Travel Tuesday : the Thames Path day 21 - the Jubilee River

Walked June 24, 2002

One day while walking the Thames Path I heard about a place -- "Jubilee River" -- a built river that had recently opened. 

I couldn't really imagine it -- a river being built, but built to look natural? What? Where? Why?

Turns out the project started as the Flood Alleviation Scheme for Maidenhead, Windsor, and Eton -- the Thames often flooded in this stretch, so a plan was made to create a new channel to carry excess flood water. but not just any channel -- it would be made to look like a natural river, add a right-of-way network for recreation, and provide habitat for wildlife. 

The scheme began in 1989, the public inquiry in 1992, and then construction began in 1996. Numerous publications were released ... many of which I picked up at the offices of the Environment Agency in Maidenhead. And they are interesting. 

So many complaints about the possible effects of the construction ... construction that, in theory, was being done to protect their homes... but I digress. 

There were plenty of sweet articles about badgers, wildlife, and new hedgerows. Also fascinating pieces about the various construction methods they were using, and updates on the progress. All written in a friendly, upbeat voice that is frankly a joy to read. 

The Taplow Weir was opened on September 11, 2001... but other news probably overshadowed the event. 

I took the train to Maidenhead and headed toward the Thames... and the Jubilee River.

It was a cloudy day -- apologies for the dark photos -- but here's the start of the Jubilee River.

And, even as new as it was, it did look like a real river, and not a drainage culvert. 

There were lovely new paths, perfect for strolling along. Even wildflowers blooming!

I crossed the Berry Hill footbridge (so new! so nice!)

and looked back upstream from the bridge:

I continued downstream toward the A4, where I caught the faintest glimpse of a heron. No, I can't seem to see it in the photo either...

Seriously, this stretch of river is lovely ... and I had it all to myself. 

The route diverted away from the river to avoid some the A4 bridge and the Dorney rail bridge, but soon rejoined. There's the Dorney rail bridge upstream; the project was very proud that they didn't disrupt rail service the while they built the river.

There are even weirs on the river, though boaters complain that they're not boat-friendly. Did I mention that there's a 10K swim in the river every year? Swimmers bypass the weirs by exiting the river and walking downstream to the next entry point. Someday...

As befitting a brand new path (here near the Marsh Lane weir), it was beautiful and level.

And the banks were covered in wildflowers:

I kept reminding myself that this was a built environment, not a natural river. 

Near the M4 I noticed some of the tree plantings. I read that school children collected acorns from the ancient oaks in Windsor Great Park. Other plants were grown in nurseries to give them a head start. 

The river had already attracted swans. I was sad not to spot any otters; holts were constructed along the bank to encourage pairs to settle. 

Near Dorney I managed to resist running down this path through a wheatfield:

Nearly ripe:

It wasn't the most beautiful of days, but it was still lovely to walk along the river. 

I crossed a footbridge near Ashford Lane -- here's the view upstream:

And then ... ahhh. A stop for lunch at The Pineapple. 

Will the sign be a lie? Or the truth?

Let's just say it's the absolute truth. They specialize in sandwiches. Lots and lots of sandwiches. SERIOUS sandwiches. 

How serious? Very serious. 

I had the Vampire Attack (I wasn't vegetarian then!) -- roast beef with red onion and roast garlic dressing on whole grain brown bread. And it was AMAZING. 

I'm very happy to report that the Pineapple is still in business, has recently been refurbished, and STILL SELLS THE VAMPIRE ATTACK. Mmmmm.

Lunch, a pint, and a break over, it was time to get back on the river. I crossed back over the Lake End Road bridge and looked downstream:

One of the nice things about the river and the path is the large number of footbridges. As this used to be fields, access needed to be maintained. Besides, they don't need to make the bridges tall for any boat traffic. The bridges add some interest to the route, too. Here's the view from the Dorney footbridge, which isn't far from the previous two bridges:

There are multiple weirs in the river. I've read some complaints that they weren't designed with boaters in mind. But the birds seem to like 'em. Cormorants and gulls on the warning floats, near Manor Farm Weir:

Manor Farm Weir -- I'm sure that concrete channel isn't navigable...

I caught a glimpse of Windsor Castle in the distance ... honest:

Soon I came to Wood Lane Bridge ... see what I mean about having a lot of river crossings?

Nowadays the Jubilee River Riverside Centre offers kayak and canoe rentals on a stretch of the river -- which sounds perfect! Also perfect -- there's an annual river swim for charity. The Jubilee River Swim is a 10K, with a few land stretches between the swim stretches to go around weirs. Dreamy! 

Jubilee River Swim pic from the event website

The path moved a little way from the river bank and felt very "rural Thames" for a stretch:

This view downstream shows what was then called the Myrke footbridge:

It was renamed, in 2016, after Michael Scaife, who died trying to save a friend from drowning. 

The river makes a sharp right turn and the path skirts some playing fields before arriving at Black Potts. 
First there's a rather uninteresting road bridge:

And then a Victorian railway viaduct that was one of the trickiest engineering challenges for the Jubilee River project. 

Black Potts Viaduct and weir from just downstream:

The land in the background of that shot is Black Potts Ait, a small island. I wasn't able to go on that side to actually get to the confluence. But I did do a bit of bushwacking to get this terrible shot -- through the hedge and over the fence on the golf course -- of the joining of the Jubilee and the Thames:

I'm still amazed when I think of the care that was put into the designing and building of the Jubilee River. I'm sure it's not perfect and even that things may be a bit run down in the intervening 20 years. But I would love to live near something like it! It presses all the right buttons for me: it's nature while still being the built environment. It has places to run and bike and swim. And did I mention pubs along the way? 

Golden Lily Stitch-a-Long, part 2

Hi everyone! I hope you are all safe and healthy. Last time I had recently started a new cross stitch kit, "Golden Lily" by J.H. Dearle. I feel like I haven't been making much time to stitch, and yet there's a ton of progress here. In theory, I could potentially finish this for our next check-in!

I also promised to show an update on the "finish" of my acanthus piece. I had toyed with adding some tassels at the corner, but they didn't look right. But I do love how the cord looks:

I had never attached trim to a finished pillow, so perhaps it's a little uneven. But I still like it. 

I know I should just focus on my current cross stitch, but of course I'm thinking about what I want to work on next. I have three ideas ... an old needlepoint kit that has also been in the basement for over a decade; a large (for me, anyway!) cross stitch kit that I found irresistible; and a small, all-over traditional sashiko kit. So many choices! Hopefully I'll have made a decision by our next check in.

Till then, check out all the great projects that the other stitchers in this stitch-a-long are working on:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, and Helen.

Our next check in is on August 23. Seriously, where is the time going?

August OMG : Plus Quilt, continued

Well, I guess I have to do it. Having cut and pieced the flimsy for my queen-size Plus Quilt, the next step is pinning it up. One big problem:

I didn't really have the room to lay out the entire quilt. Even once I stitched it together, I didn't have a place big enough to spread it out to take a picture. 

So making the space to lay out the backing fabric, the batting, and the top, get them all stretched out, and pinning it all together is going to be a challenge requiring moving furniture, rolling up a rug, and figuring out how to stretch the fabric so it's not wrinkled ...

My goal for August, therefore, is to get the pinning done. Just typing this makes me feel slightly anxious. But it's good to have a goal, eh?

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see all the new August projects -- or add your own -- on the Goal Setting page. (You can also see how people did in July on the Finish Party page!)

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal August Link-up

July OMG complete : Plus Quilt part 1

Hi everyone! Am I the only person who seems to lose track of time nowadays? I have, however, been busy. 

My goal for the month of July was just to cut the fabric. Why just that? Because I had owned this particular set of fabrics since at least 2004. And they had just been folded up in a box since then. Well, okay, I moved the box from apartment to house in 2007, and unpacked that box and put them in another box. And then didn't touch them for years. 

So setting myself a small, simple goal -- especially since the cutting is so simple! -- seemed like a way to kick this off... finally. 

I didn't take any pictures of the strips -- after all, they're just strips -- or even when they were cut into the three different sizes in the pattern. Things got interesting when I laid the pieces out on the living room floor to make sure the colors worked and I had cut out enough pieces.  

Bub helped with the quality control. See how there's a chair in the upper right? Yeah, that chair made it difficult to lay everything out, and I ended up having to do a bit of rework. 

Why rework? Because I realized that it would be really difficult to keep track of all the pieces and the layout. So I decided to stitch up the top. Again, it's simple -- just lots of straight lines -- but I was still pleased to get it all together. 

It's so big that I couldn't get a decent photo of it! Also -- I have no idea how I'll get it pinned -- it's 90" square. But if I move the furniture and roll up the rug I might be able to get it done. I'll just stitch it in the simplest way -- just stitch in the ditch -- and do a simple binding. 

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see how everyone did on their July projects on the Finish Party page. Or choose an OMG project of your own and join us in August. I think I'll try to keep the momentum going on this quilt and get it pinned / sandwiched / whatever the real quilters call it!

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - July Finish Link-up