Oxfordshire, England

Sandford-on-Thames put-in

Launch — A slipway on a short access road at the end of Church Lane, part of the Environment Agency's site at Sandford Lock.

Parking — Nearest parking is the King's Arms pub car park beside the lock; it is pay-and-display, with the charge refunded on registering the vehicle inside the pub.

Access — Reached on foot via the Thames Path National Trail and the Environment Agency's lock site at the end of Church Lane; a gate on the approach path is open to pedestrians and cyclists but closed to motor vehicles.

Season — Environment Agency lock-keeper hours at Sandford vary by month, with the lock available for self-service boaters outside those hours; the Agency has closed all of its River Thames lock-site campsites.

Regulations — Craft on this stretch, including paddleboards, must be registered with the Environment Agency, or be covered by a Paddle UK membership that includes the licence, under the Thames Navigation Licensing and General Byelaws 1993; unregistered use can lead to prosecution and a fine.

This slipway is on the Thames at Sandford-on-Thames, just south of Oxford, near Sandford Lock, which has the largest fall of any lock on the river. Immediately upstream lies Sandford Lasher, a weir pool whose calm surface hides strong currents beneath.

Sandford Lock is 53 metres long and 6.6 metres wide. Its weir now houses Sandford Hydro, a community-owned scheme whose three Archimedes screws have an installed capacity of 485 kW; the scheme was commissioned in August 2017 and has the potential to power over 500 households a year.

The lock is connected to the first of three islands at this point. Upstream, the main weir connects the second island to the Kennington bank, and a second weir links the two lower islands. After the third island, Fiddler's Elbow, the river turns sharply at Rose Isle.

Further upstream towards Iffley Lock, Iffley Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the riverside meadows, owned by Oxford City Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. When the trust took over management in 1983 there were just 500 snake's-head fritillaries there; there are now around 42,000, flowering each April.

Nearby

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Sandford Talking Shop

A community-run cafe and shop at Sandford Village Hall, open weekday mornings to mid-afternoon.

Website

Restore Littlemore Shop and Cafe

A charity cafe and shop at Littlemore Mental Health Centre, run by the mental health charity Restore, open weekday mornings.

Website

Conditions to check

Weir

Sandford Lasher, the weir pool immediately upstream of the lock, has been notorious since the 19th century for the number of people who have drowned there; a 19th-century obelisk beside it records the deaths of five Christ Church students.

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Other

The Environment Agency displays warning boards at locks on this reach: a red board advises users of all boats not to navigate, and a yellow board advises users of unpowered boats not to navigate.

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