Thames Valley Tales

Short Stories, Book 1

By: Tim Walker

Narrated by: Richard James

Thames Valley Tales is a light-hearted yet thought-provoking collection of nine stories by Tim Walker. These tales are based on the author's experience of living in Thames Valley towns, and combine contemporary themes with the rich history and legends associated with an area stretching from London to beyond Windsor and Oxford, and then into the heart of rural England.

The collection includes The Goldfish Bowl, in which an unlikely friendship is struck between a pop star and an arms dealer living on Millionaire’s Row in Goring-on-Thames and Maidenhead Thicket, selected as short story of the month by a US-based online magazine and described as "a very nicely rendered story." It features the ghost of the legendary highwayman, Dick Turpin.

The White Horse is a story built around the famous white horse carving on the Berkshire Downs, recently dated as being 1000 years older than previously thought.

Murder at Henley Regatta is an intriguing whodunit. The Colnbrook Caper is a pacey crime thriller.

The collection kicks off with the Grey Lady, an historical ghost story, and features The Merry Women of Windsor in a whimsical updating of Shakespeare's classic play.

The author’s notes explains the context and reasoning behind each story.

Thames Valley Tales oscillates from light-hearted to dark historical, and at times, humorous stories ideally suited to bedtime or holiday listening that will amuse, delight, and hopefully, inform the listener about the rich history of the Thames Valley as it winds 215 miles from the Gloucestershire countryside, past many towns and villages to London and out to the North Sea. The book also has a factual chapter and map of the Thames Valley showing the towns through which the 184-mile Thames Path passes. It is a walk-through history and the natural beauty of England that will inspire and captivate.

©2015, 2023 Timothy Neil Walker (P)2023 Timothy Neil Walker

Entertaining stories

Thames Valley Tales is a collection of short stories by Tim Walker. I enjoyed the stories and felt like they transported me to other times and places. The narration by Richard James was excellent. The music and sound of the water lapping was very nice.

A quick, entertaining read

Overall: Narration is Superb. I loved the background noises and music. I enjoyed all the stories, but wish they were all longer! Maybe I’m just not used to listening to short stories. Here is my rating for the individual stories:



The Grey Lady:
A delightful little ghost story. It ends with the mystery unsolved - is the grey lady real or not..? Nevertheless, the grey lady’s story is heartbreaking and chilling.
4⭐️

The Goldfish Bowl:

Enjoyable for the most part. The ending didn’t make a lot of sense to me…. I don’t want to give anything away, but it left me thinking ‘What!?’.
3.5⭐️

The White Horse

A quick historical tale. Perfectly narrated, but to me, not as enjoyable as the first two.
3⭐️

Murder at Henley Regatta

I enjoyed this story. It felt like the first chapter of an interesting whodunit. Would love to hear more of this particular story and it’s characters.
3.5⭐️

Maidenhead Thicket

Oh wow! Wonderful story. I want more of Dick Turpin!
4.5⭐️

The Merry Women of Windsor

Cute and funny. I loved the rhyming in the end.
4⭐️

The Colnbrook Caper

Talk about seizing an opportunity! Clever!
3.8⭐️

Runnymede Rebellion
Quite good. The story just left me wanting more!
3.8⭐️

The Oxford Tiger
Really good. Another story I’d like to hear more of.
4⭐️