Goring and Pangbourne -- 27th-30th June, 2014

Just a couple of short cruises down the Thames to two small villages. Goring-on-Thames and Streatley are on either side of the Thames and are both very different. Goring is the "commercial" town while Streatley is more residential although it does have a couple of the obligatory pubs and a church. Further downriver we came across Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames which are set up in a similar manner - Pangbourne is commercial and Whitchurch residential.

Mill House and Pond Goring

Goring Lock

Goring was awarded the best small town in Southern England so we figured it was worth staying the night - plus it was the Goring Streatley festival. There wasn't a lot going on but we did manage to see one of the artist in residence exhibitions and there was a jazz concert on in the town hall. Apparently Goring's other claim to fame is that George Michael of Wham fame lives in the town. Didn't find this out till after we left but I wasn't terribly upset that we didn't see him! We did find a little antique/second hand shop that benefitted from our visit to town. There are some nice walks in the area and the town does have a lovely feel. Streatley across the river was attractive but different. The locals were friendly and filled us in on a little history. The tower of the Church was built in Saxon times and there is a record of a church in Streatley in the Doomsday book. Various additions have been made with the last makeover happening during the Victorian era. As we walked back through Streatley we noticed that they still deliver milk to the house!

The Swan Pub Streatley

Milk Delivery

front door of the old school house

Georgian front door

St Marys, Streatley

Pangbourne, while not big, has a train station, a supermarket, and two exclusive car dealerships - Bentley and Lamboghini!! We also found a butcher, Greens of Pangbourne, that had won quite a few awards. We had to try their game pie and it was extremely tasty.

My new Car??

On the other side of the river is Whitchurch. This is one of the few toll roads we have seen in England and it has obviously been a toll road for some time. Current toll is a tad more than these prices and I don't think they charge for animals anymore!

Original Toll Notice

The rest of the town was quite quaint with some rickety buildings, a lovely mill house and pond and a serene church.

Whitchurch Mill house and Pond

rickety house Whitchurch

Another St Marys - Whitchurch this time

St Marys and graveyard

We have wandered around a few graveyards in this area and have noticed, surprisingly, that in the 1700 and 1800s many people didn't die in their 30's and 40's like we have been told. A lot of the ages were in the vicinity of 75-85 years. When we asked at one of the churches, they said that diet played a big part. This was considered to be quite a wealthy area plus many people grew their own food so were guaranteed a good nutritionally balanced diet.