Lechlade

The navigable River Thames begins at the Round House which is about half a mile further upstream than were we are moored.

You can tell how much the river rises when it floods as the black door has had to be flood-proofed.

Allegedly, you can wind a narrowboat here but we didn't fancy trying and judging by all the silt that's been washed down the river here we were right. A shorter boat would probably be OK but at 65ft we'd really struggle.

We took a different route back to the boat and passed some gorgeous houses, ending up back in the village near The Christmas Shop which was very busy.

We've been very disappointed in the Lechlade pubs. We've walked into most of them........and then straight back out again when they didn't have any real beer on sale. I'm sorry but I just don't class John Smith's Smoothflow as real beer. The Beer In The Evening website recommended The Trout Inn which is back near St. John's Lock and as it was a nice afternoon yesterday we walked there through the village and along the road.  It took us about half an hour but was definitely worth it.

It's a very old pub with low beams and the log fire was roaring away. The Landlady was very welcoming and the beer was on form, Doombar and Bombadier Burning Gold. Now that we've found this little gem we'll be back, especially as we had a much quicker (10 minute) walk back by taking the public footpath straight across the fields from opposite the pub to the village church. It's as straight as a die although a bit low in places. It looks like it's been recently re-surfaced and we met several people coming back the other way carrying shopping. It's a quick route from the caravan site behind the pub to the shops.

We'd intended moving today but it's now pouring down so unless it stops soon we'll stay another night.