Tracking Beside The Thames

Follow Steve Davison as he heads from Cookham to Marlow before catching the train back to the starting point.

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IN OUR LAST issue we were crossing borders… for a change, the walk this month is a linear affair starting at Cookham in Berkshire and ending at Marlow in Buckinghamshire, using the train to give the feet a rest and get back to Cookham.

The famous English painter Sir Stanley Spencer spent most of his life in Cookham and used scenes from the village as the background to many of his paintings; one of his most famous, The Resurrection, was set in the village churchyard. To learn more about the painter visit the Stanley Spencer Gallery (01628 471885). Further afield, more of Stanley’s work can be seen at the Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere (Hampshire) where he painted a set of murals, considered to be ‘one of the most remarkable artistic achievements of English Painting’, showing scenes from everyday military life, culminating in the Resurrection of the Soldiers.

Next up is the Holy Trinity Church; dating from Norman times, the church houses a copy of Sir Stanley Spencer’s, The Last Supper.

From here we follow the Thames Path National Trail upstream through meadows before crossing the river into Buckinghamshire and continuing, to arrive at Marlow.