Henley-on-Thames

Good afternoon!

Henley.jpg

Henley Bridge and The Angel Pub

“Take a breath of fresh air” in Henley, away from the bustle of everyday pressures yet remarkably accessible.


The town is well-known for its rowing tradition which its unique river location has fostered over the past 150 years. Henley is particularly proud of its men and women athletes who excelled themselves in the eyes of the world at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. But Henley is not just about rowing.

Henley offers a wide range of attractions whether you simply want to take a quiet trip on the river, visit the art galleries, visit historic houses, enjoy the River & Rowing Museum, rummage through antiques, browse fashion shops, or simply stroll, eat and drink in relaxing surroundings.

It really is a year-round destination.

Henley-on-Thames is a pretty riverside market town on one of the most beautiful stretches of the River Thames, in gently wooded, rolling countryside. It is an hour west of London making it ideal for a short side-trip or a long weekend away from the madding crowd.

With a population of some 10,000 it supports the many small, attractive villages in the countryside around. The town’s prosperity goes back to the 12th century as river trade developed because of its position.

Today there is a comfortable mix of architectural styles spanning the centuries with many interesting features for the historian, some of which are [conveniently] hidden in the church and local pubs.
The Tourist Information Centre itself is a fine example of painstaking restoration to preserve the details of one of Henley’s older buildings.

Surrounding area

There are delightful small villages and country houses hidden in the folds of the surrounding hills, yet easily accessible by car if you are mildly adventurous. Of course the constituency also includes the historic town of Thame further north. Thame is ideally situated to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the Thames and Chilterns area. The Town has its own Local Nature Reserve (Cuttle Brook) where a quiet walk and, perhaps, a picnic can be enjoyed. There are many public footpaths (including the Chiltern Hills with the Ridgeway Path and the Oxfordshire Way) where outstanding views of the surrounding area can be enjoyed. You might get pleasantly lost, but only until the track you’ve found meets up with a more obvious lane or road with signposts. Villages locally are used for major films and TV productions, and you may recognise a fleeting image here and there. The local pub will usually have press clippings on the wall to remind people.

There are many peaceful scenic spots for a quiet stroll or picnic: it’s hard to realise that you’re so near London.

For more information click here

Boris’s constituency

Henley on Thames; May; two thousand and five

Elections are looming: do you still want to thrive?

Parliament’s sleeping: no Government now

Each qualified voter should vote; and here’s how:

Surrender your card to confirm that it’s you,

Then pencil your cross; in the space for the BLUE

BBB

Mac

49 thoughts on “Henley-on-Thames”

  1. Sounds to me as if someone is preparing to take up a new career as tourist guide. Don’t be despondent, M, Henley is exactly the sort of place where they will go on voting Conservative, even if the candidate had died.

  2. Vicus: “Henley is exactly the sort of place where they will go on voting Conservative, even if the candidate had died.”

    But aren’t the Conservatives good at finding attractive, comfortable constituencies (at least in England) !

    If I were lucky enough to live in Henley and Labour won the election, I think I’d try to secede. Maybe set up a Grand-Duchy of Henley or something, declare an international port, establish a tax haven etc. that kind of thing . . . the Monaco of the north!

  3. It looks so pretty, I would so like to live in a place like that, it’s definitely going to be on my considering place to live list when I am older…

  4. Boris is witty in everything he does. Appealing to the civic pride of his constituents rather than just saying “vote for me” is just like him. With a bit of luck, they are sophisticated enough to enjoy the conceit. We all need Boris to keep the spark of liberty alive in an England where even the Conservative leadership is mostly focussed on telling us all how to live.

    Good luck to him.

  5. The nicest thing about living here in Henley is that we finally have an MP who spends time here and actually gets involved. Well done Boris! Such a pleasant change from Herr Heseltine!

    And to those that think Henley is a safe conservative seat: Good job Boris isn’t standing as an independent!

    😉

  6. Good to know you’ve enjoyed being a constituent of Boris’s. You are lucky, PSimon, to live in Henley ~ bit of heaven on earth

  7. Would be good if boris was MP up here in scotland

    sadly here live in area it is a safe labour stronghold so nobody is campaigning here as everyone knows labour will win, sigh

    henley is lucky

  8. I’ll turn out Melissa. I’ll be the one in the red carnation. Oh. Damn. Wrong symbol 🙂

    Actually psimon’s spot on, Boris is a personality first, rather than a conservative. If he stood as an independant he probably would get returned.

  9. Oh yes, one final thing, in Boris we have a sense of humour, unlike the Reading East tory candidate, who after a damned funny addition to a tory election poster (“are you smoking what we’re smoking?”) has been spluttering about it stiffling political debate and demanding CCTV footage of the poster.

    http://www.getreading.co.uk/story.asp?intid=11803

    “We will not allow this behaviour to prevail, we will put the posters back up every time they are defaced or ripped down, because we cannot let the bullies and the thugs win against the democratic process.

    Freedom of speech is at stake.”

    And that is what keeps the Torys from winning. Pompous idiots.

  10. I feel sorry for Rob Wilson, the candidate – tho’ he won’t win many voters with that scowl on his face. Poor chap.

    Why doesn’t he go on a recce defacing the posters back to the original ‘Are you thinking what we’re thinking’ with bigger, bolder and better typeface???

  11. Very nice place Henley-on-Thames. If I was a Labour Prime Minister I’d move there, and go down the pub every day. Cool:>

  12. Melissa it appears he’s beliving his own press, or he’s paranoid and believes there’s a conspiracy out to get him.

    Heck, I did that sort of thing as a student because it was funny, not because I was an anti-democratic thug.

    Perhaps Boris needs to have a little word with the chap.

  13. Surely it’s too good to be true? Like in one of those Star Trek episodes where they land on a planet which initially seems to be a perfect utopian paradise… until they discover it’s sinister secret.

  14. Hey Psimon are you laughing at the tory local government campaign leaflet today?

    “The Liberals want to Introduce Local Income Tax.”

    Then following that “Another stealth tax!”

    Someone needs to explain the meaning of stealth to Mr Nimmo Smith, not to mention how to capitalise. Funny how they’re silent on the railway too.

  15. Working the turf when the coverage builds

    While Boris is working the magic on his home turf of Henley, there are several people finding that its safe to come out from under the Mersey-soaked cloud that rained on Boris last year. For example, Online Recruitment magazine has…

  16. I would have cropped the photo a bit more – reduced the sky at the top, and edited out the car and the flat roofed modern building.

    I’d also have photo-shopped in lots of Vote Labour Posters, but that’s the way I am…

  17. Dear Boris,
    For some reason you were walking down my street in the rain the other day, possibily thursday last week. It was lovely to see you, but…why?
    Love Nadine,
    Divinity Road, Oxford East,
    Not even near your constituency,
    In a ward where even the Tory candidate votes Green.

  18. Henley sounds very nice… Damn sight nicer than Slough, any way. Speaking of which, what are the odds that the awful Blairite Fiona McTaggart will be on the dole queue on 6th May? Quite likely – the Muslim vote alone will sink her, let alone everyone else.

  19. >I would have cropped the photo a bit more – reduced the sky at the top, and edited out the car and the flat roofed modern building.

    Yes, could’ve been even better, Gert! We try and be whizzy in a Heath Robinson way here in the BJ Office ~ worth the risk most of the time

    come and give us a good techie lesson one day, Gert – we need it

  20. Alexander,

    As much as I hate to admit it, that vile woman will be back. She will have a reduced majority alright, but she will be back.
    Come to think of it, I’ve never even seen her. My dad saw her standing outside Slough station once, but apart from that, no one in my family has.

    Actually, maybe that’s a good thing. I might be tempted to smack her one. 😉

    On a side note, is anyone watching the Boris praising on The Daily Politics at the moment?

  21. Psimon: I thought Henley’s sinister secret was Maurice the Mangler from the Barber Shop.

    And the scary bloke from the old Regal cinema.

    Henley legends, the pair of them.

  22. Well said, Michael B, come on Bozza let’s remove this horrible scene from the internet and replace it with something of substance.
    Henley-on-bloody-Thames with its bloody tory voters and anachronistic rowing competition.
    Let’s improve it by putting in a traveller’s camp or asylum-seeker’s shelter that starts in that pub forecourt and extends over the bridge.

  23. “As much as I hate to admit it, that vile woman will be back. She will have a reduced majority alright, but she will be back. Come to think of it, I’ve never even seen her. My dad saw her standing outside Slough station once, but apart from that, no one in my family has.”

    Very depressing and very unsuprising. Then again, around Langley it’s seen as almost bizarre if you’re under 40 and you want to vote. We get the politicos we deserve…

  24. Could this Melissa who keeps posting items be Johnson’s assistant at the House of Commons by any chance…it is really a pathetic effort at deceiving the electorate

  25. Hey, constituent, lay off Melissa.
    She has never been anything other than honest about who she is and what she does.
    She may be misguided in her allegiance to a political party that had its zenith at the time of Disraeli, but to many of us she is the object of our admiration.

  26. “Could this Melissa who keeps posting items be Johnson’s assistant at the House of Commons by any chance…it is really a pathetic effort at deceiving the electorate”

    Melissa seems to be the brains behind the operation. She is definitely Boris’s ‘Sir Humphry’.

  27. Vicus and Monkey – hear! hear!

    what would I do without my supporters?

    You’re magnifico

    **Cream of the Land Monkey and Vicus!!!**

  28. Errrrr. How long, exactly, does it take to understand that Melissa plays a pivotal role in this blog on behalf of the no-doubt-exceedingly-busy Boris ?

    Why is this a problem? This blog would be an empty wasteland without the lovely Melissa. And I speak as someone who’ll vote Conservative when hell, frankly, freezes over. Not that I give a flying **** about this election, you understand…

  29. There is a large banner in the centre of Henley, offering a “course in practical philosophy”. A little research, and I found it was run by the School of Economic Science; A cult with a shadey past including allegations of child abuse. It seems Henley DOES have a sinister secret after all!

  30. Melissa –

    They were actually saying how great Boris was, and how it’s unbelievable that such a popular figure isn’t at the front of the election campaign – and that many people would love to see him as PM! 🙂

  31. I totally agree with you on the point that Boris should be far more at the forefront of the campaign – rather than in the backwaters of Oxfordshire (much as they love him)

    Heh – what can you do – he’s still pretty popular even in the shadows!

    Much appreciate your input

  32. I’m just glad to be able to get on here! Chances are severly limited now the site is blocked at my school. …And they also have number-10.gov.uk blocked, so I don’t even know where to START trying to work out what their blocking policy is!

  33. Technically ‘there’s no government now’ is wrong- the government (ie the Cabinet) is appointed by the Queen, and stays in place even when Parliament is dissolved (in case of war etc. so they can exercise the Prerogative to fight back)

  34. Technically ‘there’s no government now’ is wrong- the government (ie the Cabinet) is appointed by the Queen, and stays in place even when Parliament is dissolved (in case of war etc. so they can exercise the Prerogative to fight back). Oh and Aaron Brown, most of these school filters can be defeated by going to a non-blocked translation site (e.g. FreeTranslation.com) and using the ‘translate web address’ features to ‘translate’ it from French to English (or whatever, won’t actually change since already in English). The filter sees the translation site’s URL, remembers that they are allowed for Modern Languages subjects, and loads the page. The translation site will then display a fully working copy of the page you wanted (occassionally images don’t work, but we can live with that).

  35. Thanks David, of course you are right, but to make sense, in rhyme, about such technicalities is beyond my space and ability. I claim poetic licence .

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