St Neots slipway
St Neots sits on a lock-managed, non-tidal stretch of the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire. The slipway launches from the edge of the 72-acre Riverside Park and its mile-long river frontage, with the St Neots Common Site of Special Scientific Interest a short way along the bank.
This stretch of the Great Ouse is lock-navigated and non-tidal, with Eaton Socon Lock roughly 1.5 kilometres upstream and St Neots Lock, recorded in OpenStreetMap as St Neots Paper Mill Lock, around 2 kilometres downstream.
The river bends through the town between them, passing under the town's road bridges.
The river's east bank in the town carries the St Neots Common Site of Special Scientific Interest, 33.4 hectares of grassland, willow carr, ditches and ponds notified in 1983 for its wildlife.
Marsh orchids and marsh arrow grass grow in the wetter ground, and the grassland is kept open by traditional grazing.
The wider Great Ouse carries a speed limit of 4 to 7 miles per hour on its non-tidal sections, rising to 15 mph on the tidal reach further downstream, under the Anglian navigation byelaws.
Mixed rowing, canoe and dragon-boat traffic uses this stretch through the town, alongside the powered craft passing through the St Neots and Eaton Socon locks.
Nearby
A riverbank campsite taking tents, touring caravans and static caravans.
WebsiteA cafe and kiosk within Riverside Park, on the same side of the river as the slipway. Riverside Park, St Neots, PE19 7HD.
Conditions to check
Locks bracket this reach of the Great Ouse: St Neots Lock (recorded in OpenStreetMap as St Neots Paper Mill Lock) downstream, and Eaton Socon Lock upstream. The Environment Agency records St Neots Lock as 32.9m long and 3.3m wide, with a depth of 1.05m and 3.2m of headroom.
SourceSt Neots Town Bridge (2.8m clearance) and the Paper Mill Bridge on the B1041 (2.9m clearance) span this reach; the Environment Agency notes actual headroom varies with the water level.
SourceThe Environment Agency's St Neots gauge records a normal range of 0.82m to 1.10m, with a recorded high of 1.85m on 27 December 2020; a flood alert may be issued from 0.95m.
SourceSt Neots Rowing Club and two dragon boat teams use this reach, based out of Riverside Park; the club holds its regatta here each summer, launching from Regatta Meadow beside the slipway.
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