Oxfordshire, England

Medley put-in (Oxford)

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Launch — A slipway on the west bank, between the private Bossoms Boatyard and Medley Sailing Club.

Parking — The nearest is Oxford City Council's Godstow Road car park (Port Meadow North), with 72 spaces, a 2.1 metre height limit and access around the clock, and its Walton Well Road car park (Port Meadow South) further south; both are on the opposite bank, reached on foot across Port Meadow or via the Thames Path.

Access — Reached on foot via the Thames Path, which crosses the river at Medley Footbridge; the opposite bank, Port Meadow, is open common land with public access from Walton Well Road, Aristotle Lane, Godstow or Wolvercote. Paddling is on the terms of the Environment Agency's registration condition (see Regulation).

Season — Port Meadow is Thames floodplain and can flood to open water in winter. The Environment Agency's restrictions-and-closures page for this reach lists any current works or navigation notices, and is worth checking before setting out.

Regulations — This reach of the non-tidal Thames is controlled by the Environment Agency under the Thames Navigation Licensing and General Byelaws 1993 and the Environment Agency (Inland Waterways) Order 2010; it requires paddleboards and canoes to be registered, or covered by British Canoeing/Paddle UK membership. The Environment Agency sets a speed limit of 8 kilometres per hour for powered vessels, with a rule against causing excessive wash.

Medley put-in is on the River Thames's west bank at Medley, on the Thames Path beside Medley Footbridge, at the point where the wooded Oxford reach opens out into Port Meadow.

The far bank at Medley is Port Meadow, open common land grazed by cattle and semi-wild horses, with an open bank down to the water. The meadow and neighbouring Wolvercote Common form a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of the Oxford Meadows Special Area of Conservation, recorded as carrying a high volume of migrating birds alongside its grazing stock.

Medley Footbridge, immediately above the launch, is an iron arch opened in 1865 and officially named Rainbow Bridge, crossing the Thames at the northern tip of Fiddler's Island. The island splits the river as it narrows downstream towards Osney; Oxford City Council authorised public bathing there in 1852, one of the earliest such approvals in the city. Upstream, the open reach continues past Godstow Lock, just over a mile away, and the Trout Inn towards Wolvercote.

Conditions to check

Lock

Godstow Lock, just over a mile upstream, is the Thames's furthest-upstream lock still worked mechanically, by electro-hydraulic gear.

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Weir

A weir stands a short way above Godstow Lock, with another at Godstow Bridge by the Trout Inn.

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Boat traffic

This reach carries rowing boats, punts, pleasure craft and moored vessels.

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Other

The footbridge's headroom is 3.05 metres (10 feet).

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Other

The Environment Agency posts strong-stream advice for this reach: red boards advise all boats not to navigate, and yellow boards advise unpowered craft not to navigate and powered craft to find a safe mooring.

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Other launches nearby

1 launch within 131m

131m north

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