Walk 18: Windsor to Staines - 26th January

It had been six weeks since my last trip to the Thames, but this walk marked twelve months since the project started. Despite the gap, it felt surprisingly familiar. We were walking at the same point in the season as our very first walk, and it brought back a lot of memories of those early days.

Jonathan couldn’t make this walk as he was struggling with back pain, and a few people had to withdraw in the days leading up to it for various reasons. That left us as a group of eleven for this 7.5-mile stretch between Windsor and Staines.

I was expecting it to be a wet one. It had rained all week leading up to the walk, and the forecast wasn’t promising either. The drive down to Staines, where my car would be left ready for the end-point transport, was dark most of the way as I left home at 5.30am. No stars were visible through the overcast sky, but I was serenaded by song thrushes as I loaded my car with wellies and waterproofs before setting off.

After meeting Ann and Ruth in Staines in one of the most uninspiring car parks I’ve ever seen, we left two cars there and headed back to Windsor to meet the rest of the group. The castle still dominated the town and people’s eyelines as we gathered on the Thames Path, ready to start the next leg of the journey.

The check-in question for this walk was framed around winter still being a reflective season, and the fact that it was now twelve months since we started the Source to Sea project, something that has given me reason to pause and reflect. With a nod to the rain, the mud, and the fact that we were starting beneath the castle, I asked:

As we set off, is there anything you’d like to gain a bit of perspective on during this walk, or something you’d like to get a little clearer about?

As always, there were some really thoughtful responses. I’m always struck by how similar people’s reasons are for joining us, and by what they’re hoping to take away. Many of the reflections were inspired by the river itself, which was very swollen and running fast and noisily as it surged under the bridge where we met.

During the pre-walk preparation, one of our brilliant crew members had checked for diversions and flooding alerts - all of which were clear - although we had noted reports of bird flu along the route, affecting swans and potentially hazardous for dogs. Despite that, within the first twenty minutes of walking we found the footpath flooded beneath a railway bridge, around eight metres of waterlogged path. As the only one wearing wellies, I was sent off like a canary down the mine to check the depth. A real déjà vu moment from our very first Source to Sea walk, where flooding brought that day to an early end.

We’d learned from our mistakes this time. The area wasn’t remote, and with the help of our excellent navigator, David, we were able to find an alternative route and re-join the path via a rugby pitch. The diversion took us over Victoria Bridge, overlooked by the castle, and then along a tree-lined stretch of river. The trees were leafless, as you’d expect at this time of year, but what caught the eye were the huge balls of mistletoe in their branches. It was beautiful, and we’d almost certainly have missed without the diversion.

Once back on the path, we settled into our usual structure: 1:1 coaching for those who wanted it, and coaching cards to support paired conversations for others. I found this route particularly tricky for 1:1 coaching. We were diverted away from the river onto a road for a short section due to maintenance work, which made it hard to hold the coaching space as I’d ideally like - traffic noise, stopping to cross roads, and then, when we returned to the path, long stretches of single-file walking with nowhere to step aside and adjust pace. All of that, combined with the constant roar of aircraft flying into and out of Heathrow, made it quite an auditory challenge.

We stopped by some locks for lunch, and we were incredibly lucky with the weather. Apart from a bit of drizzle, it stayed mostly dry, and as we sat eating, the sun was doing its best to burn through the cloud. Despite that, whenever we stopped I noticed how quickly I got cold; the wind wasn’t particularly strong, but it did have a bit of a bite to it. By the time we reached Runnymede, I called into the café with a few others for a much-needed cup of tea to warm up.

Passing through Runnymede, we walked by the Magna Carta site with its beautiful wicker structures across the road which a few of us stopped to take photos of.

The route diverted a couple more times as we approached Staines - once due to a bridge closure and once because of more flooding - adding a couple of extra miles to the day. A stretch through Staines town centre, past Homebase and Halfords, was quite the contrast to the riverside walking we usually enjoy.

One thing that did catch me off guard on this stretch was the amount of litter along the route. I was both surprised and disappointed by how much there was. It’s probably to be expected on a more inhabited path, close to large towns and tourist areas, but it stood in contrast to the previous section into Windsor where we barely saw any at all. We collected a bag full on this walk. I’ve had to give myself a bit more slack when it comes to litter picking. In the more rural sections I was stopping to pick up every piece I came across, but that just isn’t realistic in these more built-up areas. On each walk I find myself wrestling with that internally - reminding myself that collecting one bag of rubbish still leaves the space in a better place than when we found it.

At the end point, we gathered on the path for our check-out. I always love this part of the walk. It’s a chance to close the loop and witness the shifts people have experienced along the way. This time, the change from check-in to check-out felt particularly noticeable. There was a real lightness in the group, and once again a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to connect in a way that isn’t always easy to access in day-to-day life. Partway through 3 swans took flight across the reivers behind us which felt quite symbolic as we were ready to part ways.

On the journey home, I reflected on just how similar the season felt to our very first walk in January last year - from the colour of the sky to the conditions underfoot. Yet the river itself was unrecognisable from the small, underwhelming puddle in the middle of a field in Wiltshire where we began. Once again, I was struck by the parallel with my own journey over the past twelve months - starting out somewhat naively and over-optimistically with Jonathan, and now, a year on, seeing the people I’ve met, the community that’s grown around the project, the attention it’s gathered, and the number of people returning again and again after coming along for just one walk.

I also notice the shift in myself - my growing confidence in leading coaching walks where I have to trust my instincts, the group, and the process, rather than relying on detailed planning and reccying the way I usually would. And, perhaps most unexpectedly, my own connection to a river I had no affinity with at all twelve months ago that I now feel very protective of. Our next walk is just a month away on 20th February. I wonder what parallels that walk will bring?

If you'd like to join us on our Source to Sea journey, you can find the latest schedule and link to book here.