Guide to Cruising the River Thames and River Wey on Charter Hotelboat Willow

River Thames and southern waterways:(Adjacent canals can be viewed with the above links)
This page describes the River Thames from Brentford in London to Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Also included here is information covering the River Wey, Basingstoke canal, and Kennet & Avon navigation. With apologies we haven't yet got digital photos suitable for web publication, but we hope to remedy that as soon as we return to southern waters.

The Thames is magnificent. Between Oxford and Lechlade it meanders backwards and forwards - the meanders are so pronounced that it's course has been described as being like intestinal coils. You can sometimes see a moving boat at right-angles, seemingly ahead of you over the fields, but where you cannot be sure whether it is an approaching vessel - or one which is travelling several bends ahead of you in the same direction. The river here is much narrower than in London. Low bridges at Oxford mean that larger river vessels ('gin palaces') cannot reach this far upstream.

The middle part of the river downstream (once clear of Oxford) seems to feature alternate reaches of wooded and pastoral countryside, with stretches featuring some very wealthy residences with beautiful gardens extending down to the riverside. And of course we do pass by the ultimate posh Des-Res of the royal Windsor Castle and its extensive grounds' (but signs firmly, and correctly, warn us that we would not be welcomed if we were to moor up on a royal bank side). Every now and again there are local rowing clubs. Rowing skiffs being herded backwards and forwards by the ever present rowing coach, complete with megaphone, in an accompanying small motorboat. Don't think they like narrowboats over much. One attractive feature of this part of the river are the Eyes (small islands created by the ever changing meandering characteristics of the river), but happily there are usually signs to tell us which side to pass. There is one such island where very attractive visitor moorings have been created for a couple of boats on either side. Although large by canal standards all the locks are mechanised and usually manned by staff of the Environment Agency.

At Reading the Kennet & Avon Navigation joins the Thames from the south, linking the Thames to the Bristol Channel. The K&A navigation is actually two canalised river sections (the River Kennet in the east and the River Avon to the west), joined by a canal section between Newbury and Bath.

Downstream from Reading on the Thames we arrive at Shepperton where we have the option of joining the river Wey (and then possibly the Basingstoke canal - but the local authority owners of that canal generally claim lack of water to prevent entry). The river Wey is, however, well worth a visiting cruise. It is delightful in parts, like a smaller version of the Thames itself. Just on a much smaller scale - the navigable limit, near Godalming, is reached in just over a full days cruising. The Wey Navigation is actually owned by the National Trust who have done sterling work to keep the navigation operational - whilst retaining many of the original historical features of its navigational infrastructure (eg lock gate design etc).

Leaving the river Wey and moving downstream on the Thames, we soon reach Teddington Lock where the status of the river turns to tidal. Downstream boats are 'released' from Teddington at about high tide, so as to get the benefit of the ebb tide down to Brentford. Here we turn, briefly, into the tidal River Brent before locking up to join the non tidal Grand Union Canal. If travelling upstream on the Thames from Brentford, the 'release' from Brentford occurs about an hour before high tide - so the incoming tide helps our way upstream. This tidal navigation (down to the sea) is controlled by the Port of London Authority, rather than the Environment Agency which controls the non-tidal river.

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