Our final short break of the year took us to uncharted territory: Maidenhead. While the main reason was a friendship visit, at least the river frontage of the town has always looked alluring, even at high speed, on our rail journeys further west….

… so we booked for a night into the Thames Riviera Hotel, ideally situated on the Thames bank, between the 18th century stone road bridge and Brunel’s 19th century brick railway bridge. The hotel was very comfortable, if uncannily quiet, and did provide us with a sumptuous evening meal: for two of us, lamb shank at its melt-in-the-mouth best.

Next morning we explored the river and its environs. After a sharp frost, it soon got really quite warm in the solstitial sun as we ventured over the border into Buckinghamshire at Taplow. Down leafy lanes, Ivy berries were ripening nicely for late winter bird food and Old Man’s Beard was catching every drop of the low light in its shaggy halo.

Our breakfast destination was the Lake House Café, overlooking a watersports lake, and so probably a whole lot more relaxing at this time of year when the only residents were the ducks, Cormorants and Coots! Breakfast was excellent, as were the views, ever-changing cloudscapes reflected in the tranquil waters.

Then we walked up-river, alongside the Jubilee River, a major flood-relief, only 25 years old but merging seamlessly and naturalistically into the landscape, in a series of habitat improvements designed to offset the effects of developments within the river valley:

Willows and roses were covered in overwintering gall structures, Mistletoe was everywhere, and Red Kites wheeled and mewled around in remarkable numbers, some taking time out in the bankside trees…

Then it was back to the Thames and its islands and locks. Ray Mill Island had more kites, Egyptian Geese and sweetly scented Winter Heliotrope, flowering alongside a remarkably late blooming Ivy bush.

From there it was a very pleasant stroll through the back lanes into the town centre. What of Maidenhead? Well at least it has a clock tower …

Actually, that is unfair. We thought that might be all that there is to it, until in our last hour when we scratched the surface and discovered the waterways that reach into its heart, right up to the High Street, providing interesting photos and mind-bending reflections, along with Grey Wagtails…

Then there are the sculptures, ranging from this Green Man to a hanging gaggle of bats, the latter to celebrate the filming of a Dracula film in the nearby Bray studios (and the sourcing of rubber ‘models’ from the local Woolworths!)….

And a few interesting buildings like the church below, plenty of shops, and a fine pint in the Bear, an old pub still with atmosphere and life (and cheap beer, being a Wetherspoons).

All in all a very fleeting visit but a worthy end to our catalogue of short breaks in places less visited. Roll on 2025!!