The Thames is England's greatest river. It flows for over two hundred miles across the heart of the country, from the Jurassic limestone of the Cotswolds to the clays of the London basin and the estuary.

Populated since the Stone Age, the Thames valley has also been at the heart of English history. The Romans were probably the first to recognise the river's strategic and cultural importance and it was they who gave the river its name, Tamesis.

Today the Thames is many things; a country stream, a rural river in a delightful landscape, a powerful waterway winding its way through history and a royal river, inseparable from the history of England.

Actief's journey is through the upper reaches of the Thames. This is an area officially designated of "Outstanding Natural Beauty". Old bridges, remote locks and pretty stone cottages with riverside inns, handsome churches and old manors make up Actief's route. With commercial traffic only coming up as far as London, there is nothing to disturb the river's tranquillity.

This stretch of the river without doubt the most beautiful and fashionable part of the Thames, beloved of artists and writers alike. It's also the cleanest major river in Europe where salmon and trout are to be found among the many other fishy inhabitants and freshwater mussels seek sanctuary on unsuspecting boat hulls. On a warm summers day you can lean over the bows and see water cabbages and eel grass swaying on the river bed..

Actief's journey starts at Shillingford Bridge where the river ambles through low lying meadows in a wide valley bounded by distant hills. Before too long the ruins of a Norman castle are visible from Actief's deck as she approaches the largely medieval Wallingford bridge, whose seventeen arches stride across the water meadows. A short ride further downstream and Actief passes two large smoothly rounded hills, each surprisingly regular and crowned with a clump of trees. These are the Sinodun Hills which house the remains of an Iron Age hill fort on their peaks and are a powerful and primitive element in an otherwise domestic and agricultural landscape.

Continuing on the meadowland gives way to gently rising hills, broken only by woodland. Passing the twin villages of Goring and Streatley, the scenery gives way to an ever narrowing valley with steep tree-lined sides as the river enters the Goring Gap. With little or no road access the drama of this valley can really only be enjoyed from the river.

Actief's first stop is in the famous village of Pangbourne, home to Kenneth Graham, author of Wind In The Willows. From here guests leave the rural tranquillity for an afternoon of culture in Oxford, but once the river journey recommences it is easy to see where the inspiration for Toad, Ratty and Mole came from.

Almost immediately Actief sails under Whitchurch Bridge, a long and rather pretty white iron toll bridge linking Edwardian Pangbourne with medieval Whitchurch. Here the riverfront is dominated by the old mill, a grand mellow brick building of great beauty. Drifting on, Actief passes Hardwick House, one of the oldest houses in the Thames valley and thought to be the inspiration for Toad Hall, and so continues her journey until reaching the hidden away village of Mapledurham. Here guests enjoy a private tour of Mapledurham House and Water Mill. This wonderful Elizabethan mansion is still home to the same family who can trace their residence on this site directly back to 1490. The 500 year old Mill is the only remaining working water mill on the River Thames.

Set amidst wooded hills, Henley is the centre point of Actief's journey, a beautiful small town of largely medieval and Georgian properties, through which the river dominates. Actief's private mooring is at the finishing point of the famous regatta mile, outside the Leander Rowing Club, and from here guests visit the award winning River and Rowing Museum and explore the town.

Leaving Henley on the long and straight Henley Reach the river enters the sweeping bend that carries it into a rolling landscape of attractively wooded hills and on to Hambleden Lock, overlooked by the delightful Hambleden Mill, dating back to the 16th century and now converted to residential property. From Hambleden the river's winding course flows through Medmenham, where the former abbey was infamous in the late 18th century as the setting for the fabled activities of Sir Francis Dashwood's Hell Fire Club. The members of this hedonistic secret society comprised scions of the greatest families in the land. Indeed Sir Francis himself became England's Chancellor of the Exchequer..

After Medmenham there are two locks close together. The first, at Hurley, is a pretty spot where the river breaks into several water courses, creating a series of islands. The village of Hurley is half hidden by trees but it's medieval splendour is still visible and enjoyed by Actief's guests as they leave Actief for a scheduled visit. The second lock, Temple, is named after the Knights Templar, long connected with the part of the river where nearby picturesque Bisham Abbey is sited. Today Bisham Abbey is famous as a national sports centre but it has an important place in English history being founded in the 12th Century and being part of the divorce settlement for Henry VIII's lucky 4th wife, Anne of Cleeves.

Cutting it's way through the Chiltern Hills the river continues downstream to Marlow and under the prettiest suspension bridge on the river, built in 1835. Marlow is a town with many attractions but there is no doubt it's seen at it's best by the Thames. The lock is in a lovely setting by the crashing weir just below the bridge.

click on the image to view a 360 virtual tour of Marlow.

The next village is Cookham, and below Cookham the river divides to form Formosa Island. From here the magnificent Cliveden woods run unbroken to Maidenhead and it has been said that there are few places in England to rival the beauty of the Cliveden Reach. Rising dramatically high above the woods and river, is Cliveden itself, perhaps the most famous house in The Thames Valley. Now ranked as one of the world's top hotels, Cliveden has a long and exciting history of political intrigue, artistic life and social scandals. Actief enjoys the privilege of a beautiful private mooring at Cliveden, by Spring Cottage, a place frequently visited by Queen Victoria in the 19th century, and forever linked with the Profumo affair of the early 1960's.

Leaving the stunning grounds of Cliveden, Actief cruises through Maidenhead and under Isambard Kingdom Brunel's railway bridge. Built in brick with two graceful arches, which at 123 feet are still the longest and the flattest brick arches in the world, this bridge was a wonder of the modern world on it's completion in 1839. After Maidenhead the Thames goes through one of its complete changes. Gone are the steep banks, the flanking hills and the glorious beech woods. Instead the landscape opens out and the Thames becomes a truly regal river as it approaches Windsor with one of the most famous skylines in the world, of the castle high above the water.

This is a sample of Actief's journey. It concentrates on the beauty of the cruise route rather than on the tours to be found in Actief's Itinerary. But there is much more: because of the cleanliness of the river and the rural tranquillity of the Upper Thames, the area is rich in wildlife, flora and fauna. The river is dominated throughout the summer in particular, by pageantry from traditions such as Swan Upping to many regattas both large and small, traditional craft rallies and many other events. It offers a unique perception of traditional English countryside, which cannot be replicated from any other viewpoint.

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