THAMES PATH 30th ANIVERSARY WALK

View of rowing boats on the river, with buildings along left bank and in distance. Oil on canvas.
View from Cookham Bridge - 1936 (SSG)

The Thames Path 30th Anniversary Relay reaches Cookham this weekend, with walkers arriving from Marlow on Friday 19 June and completing this stage outside the Stanley Spencer Gallery. The following morning, Saturday 20 June at 10am, the next leg of the relay begins from the gallery, continuing the journey towards Eton.


The Thames appears throughout Stanley Spencer’s work, as part of the everyday Cookham landscape he observed so closely. Views of the towpath, the riverbank and the bridges recur across his paintings, reflecting the same stretches of river that Thames Path walkers pass today. The relay’s arrival in Cookham offers a timely moment to acknowledge how the river shaped both the village and Spencer’s visual world.

 

As part of the anniversary celebrations, poet Robert Seatter, artist‑in‑residence for the project, is contributing readings along the route, including a poem responding to Spencer and the relationship between the artist, the river and the village https://www.visitthames.co.uk/ideas-inspiration/poems-along-the-thames-path/some-days-cookham/
 
We look forward to marking this special anniversary as the Thames Path celebrations pass through Cookham.