A descent of the Thames from Cricklade to Eynsham
Type of Trail : River
Region: Oxfordshire
Maps: OS Landranger 173, 164
Difficulty: Easy
Accessibility: Easy to get in at start. Can be tricky round some of the locks if you choose to portage.
Ease of Access to water: See description but fairly easy.
Portages : Depends. Locks will open if asked.
Licenses : BCU membership
Access Agreement: all year.
Suggested Duration: 2 days.
Approximate distance: Each day is around 25km
Start: Cricklade. The Thames runs through the centre of Cricklade and passes under the High Street. This, however, is not the place to put in. From the stone bridge on Cricklade High Street head back towards the town centre. Take the first narrow road on the left, follow this for a few hundred yards, then turn left again towards the river. Here you will find a small parking area and a convenient slipway. GR SU 104939
Finish: We finished at Eynsham lock just past the Swinford Toll bridge at around 50km from the start. This is not an ideal place to get out, as the road down to the lock is private. You may be able to negotiate with the lock keeper. An alternative is to carry on past King’s Lock, and get out on the edge of Port Meadow at a small car park in Wolvercote. There are 2 options to get to Wolvercote. Either go through the King’s lock cut, or head past the King’s weir towards the connecting Duke’s cut with Oxford Canal. Instead of taking this you keep right and head under the A34 to Wolvercote weir. Portage the weir in the right side. This is quite difficult, and best attempted in winter when there are no nettles.
Car Shuttle required? Yes.
General information: This section of the Thames is quieter as bridge heights and overgrown vegetation restrict access upstream. We did it on red boards, so motorised traffic was minimal anyway, although some of the landing stages below the locks were under water. There are quite a few locks. We only ran one weir, and it is obvious which one when you get there. In general it is dangerous to run the weir as they typically have obstacles which are not apparent from above.
You can expect to see a variety of birdlife on the river including kingfishers and herons.
I recommend an excellent website igreens.org.uk/canoeing_the_nontidal_thames.htm.
TheTrail: This is a nice gentle trip, unencumbered by the Gin palaces you will encounter on the lower sections of the river. The trip described took us 2 days.
The first few kilometres are fairly overgrown. When we did it, in June, the river was very high, on red boards in its upper reaches. However in canoes, some submerged fallen branches formed effective barriers. This was not a problem in kayaks. If you left it until later in the summer the weeds might prove a real problem until around Castle Eaton.
The first place you will reach on your descent is Castle Eaton on the right bank. The Red Lion pub here is excellent and makes a good early lunch stop.
After about 17km you will reach the first lock on this trip, St Johns’s lock. You can buy your river permit here if you need one. BCU membership includes the necessary permit, but you should display your licence on your boat. I found the lock keepers on this section really helpful and friendly. One even helped carry my boat. They will open locks for kayaks, so you don’t have to carry round unless you want to.
The next lock is Buscot at around 22km.
We ended our first day at the Swan Hotel at Radcot Bridge. It is possible to camp here – ask at the Hotel.
Day 2
Shortly after Radcot Bridge comes Radcot lock, and then Rushey lock. There is a small public toilet here. There follows a delightful section through a nature reserve with a stand of poplars on the right bank. The wooden Tenfoot bridge marks the end of this section. Next you reach Shifford lock.
At Newbridge the famous river Windrush joins from the left. There are 2 pubs here, the Maybush and the Rose Revived. I would strongly recommend the Maybush, or there is another pub further downstream on the left in a caravan park which looked OK from the river. The Rose Revived is worth avoiding due to high prices and slow service. It is possible to land just past the Roe Revived on the left bank on Cokethorpe school canoe club landing stage.
Next you reach Northmoor lock followed by Pinkhill lock.
We finished at Eynsham lock just past the Swinford Toll bridge at around 50km from the start. This is not an ideal place to get out, as the road down to the lock is private. You may be able to negotiate with the lock keeper. See description of finish.
Additions to the trail : Do the Oxford circuit – Canoe Focus April 2006. Continue to Southend. The Thames below Oxford is pretty boring until you reach Wallingford, in my opinion.