Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sunday, and bank holidays, from Easter to September. The journey upstream takes
between 30 and 80 minutes, and the boat leaves Mapledurham again at 5pm for the
return trip to Caversham, giving you plenty of time to explore. The round-trip boat
ride from Caversham costs £7 for adults and £5.50 for children 5 to 15. (An addi-
tional landing fee of £2 for adults and £1 for children is charged, but this is deducted
from the cost of house entry.) You can get more details about the boat from
Thames
Rivercruise Ltd.,
Pipers Island, Bridge Street, Caversham Bridge, Reading RG4
8AH (
&
0118/9481088;
www.thamesrivercruise.co.uk).
Mapledurham, Reading.
&
01189/723350.
www.mapledurham.co.uk. Admission to house and mill £7
adults, £3 children 5-16, free for children 4 and under; house only £4.50 adults, £2 children; mill only
£3.50 adults, £1.50 children. Sat-Sun and bank holidays 2-5:30pm. Closed Oct-Easter. From Henley-on-
Thames, head south along the A4155 to Reading; follow signs to the A329 through town. Mapledurham
is signposted off this road, 3 miles west of the center. Or take the boat trip described above.
Stratfield Saye House & Estate
HISTORIC HOME This combined house
and country park provides tangible evidence of the fortune of one of England's great-
est heroes, the Duke of Wellington. His descendants have lived here since he bought
the estate in 1817 to celebrate trouncing Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (a grate-
ful Parliament granted a large sum of money for its purchase). The park's centerpiece
is Stratfield Saye House itself, built around 1630 by Sir William Pitt, Comptroller of
the Household to James I; the original red brick was covered in stucco in the 18th
century. Wellington added the conservatory in 1838 and the outer wings in 1846.
Many memories of the Iron Duke remain in the house, including his billiard table,
battle spoils, and pictures. The funeral carriage that once rested in St. Paul's Cathe-
dral crypt is also on display as part of the Wellington Exhibition in the old stables. In
the gardens is the grave of Copenhagen, the charger ridden at Waterloo by the duke.
There are also extensive landscaped grounds, together with a tearoom and a gift shop.
Access to the house is by guided tour only.
Stratfield Saye, 6 miles south of Reading, off the A33 to Basingstoke.
&
01256/882882.
www.stratfield-
saye.co.uk. Admission Mon-Fri £7 adults, £6 students and seniors, £4 children 3-15, free for children 2 and
under; Sat-Sun £9.50 adults, £8.50 students, £5 children; garden only Mon-Fri £3, Sat-Sun £3.50 (all cash
only). Easter weekend (Thurs-Mon) and mid-July-early Aug Mon-Fri 11:30am-3:30pm, Sat-Sun 10:30am-
3:30pm; grounds close at 5pm. From Henley, head south along the A4155 to Reading, then the A33
toward Basingstoke.
MARLOW
This Thames-side town, 35 miles northwest of London and 8 miles east of Henley-
on-Thames, is best known for its
fishing
associations, though many also prefer its
more pastoral look to the larger Henley. Its most famous feature is the
suspension
bridge,
completed in 1832 according to the design of William Tierney Clark, who
went on to build the far larger bridge linking Buda and Pest in Hungary. Local son
and Olympic hero
Sir Steve Redgrave
—born in Marlow in 1962—is honored with
a statue in pleasant Higginson Park (between the river and the town center).
Beehive Treats,
18 Spittal Street (
&
01628/475154;
www.beehivetreats.com),
is a handsome old-fashioned candy shop in the center, specializing in traditional
candies and real licorice.
To reach Marlow from Henley, take the A4155 and follow the signs. Along this
middle stretch of the Thames is some of the most beautiful rural scenery in England.
It was in these surroundings that
Izaak Walton
wrote his immortal work on fishing,
The Compleat Angler,
published in 1653.
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