“Wallingford is lovely!”, all our friends at the Thames & Kennet Marina agreed. So we set off  in our Dutch barge Karanja to take a look at this ancient market town, and ended up spending six nights there.

Anyone with a boat wants to be out on the Thames during summer weekends – especially when the weather plays along. There being so many marinas downstream from Reading, plenty of craft come out with the sun; and though it never really seems over-busy on the river itself, it can be at the locks. Coming back from Henley-on-Thames a couple of Sundays ago, lock queues sometimes meant a long wait.

Not being restricted to weekends, luckily, it was 9.30am on Tuesday morning before we left, uneventfully passing through five locks (Caversham, Mapledurham, Whitchurch, Goring and Cleeve) before the open 5km stretch to Wallingford.

Arriving at 2pm meant we were lucky to get the last mooring on the Riverside Park bank of the Thames, cheekily encroaching on the clearly marked “Private Mooring” reserved for a passenger cruiser. (Not too big a one, fortunately; it came along later and managed uncomplainingly to tuck in behind us. Next day, we moved along as soon as a space opened up.)

Neighbours-for-a-night Claire and Jeremy from Happy Chance, another beautiful Piper-built Dutch barge, asked us over for drinks. Having the boating life in common – especially when you’ve ordered your vessels through the same company – means there’s always plenty to talk about. They’d just returned from two rainy weeks on a hired boat in France, starting from Migennes as we plan to do next year; so they had some very useful information to share about the experience. I only wish I could remember more of it… Happily, we should have another opportunity to chat at the annual Piper get-together at Henley, in September.

Lots to do and see in Wallingford

Wallingford is a fairly substantial little town. Every boater who mentions the place tells you about its big and well-stocked Waitrose, but it also boasts:

* The Lamb Arcade (thelambarcade.co.uk), three floors crammed wonderfully full of multiple dealers in interesting antiques, vintage clothing and bric-à-brac. (I succumbed only to a diecast model of the BMW Isetta three-wheeler, a gift for Roy; it was his first “car”, when he was 16.)

* The old Corn Exchange (cornexchange.org.uk), now a theatre for the performing arts and cinema, but disappointingly closed for refurbishment during our visit

* The Castle Gardens and Meadows, on the site of an important, triple-moated medieval castle that was demolished by royal decree in 1652

* Various churches, most notably St Mary-le-More, whose 12th-century west tower was rebuilt in (1653), using stone from Wallingford Castle’

* Lots of 15th-century buildings, including residential cottages, various pubs and a place called Flint House that now houses the quaint Wallingford Museum – worth a visit, especially for its entertaining exhibition: 300 Years of Cartoons in Britain

* The Old Post Office, now a thriving café and bistro right next to St Mary-le-More church and the ideal spot for some wedding-watching on a sunny Saturday

* Also check out Bean & Brew for coffee and cake; Wallingford Butchery, which also sells fish and other seafood, plus cheese, eggs, baked goods and more; and numerous pubs, from The Boat House on the river and The George Hotel (the oldest) on the High Street, to the Coach and Horses on Kinecroft, to mention just three.

All in all, there’s plenty to do and see in Wallingford – and there’s a good chance we’ll be back in a couple of weeks’ time, with friends, for Bunkfest 2016, an annual music, dance and beer festival (bunkfest.co.uk). The black morris dancers, says Al, are not to be missed.

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