Thames Path Part Fourteen: Newbridge to Lechlade

The Thames Path is a 182 mile National Trail stretching from London to Gloucestershire. This year, the group will aim to cover the whole trail from start to finish! For the final 4 walks in this series, we will head into the Cotswolds taking us from Oxford to the Source of the Thames just outside Kemble!

**To add some fun to our adventure, you are encouraged to purchase the Thames Passport where we will collect stamps at over 30 stamping stations along the Path. Collect stamps at all the various stations and you can receive a Certificate of Completion for doing the whole trail from start to finish! The link to purchase the passport is here: https://walkthethames.co.uk/thames-path-passport/**

Today’s leg is the longest of our Thames Adventure, a tranquil stretch featuring several villages and the two oldest bridges on the Thames.

Please be aware that there will be an early morning start for this leg and we will be walking at a brisk pace throughout mainly due to limited public transport options on this stretch and so people can get home in a timely manner. Please read the section at the end on travel to the walk carefully so you can plan your journey accordingly.

Setting off from the second oldest bridge on the Thames in Newbridge, we will pass through some riverside meadows towards Shifford. Although the community here has since declined, King Alfred the Great was known to have held the first meeting of an English ‘Parliament’ here. We will cross the river at Shifford Lock Cut and briefly glimpse the Old Thames that flows to Duxford before continuing on to arrive at Tadpole Bridge and our first pub stop of the walk at the Trout Inn to collect another stamp for our passports.

After refreshment, we will continue through Rushey Lock and towards Radcot and our half way stop where we will see the oldest bridge on the river, dating back to 958AD. We will seek to have lunch just shortly after.
After lunch, we will continue to Kelmscott and may pause for a second pub stop at the Plough to catch our breath further. Otherwise we will continue further past multiple river bends to Buscot. There is another passport station at the tea room but at the time of writing, it is temporarily closed so a decision will be taken on the day whether to stop here or not, otherwise it will be at Kelmscott earlier on.

Either way, we will continue to St John’s Lock, across the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire boundary and towards Halfpenny Bridge in Lechlade for the conclusion of the longest leg of our adventure.

Saturday, 15 August 2026
Start time: 9:00 am
Estimated finish time: 4:30 pm
Difficulty: Strenuous
Distance: 25.7km / 16.0mi
Ascent: N/A
Type: linear

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
On the way there:
To get to the walk start at the Rose Revived in Newbridge, if using public transport, please:

1. Get the 7:25 train from Reading to Didcot Parkway arriving at 7:37
2. Change to get the X2 bus heading towards Oxford City Centre leaving Stop R1 at 7:42 then change at Conduit Street when it arrives at 8:13.
3. Finally, please get the X15 when it arrives at Conduit Street at 8:26, arriving at the Rose Revived at 8:56.

On the way back:
Mainly for anyone who is using public transport for this leg and is heading back to Reading, we will aim to get to Lechlade in time for the 64 bus departing from Lechlade Market Place at 16:46. This will head to Swindon where you will need to alight at Corporation Street (Stop J) then you will need to catch the 17:23 train from Swindon back to Reading. Make sure that your train ticket is valid to Swindon in both directions.

If we don’t make it to Lechlade in time, the next best option is the 64 bus leaving Vennymore on the north side of Lechlade at 17:56 which goes via Witney and involves a change towards Hanborough station where a train should be heading Reading direction at 19:20.

DRIVING:
If driving, there are almost no parking options in Newbridge with the Rose Revived car park only available for their customers. You will need to park in Lechlade (Riverside Car Park would be best option where charges apply) then arrange to get a taxi to the start at Newbridge as there are no direct buses between each. It will take an hour to drive to Lechlade from Reading, followed by roughly 30 minutes for the taxi to get to Newbridge from Lechlade. Suggested taxi companies are Siren Cars and Faringdon Cars.

Features

• Refreshments available (Pub/cafe)
• Toilets available
• Accessible by public transport
• Car parking available