Maps
There are two slipways below Whitchurch Lock near Whitchurch Bridge,
(there is no access for launching at Whitchurch Lock):
On the right bank (Pangbourne, south side) in Ferry Lane beside the Boathouse medical practice,
opposite the Dolphin Adventure centre.
Pangbourne, Ferry Lane, Slipway
Ferry Lane being the termination point of the ferry prior to the building of the bridge.
The advantage of this slip is that there is parking available in the nearby public car parks.
The disadvantage of this Pangbourne slip is that the stream from the weir runs near the bank making launching of longer boats
such as skiffs a little difficult.
Whitchurch Slipway:
Whitchurch Slipway
On the left bank (Whitchurch, north side) a slip into the mill pond which has less stream,
but no nearby parking. This slip is beside the toll house.
Once launched, there are nearby steps for embarkation, (via a passageway separated by railings
from the rest of The Mill House garden and marked with footpath signs).
Both the Weir pool and the Mill pool are private with no fishing or mooring.
The original (1792) company still runs the bridge and has a
website!
This includes outline
plans for 2013 when the bridge will have to be reconstructed.
Before 1792: A ferry
1792: “The Company of Proprietors of Whitchurch Bridge” built a
timber bridge.
1792: Plan for Whitchurch Bridge -
Plan for Whitchurch Bridge, 1792
1792: 12th November, The Reading Mercury -
We have the pleasure of assuring the public that the bridge over the River Thames between Pangbourn and Whitchurch is open for the accommodation of horse and foot passengers and all sorts of cattle. It is necessary for a few weeks to refuse passage to loaded carriages, on account of the late wet season, till the roads and avenues to the same are somewhat more firm and settled.
1805: The first Whitchurch Bridge -
The first Whitchurch Bridge in 1805
© Copyright The Company of Proprietors of Whitchurch Bridge 2005
1843:-
A neat and light bridge of oak, erected in 1793, with a balustrade on each side.
1852: Another Bridge, less steep, with only half the number of piers,
the balustrade was perpendicular with a criss cross fence somewhat like the present one
but simpler, and with no central ornaments.
Second Whitchurch Bridge, painting by Claude Rowbotham -
Second Whitchurch Bridge painted by Claude Rowbotham
1871: The Second Whitchurch Bridge -
The Second Whitchurch Bridge in about 1871
1874: Whitchurch Bridge, Henry Taunt -
Whitchurch Bridge, Henry Taunt, 1874
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT1354
1881: Leslie –
The bridge which unites Pangbourne with Whitchurch is of wood, and I am happy to state in good repair.
[ Leslie only has to say something like that and the item is doomed! It was replaced in 1902. ]
1893: Pangbourne Bridge (the second Whitchurch Bridge) -
1893: Pangbourne Bridge
1902: Latticed iron bridge was designed by Joseph Morris and built by
the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company Ltd.
[ This, the current bridge, looks quite similar to the 1852 bridge but with even less piers. ]
Plan for Third Whitchurch Bridge in 1902.
Whitchurch Bridge, James Dredge, 1902
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; D212010a
1929: A Thames Survey -
Whitchurch Bridge, replacing the second timber one built 1840, dates from 1901
and is constructed of compound girders supported by three pairs of iron columns with
iron lattice balustrades.
Toll payable at toll-house on Oxfordshire side
1999: Whitchurch Bridge –
Whitchurch Bridge in 1999
2005: Whitchurch Bridge by Doug Myers -
Whitchurch Bridge, Doug Myers © 2005
2013:
Major reconstruction
planned as the current bridge comes to the end
of its estimated life.
Adventure Dolphin Centre
Whitchurch on the left bank and Pangbourne on the right bank.
1792: Picturesque Views on the Thames by Samuel Ireland -
This
place is much frequented by the angler, who,
in his favourite pursuit, may occasionally
find equal cause for an exertion of his patience
as his skill in the art. Among the various sorts of fish produced in this part of the
river, the pike in particular is found of a remarkable
large size.
THE village of Whitchurch, on the opposite side,presents no unpleasing object in landscape.
The road from Pangbourn towards
Reading runs, for a confiderable distance,
nearly parallel with the river, and affords in
many places a rich and variegated scenery.
1873: Taunt's Map and Guide to the Thames, quotes Greville Fennell -
"Pangbourne is another of those pearls of English landscape which our river threads.
No sweeter spot is within many miles. The Thames here seems especially fond of disporting itself here;
and loth indeed to leave, it loiters in the great depth of the pools, creeps slily under the banks,
frolics as a kitten after its tail in the eddies, and then dashes hurriedly off beneath
the far-stretching pretty wooden bridge, as if to make up for time truantly lost."
1881: George Leslie -
On the Oxfordshire side is the village of
Whitchurch, which straggles up the steep hill;
the church, with its little wooden spire, and the mill, with finely
grown trees around it, lying snug by the water’s edge;
the lock is in the middle of the river, the
weir is on the Pangbourne side, with a deep pool below it, and the usual
shallow spread below the pool. Into this
shallow part the small river or brook “Pang” empties itself by the side of a
large timber yard. The little Pang gives
much charm to the village, and in some places above is quite worthy of Bewick’s
pencil.
In the corner of the weir pool is a very old
three-storied cottage, formerly the abode of Champ the fisherman.
The old barn Mr. Boyce painted from it is
just half-way up the Whitchurch hill.
The village of Pangbourne lies back behind the railway;
it has two inns, the “George” and the
“Elephant”, both well known to boating men.
The “Swan” by the river is very pretty and unaltered, but beds can
hardly ever be obtained there.
1890: The Swan Hotel Pangbourne, Francis Frith -
1890: The Swan Hotel Pangbourne, Francis Frith
1881: George Leslie -
One or two barges may generally be seen at the
coal wharf, helping the old-fashioned look of the place very much;
the signboard was painted by Mrs. Seymour Trower …
Pangbourne is on the old road from Alton and
Portsmouth to Oxford, and is mentioned in White’s “Selborne”;
it is pleasant to picture the dear old
man jogging along on “Mouse” his mare, by the side of the river, on one of his
visits to Oxford, probably much interested in watching the swallows and martins
skimming over the surface of the water.
The road itself is very pretty from here to
Streatley, past Basildon; the railway is not offensive, as it is
generally hidden in cuttings. There is
also a path from Whitchurch to Goring, well worth trying, if time permits;
it passes along the
summit of Hart’s Wood, and the views are most varied and delightful.
1889: Jerome K Jerome -
The neighbourhood of Pangbourne, where the quaint little Swan Inn stands, must be as familiar to the HABITUES of the Art Exhibitions as it is to its own inhabitants.
1881: George Leslie -
About this time I passed two very pleasant
months at Whitchurch, opposite to Pangbourne, and became acquainted with the
beauties of Streatley, Maple Durham,
Hardwick House, and Hart’s Woods. At
Pangbourne I met my friend G. P. R. Boyce, the water-colour artist, who was
lodging at Champ’s picturesque little cottage, on the edge of the weir pool;
the rooms were very old and small, and it
pleased Mr. Boyce’s taste to hang among the humble cottage pictures one or two
precious little works by D. Rosetti. He
had brought with him also some of his favourite old blue tea-cups and plates. He painted two very fine works whilst I was
at Whitchurch; one of Champ’s cottage
itself and the weir pool with a twilight effect, and the other of a large old
barn half-way up the hill at Whitchurch;
there were a lot of black Berkshire pigs snoozling in the straw in the
foreground.
Edwin Field, the distinguished solicitor, was
then living at Streatley, and I recollect rowing up with Boyce to have supper
with him. Field was an ardent lover of
the river. One or more of his numerous
artist friends were generally enjoying
his hospitality at Cleve, he himself sketching from nature
with the eager enthusiasm with which he pursued every occupation of his life.
His memory should be cherished by all artists for the pains he took in
mastering all the intricacies of the laws of artistic copyright, and if he had
lived I have little doubt but the injustice and absurdities of the present law
would have been righted long ago. His
sad loss will long be felt by all who knew him.
His death was as noble as his life, for when his sailing boat upset in
the reach above Cleve Mill, a friend of his was with him who could not swim,
and it was in the endeavour to save his friend that Edwin Field perished.
[ How the Victorians did love a fatality! -
I have left out most of those reported by George Leslie, but this one scrapes in to honour his friend
"an ardent lover of the river"…]
1956: Robert Gibbings, Till I End My Song -
…Pangbourne, where the wind plays in the willows, I thought to myself that here must roam the spirits of Mr Toad, Mr Mole, and Mr Rat, for though these children of Kenneth Grahame’s mind grew into existence at Cookham Dene, they would surely have moved upstream with their author when he came to live in the cottage by the church at Pangbourne.
(WHITCHURCH LOCK)
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
//Rose Revived
Newbridge
//Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS