Thames Path - Windsor to Runnymede

April 26:  After a slow start (I think we are time adjusted), we were off for a walk on the Thames Path, a National Trail.  The path runs the length of the Thames from its source in the Cotswolds to the Thames Barrier, east of London.  We chose to walk from Windsor to Runnymede, downstream passing the Romney Lock, the Home Park (great views up to Windsor Castle), town of Datchet, town of Old Windsor (the first "windlass") and its lock, to Runnymede.

This lock and the next one is "Self Service" - the captain or crew get to operate the gates

 Just before Old Windsor, we diverted to a 13th century flint stone church.  The surrounding yard was quite colorful.

We next arrived to the outskirts of Runnymede, the site of the Magna Carta signing in 1215.

The site is a large, open field beside a busy highway.  We walked out to a sculpture that was commissioned to mark the 800th anniversary.  It is called the Jurors.  There are 12 chairs, with each chair front and back, sculpted with symbolic images reflecting the concepts of justice, human rights, and other social issues or events.

A loud-hailer belonging to Harvey Milk, the assassinated San Francisco Superintendent

One of two representations of Freedom of Speech (On-line)

The explanation for the chair panel above is "In 2014, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, called for an online Magna Carta to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium he created and the rights of its user worldwide."

"The destruction or redaction of evidence in a worldwide activity undertaken by states wishing to hide incriminating documentation of their activities."

 After The Jurors, we walked by a memorial to John F. Kennedy, which is on a small piece of American ground, given to the US in 1963 for this purpose.  Next door is the American Bar Association Memorial to the Magna Carta.

We walked back to our flat after a tea break, partially along busy roads.  We made it to the Long Walk and had this view of Windsor Castle.