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Pangbourne
is on the River Thames near the Oxfordshire border, 5 miles
from Reading. The
River Pang flows through Pangbourne Village to join the River
Thames between the lock and the bridge.
Directly
across the River Thames lies the smaller Oxfordshire village
of Whitchurch-on-Thames.
These
two villages, connected by the Whitchurch Toll Bridge and
the weir at Whitchurch Lock, are often considered to be one
settlement.
Pangbourne
dates back to Saxon times and remained a small village until
a station on the Great Western Railway was opened just outside
the village in 1840.
The village
was then easily accessible from London and it soon became
popular with anglers, artists and pleasure seekers.
It was
at Pangbourne that Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat'
ended their epic journey along the Thames and headed back
to London by train.
Kenneth
Grahame, writer of the 'Wind in the Willows' lived
at Church Cottage in Pangbourne. Pangbourne Meadow beside
the river is a good place for fishing, boating or walking
along the towpath.
In June
the Pangbourne Fete is held here over a weekend.
The Swan,
just upstream from Whitchurch Lock, is one of the few pubs
around here with a riverside frontage. Dating from 1642,
when part of the building was used to store grain, the pub
is a popular venue during the summer months.
Nearby
to visit is Basildon Park.
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Pangbourne
