GORING
Before reaching Pangbourne we pass acres of osier beds on the right. Pangbourne and Whitchurch stand to each other in the same relation as do Goring and Streatley, but in this case it is the southern side to which the palm must be awarded. At Pangbourne the old wooden bridge has given place to an iron one, but the deed has been carried out in a manner that reflects credit on the doer, for the new bridge runs in a graceful curve, and its sides of latticed ironwork are painted white. Seen in glimpses between the islands, the new bridge does not detract from the charms of Pangbourne, but rather adds to them.
There are numbers of islands at Pangbourne, and they lie in a great basin between and beneath the weirs, which are small and frequent. The pool is full of beauty. The trees grow freshly and well, and throw a veil of tender green over the water, which is, on a summer day, brilliant in hues of blue and green, cobalt, sea-green, pale apple, indigo; these can all be traced lying in strips and sections where the riotous torrent from the weirs frays out its inquietude and loses itself. In one corner by a pretty cottage is a splash of vivid crimson, an arcade of roses. Near the bridge great launch works are a blot and an eyesore, but it is so seldom we find our ointment without the proverbial fly.
PANGBOURNE FROM THE SWAN HOTEL
Pangbourne village is quaint and pleasing enough, but it is not so beautiful as some of the villages along the Thames side. No village built haphazard, with a little river bridged over in its main street, with a brick-towered church, with dark evergreens, and a fair amount of creepers, could fail to be attractive in some sense. But there is too much new brick in Pangbourne. The river Pang is a tiny streamlet, and the winding ways do not hold that charm which can be felt even as one races by in a motor. Further up the river a row of neatly-built, red-brick and white-balconied houses stands up against a high chalk bank overlooking the river; behind this, in a deep cutting, runs the railway line. Above the bridge there is a landing on the Whitchurch side close to the church, which is a well-kept flint building. In the chancel there is a monument to the Lybbe family, dated 1599. Whitchurch is mostly built of red brick, and is neat and clean, but without any very great attractions. Before reaching Mapledurham a fine old house, Hardwicke, is passed. Charles I. stayed here and played bowls. The house itself is well protected by trees, but it stands in rather open country, amid bare chalk uplands, where sometimes may be seen a curious opaline glow in pale sunshine.