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It’s easy to forget the incredible natural landscape and fascinating histories we are lucky enough to have right here on our doorstep in the Thames Valley, as author Thomas Newport found when he set off on a journey along the River Thames chronicling his trek along the 185 miles in his book, Binoclarity
Eccentricity, humour, witticisms, anecdotes, local legends, hidden histories and caves, crime, decline, unsavoury characters and corruption, not to mention a few surprising discoveries are just some of those featured on the pages of Binoclarity.
The River Thames has always played a part in Thomas Newport’s life and having one day decided to explore what was on his doorstep rather than our coast or going abroad, he found “it always seems to find a way of intertwining with my life”.
Camping out in woods, fields and even an old Second World War pillbox on his travels it soon became apparent to Thomas, who has lived in Berkshire all his life, that Britain is a shocking place as much as an amazing one.
“I never expected to uncover so many surprises on my journey”, Thomas quips. “I already knew that I would be journeying through territory made famous by legendary inventors, several large plane crashes, national scandals, secret bunkers, dangerous caves, escaped animals (I knew about the wallabies, but not the escaped elephant), highwaymen, a famous jeweller who lost it all, a famous spoon bender, dim-witted robbers and even one of the world’s only two absolute ruler Sultans left.
“However, I never expected to uncover an alarming series of events that would turn out to mean that a large part of my journey (through Oxfordshire and Berkshire) would be undertaken through what would turn out to be the UK’s ‘rural murder capital’. A surprising number of terrible happenings had occurred in a rural area of small size since the turn of the Millennium. These findings shocked me as I was not aware of many of them and had not thought about their geographic significance.”
His tales from the riverbank also include celebrity-filled anecdotes, seeing a policeman get pushed in at Henley Regatta, sightings of ghosts and episodes which didn’t make the book such as a visit to the clubhouse of one of the UK’s most notorious biker gangs which turned out to be a wild night dancing to live heavy rock beneath large flags bearing Swastikas and Confederate motifs.
He adds: “Britain is well known for its eccentrics and I think the funniest stories are often created by some of these folk. I uncovered plenty of eccentrics that live or have lived along the banks of the Thames. I had great fun talking to a former cave dweller, Reading’s very own Jimi Hendrix (not to be confused with the world famous Reading Elvis) and many other people I passed along the towpath.”
Journeying on to Buckinghamshire, Thomas first encountered Marlow and was delighted to cross Marlow Bridge which he fondly recalls as the inspiration for the much larger Szechenyl Chain Bridge which crosses the Danube to link Buda with Pest. Marlow itself he observes feels “quite young and cosmopolitan” and concludes “Marlow is a vibrant and friendly place” which has more than its fair share of celebs and the rich and famous. Sir Miles Hobart, MP for Marlow, started the tradition of shutting the door in Black Rod’s face in Parliament when he was speaker of the House of Commons in 1628 – a tradition which continues today.
Marlow Bottom he discovers is home to a bespectacled gentleman by the name of
Lyndon Yorke, known in these parts for his bizarre inventions which include a wickerwork
car, a floating bath chair and an Edwardian tricycle converted to ‘sail’ on the river. He also had the honour to be the first member of the Eccentric Club of London when it was resurrected in 2008.
Having got up early Thomas then hikes the two miles to High Wycombe to be “confronted with a confusing array of roundabouts which seem to divert cars off in all directions away from Wycombe as soon as they arrive”.
The author is most fascinated by musician and son of High Wycombe, Les Payne, who he muses “has probably played more gigs in the UK than anyone else, in fact well over 6,000”. He wrote a song for David Bowie and graced the TV screens alongside Kylie Minogue who described him as “inspirational”. He played support slots in the 1960s and 70s for David Essex and Genesis but when about to release his first single was struck by the bad luck of a vinyl shortage which limited numbers. Undeterred he continued gigging all over the world at a rate during the 80s and 90s. Frequently labelled ‘pop’s biggest failure’ which he evidently wasn’t, Les died in 2017.
Continuing onwards he finds Loudwater to be the home to the world’s largest envelope supplier; Penn and Knotty Green which give way to the “sophisticated affluence of North Beaconsfield”, reinforced by the nearby villages of Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter – all of which are very popular filming locations.
There are far too many entertaining, humorous, surprising anecdotes to feature here so check out the many and varied tales by buying a copy of Binoclarity, (© Thomas Newport 2018) available on Amazon.
Oh and why the title? “I wanted to call it something a bit different,” he explains. “In an age that has become dominated by ‘keyword’ searches online, I decided to invent a word, so that I had something truly unique and the book can be very easily found with a simple and quick search. I thought about how I felt as if I was looking at the Thames Valley region through binoculars, and the word developed from there.”
