I had a meeting booked this morning with a client who lives in Bourne End. Each time I have been to visit her in the past I have driven past a car park on the edge of Cookham and have noticed happy looking dogs haring off into the meadow beyond. I have often thought about stopping to investigate and, as Hoover was traveling with me, and the weather was looking fair, I decided today was the day for exploring Cock Marsh and Marsh Meadow in Cookham.
We parked at the National Trust Car Park (map) just along the B4447 from The Crown Public House, which is itself located on the corner of the B4447 (High Street) and Berries Road. The car park is free. (streetview) We headed away from the road, past the five-bar gate, and into Marsh Meadow. There are several well-worn tracks through the grass to follow, so we chose to go straight ahead for a short while and then we veered right, across the grass, as we could see the River Thames glistening in the sunlight.
The first part of the walk is alongside the Thames. At the end of the Marsh Meadow you come to a gate. There are a handful of gates on this walk, but they are all accompanied by kissing gates so even large dogs can get through (Hoover struggles with traditional stiles). There is a bench at this point so you can sit and watch the world go by if you wish.
As you pass through the gate into the next field (Cock Marsh) the river bank slopes more gently down to the water so this is a great place for dogs to have a dip. The track continues on passing between the river and a row of gnarly old willow trees, with the super-smart houses across the water. It then passes under the railway bridge at Bourne End, which is painted green, an is prettier than your average railway bridge.
After passing under the green railway bridge the river bends around to the right. There are houses on both sides now, but soon the houses across the river give way to Bourne End Marina, which has a real mix of boats to look at from large gin palaces, to narrow boats, to dingys, and so on. On our side of the river we passed The Bounty, which is a pub with a huge terrace that overlooks the river, as well as a garden that looks to be very family friendly. They have all sorts of events here, including morris dancing, Marlow Orchestra, a beer & jazz fest, and so on, as well a varied menu and roast on a Sunday. Sadly we were too early for any of this.
The houses on our side of the river came to an end and we went through another kissing gate. This one took us into a large field with livestock in it so keep an eye out for cattle if your beastie likes to chase! The riverbank again becomes a more gentle slope down to the water, creating a beach and so Hoover had a good old paddle, a long drink, and a big belch. Classy! We then moved on as the cattle all wandered over for a paddle and a drink too! They were quite chilled out and weren’t fussed about the presence of Hooves, and the feeling was mutual. We carried on to the next kissing gate.
This field was full of brassica of some sort (cabbages maybe…who knows…). The path still follows the river, but there is more greenery between the path and the water. Eventually it bears in land a touch and a row of houses pop up between you and the river. The path then very obviously turns right, still passing between the vegetables. There is a tree-clad hill in front of you promising river views if you have the energy to climb it. As the field of veggies comes to an end there is another gate.
As you pass through this gate the landscape opens up and you will see a finger-post sign suggesting the options you have. The way back to the car park is to the left and passes around the bottom of the hill, however we spotted a track that rose up to the left cutting across the face of the hill…so, as we love a good view, we took this option.
Climbing up this track did indeed give us the most lovely views of the surrounding countryside. You find yourself looking down at the cows still having a paddle in the river, as well as the fields you have walked through, and the fields by which you can return. The track back down is shorter, and therefore steeper than the path up, and is mostly fairly chalky, but it is easily negotiated if care is taken. Hoover flew down it in seconds, but then he has four-paw drive! You can cut diagonally across the field at the bottom towards the point at which the green railway bridge crosses the river and then re-trace your steps to the car park if you wish. As we wanted to do a ‘loop’ we followed the track that hugs the bottom of the hill: this cuts off the bend in the river a bit and takes you through a little area of woodland before bringing you back to Marsh Meadow. Here you can choose to stay on the tree-lined track or cut across the meadow so you can see the river again. Either way you will find your way back to the car park easily.
We were wandering for roughly 90 minutes. This walk can be made much longer if you wish as there are places where you can pick up The Chiltern Way, as well as The Thames Path, not to mention a whole bunch of more local paths. Cookham itself is a lovely village to wander round, with lots of places to find lunch, so instead of going back to the car, when you return to Marsh Meadow you could just keep going along the river into the village centre.
