June 22, 2014 -- Day 7, Eynsham to Tadpole Bridge, 15 miles

I should buy a lottery ticket, because I’m the luckiest man in the world. No, really.

Yesterday, when I checked into my room, I found there was no soap in the shower – only a soap dispenser affixed to the wall over the wash basin. So I went back to the innkeeper to ask for some soap for the shower.

“It’s not customary in this country to provide soap in the shower,” the surly innkeeper replied. “It’s customary for guests to bring their own.”

I mentioned that I during the last 3 years (LEJOG and LEJOG Revisted) I have stayed in approximately 135 U.K. hotels, inns, B&Bs, and one place called a restaurant with rooms, and every single one of them had soap in the shower. (Sometimes it’s a dispenser jar at the washbasin that can be moved into the shower, and sometimes a bar of soap as small as a poker chip, which may be wrapped in bullet proof plastic – but there’s always soap.)

She replied, “Well, you must be very lucky, because it’s not the custom in this country,” and then grudging found a soap dispenser for me.

There are something like 40 bizillion accommodations in the UK, so think how lucky I am to have stayed in only those 135 places who don’t follow the national custom. Indeed, my luck held out again today, because I’m staying in another inn that provides soap. So if anybody wants to chip in on buying a lottery ticket, I’m your guy. But don’t expect too much. My luck may be running out, because there was no hot water for the shower today – but that may also be a local custom.

Today’s walk again followed the river, passing through meadows and woods, and across locks and weirs. It was a lovely, sunny day, with perhaps a little too much humidity. For Shirley, who is following along with her map and guidebook, I did depart from the Thames Path at Bablock Hythe and walked a minor road to Northmoor to have lemonade at the pub. (Non-alcoholic -- it was too hot for alcohol while walking.) I rejoined the Thames Path at Newbridge.

The river is getting noticeable narrower as I get closer to its source. There are fewer boats on the river, and fewer walkers on the path. The only Thames Path walkers I met were John and Liz from Australia, and Dara, from Ireland. All of them started at the source.

For some reason, blogger is not letting me add captions to the pictures today. The captions, top to bottom,  would be: Narrowing River; Dara; John and Liz; Tenfoot Bridge

Reminder: Double click on any picture to enlarge.

© 2014 Ken Klug