RIVER THAMES,
PINKHILL LOCK & WEIR

This run of the Thames varies throughout the stretch, but there are good Roach, Chub, Perch, Pike, and Bream to be found all along this stretch.

Please note that you can break the section into two parts:

The first part is above the lock, which is one field on the Right-hand bank going upstream. Access to this part is across the weir.

The second part is on the Left-hand bank, from Paxford Bridge all the way to Bablock Hythe.

We also have the weir stream, 40mtrs below the weir and then the Left-Hand bank downstream all the way to Daisy Ditch.

Parking

Parking is just outside Farmoor Village.

As you come from Oxford and go through Farmoor, parking is a layby on your Right-hand side.

There is another layby just past the entrance to the Cruiser station, also on the Right-hand side of the road.

Walk down the footpath until you come to Paxford bridge (150meters). Our water starts here.

How to find us

Access to this water is best from the footpath down the side of Thames House. That is at the Left-hand side of the road, just before the layby on the right-hand side

View it on Google Maps.

Species

The carp (Cyprinus carpio) comes in many different guises; The wildie, the leather, the mirror and the common carp.

A group of small carp-like freshwater fish, almost all of the genus Barbus. They are usually found in gravel and rocky-bottomed slow-flowing waters with high dissolved oxygen content.

The bream lives in schools and eats worms, mollusks, and other small animals. It is deep bodied, with flat sides and a small head, and is silvery with a bluish or brown back.

The northern pike gets its name from its resemblance to the pole-weapon known as the pike. Pike can grow to a relatively large size; with maximum recorded weights of 63 lb.

Perch are carnivorous fish found in small ponds, lakes, streams, or rivers. These fish feed on smaller fish, shellfish, or insect larvae, but can be caught with nearly any bait

A shoaling fish, dusky silver in colour often with a brown to bronze sheen. They are quite distinctive with a blunt snout, rounded body and very large mouth.

A high-backed, yellowish green fish with red eyes and reddish fins. It lives in small schools and eats aquatic plants, insects, and other small animals.

The dace is a slender fish, with a silvery body and brownish fins. It is more slender than the roach and smaller than the chub, with duller fins.

The brown trout is a golden-brown fish with a dark back and creamy-yellow belly. Its back and sides display dark, reddish spots with pale borders. It can be distinguished from the similar rainbow trout by its plain, dark tail fin and by the lack of a purple side-stripe.