn’t have to turn back!
I was very disappointed not to be walking on Sunday, however the decision was taken that it was far to wet for a camel to be walking. In hindsight however I have to admit that it probably was the right decision. As I was sat in the support vehicle feeling sorry for myself as I watched the walking team leave, I received some fantastic news, which soon made me smile.
As we approached Abingdon our final stop on our first weekend, I met the most delightful four year old boy and his family. When he went back to school the next day he told all of his class friends and teachers about me, the walking team, what we were up to and understood that not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to clean water. The best piece of news from this however, was discovering that we had inspired Matty to participate in his very own charity walk for Great Ormond Street Hospital, which he completed on Saturday! Well done Matty !! Weekend Three: Sonning Bridge - Datchet (129 miles)A bit squelchy to start with but then the weather got better !
The Saturday took the team through Henley-on-Thames and Marlow - wow ! there are some really biiig houses there ! - I could see myself living there one day !  
Weekend Four: Datchet – Thames Flood Barrier (186 miles)To get through London we had to walk through the bank holiday weekend.
Friday started off where we finished last weekend – at Datchet. Had we had more time I would have liked to stop at Hampton Court Palace and do a bit of sightseeing ! but there would be time for that later on in the weekend… this was the longest part of the walk – 21 miles today ! I was sooo glad to see Kingston Bridge – even a marathon running camel found it hard. Now who worked out the route for today…. ?  
Saturday took the team through Twickenham, Richmond and Putney and was a very sunny day. The weather was to go downhill from here…  
Rain ! Rain! Go away – come back when we’ve finished the walk – please ! Sunday rained almost non stop but wearing my trusty rain hat in between the downpours I still managed to get some sightseeing done in central London. The London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, Tower of London – to name but a few ! Thanks to all of those who shouted encouragement as we made our way through London – it certainly helped ! and thank you to Martin who had to give me a piggy-back (or should that be a camel-back ??) when the puddles got too big !! The last day !! It’s been a great journey over the last four weekends and I’ve truly made some great friends who I hope will join me on my other camelling adventures ! Thankfully it wasn’t as wet as Sunday (it couldn’t get any wetter !) but if we did catch the odd shower or two the strong wind certainly tried to dry us out !   The last part of the walk took us from Tower Bridge, through Greenwich (past the burnt out Cutty Sark – what a sad sight that was…) and along the last stretch of the Thames Path to the Thames Flood Barrier where we were met by our friends and family who had come to cheer us in (whilst standing inside the restaurant as it was cold and wet outside !). Then it was down to the pub to have a much earned pint (for the team that is – Humphrey is tee-total !)
   The End ! 186 miles done (plus a few more) Hurrah !! |
.JPG)
