Great Western Coffee Shop

Yesterday (respecting police guidelines on being out and about), I walked  up the western side of the Thames under Moulsford Bridge (https://www.google.com/search?q=moulsford+bridge&safe=strict&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk027rouA68aR4umDx1ejC6JKLbFZZA:1587807988234&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8sPDYpYPpAhXcSxUIHY9YBbUQ_AUoAXoECCIQAw&biw=1280&bih=585&dpr=1.5) and back down the other, and wondered if it was one of the more interesting original GWR bridges spanning the Thames and comparable to the more celebrated one at Maidenhead. Certainly the brickwork and twin spans make an inspection worthwhile.

It was my first visit there since electrification and there was a lot of new metalwork visible from underneath, such as platforms fixed between the two spans to support the electrification poles (which otherwise would have had to be much longer to reach into the riverbed), and at least three access ladders, one inside a protective cage, another with its lowest section removed and placed out of reach. I also noted a couple of original solid doors, leading into the bridge's brickwork - presumably for inspection purposes.

Sadly, I don't have a smartphone so could not post photos. Perhaps another Coffee Shop member might be out that way ...

Earlier I passed the Beetle & Wedge Hotel, where I've had many pleasant meals in delightful company. It looked a bit sad, and a sign announced that it was undergoing a "refurb" and would re-open in May. Back home, I Googled and found that with happy timing for the previous owners, less so for the new ones,it had been sold over the winter.

Incidentally, it was perhaps at the Beetle and Wedge that barges were unloaded  during WWII after transporting stores for RAF Woodcote, which was also supplied by, at one time, 345 railway wagons a month at Pangbourne. (Whitchurch toll bridge must have taken a pounding.)