Oxford to Brentford Thames trip

[Rob99fla]

Going on my first trip down the Thames from Oxford to Brentford and up the GU. Got The River Thames Book and the map. Any good tips or advice would be appreciated. Bit worried about beyond Teddington lock and the tidal part but perhaps I'm being a wus pants. It's a 45' NB with a good 36 hp Lister engine. Have and anchor and life jackets but never used either yet. The boat is so equipped as it used to go on the river Trent earlier in its life. Reading about tides but already I'm confused!

 

Done a few miles of canals so can handle the boat fairly well. Anyway, all help gratefully received.

 

Rob

[matty40s]

make sure your anchor is fastened to the boat!!!

 

lovely trip, great scenery and lots of boats around - watch out for the rowers coming up behind you.

Teddington to Brentford is easy - make sure you get to teddington before high tide, and the river below will be a baby - less flow than the Trent.

Leave Teddington after high tide, and you will move fairly swiftly - don't cut the bend into Brentford - there is a sandbank.

 

Don't leave it as late as I did last time - 1 hr 55 min after high tide - flow was swift - pushing 12 knots past Richmond wiers, and only made Brentford with 6" spare.( I had no choice - next available opening with winter timings was 8 days away)

[alan_fincher]

I know it causes cries of rebkle when someone says "use the forum search facility, but this topic has been discussed many times in great depth, and the advice is unlikely to have gone out of date.

 

If you search for (say)

 

+Brentford +Teddington

 

it will give all previous threads that contain both Brentford and Teddington, and it should be fairly obvious which are those giving advice on the passage.

 

In brief though, the Teddington lock-keepers are only likely to let you onto the tidal part at an appropriate time, so their advice should be followed.

 

Then you just need to have studied up what you have to look for to avoid missing the turn into Thames Lock at Brentford, (which is well more than 90 degrees). You are unlikely to, but a sign that used to mark it got removed some time ago, and (as far as I know) never replaced.

 

You will not need VHF radios.

[Tony Brooks]

Expect to pay for overnight moorings in most places. Honourable exception is Abingdon so it is often full. Many farmers charge for using their field.

 

All the towpaths are owned by the adjacent landowner so they can charge or ban mooring.

 

There are free 24 hour EA|moorings dotted about but again these can fill.

 

One gets to know where else free mooring might be had but the increase of livaboards make these less accessible than at one time.

[Scholar Gypsy]

there are new C & RT signs for Brentford, but I think best landmark when coming downstream is

Brentford dock marina, on the left just before the entrance to the creek itself.

[Farey]

I did the trip last week. We got on the Thames from Duke's cut on Monday afternoon, and left at Brentford early Thursday morning. It was a great trip, with lots of nice scenery, and we managed to avoid any mooring fees. The Thames locks are all meant to be lock-keeper operated during the day, but some weren't due to staff shortages. When there's no lock keeper there's a self service sign up, and you press a sequence of buttons (described in another thread). We got caught out at one lock. The self service sign was up, so we started pushing buttons, only to have an irate lock keeper appear asking what we were doing. We pointed out the sign and he looked a little embarrassed.

 

If you call Teddington Lock they will advise you on tide times and when Brentford lock is open, or you can pre-book a passage at a specified time. We were advised to be at Teddington 6am Thursday morning. We set out from Hampton Court at 5.30, and arrived at about 6.20. Teddington lock was open as it was high tide, so we went straight through, as was Richmond. The lock keeper advised us to take it slowly, as Brentford was not open until 8am (and would close at 8.15). Even on an idle power setting we arrived at Brentford 7.30, so we sent downstream for another 5 minutes then turned round. It took us over 15 minutes to get back to Brentford against the tide, so that was probably a bad idea.

 

The southern edge of the GU, though Southall and Hayes is not particularly inspiring. We stopped at a canalside pub in Hayes called the Woolpack, only to discover it doubled as a strip club. The ladies in our party insisted we sit outside.

 

I've done the trip once before, all the way to Limehouse, which is great if you've got the time. However, by the time we got to Limehouse the tide was flowing very strongly.

[George94]

If you search the forums for Brentford and Teddington you will get 115 results. To save time, here is a precis.

 

Leave Teddingtom Lock up to an hour after high water and you will have plenty of time. Don't go before high water as you will waste fuel fighting the tide (not everybody knows the river flows both ways). Depending on your speed, it will take about an hour and a half.

 

Beware high sandbanks just before Eel Pie Island. I grounded there recently and didn't get home until 5 am.

 

The current is never anything like 12 knots. The PLA says 4 knots max, and it's usually less.

 

The biggest danger is rowers and kayakers. They are oblivious to everything else on the water. If you carry no other piece of safety equipment, do at least have a horn, and keep a look-out. Compressed air is fine. Remember that when it comes to safety, the biggest risk is the one your heavy boat poses to other people.

 

The entrance to the GU is just beyond a not terribly attractive '60's council estate (called Brentford Dock, now privately owned) that adjoins Syon Park, proprietor the Duke of Northumberland, who is a long way from home. His residence (Syon House) can be glimpsed from the river. It looks a bit like Fort Knox with a lion on top. I hope His Grace will forgive me if I observe that there are lovelier houses in England. Even, dare I say it, in Brentford.

 

The entrance to the Brent River, which leads to Thames Lock, can be very tricky. It's advisable to turn at the entrance, and the current will carry you beyond it. Then, moving against the current, proceed up to the entrance. That way, if you hit anything stationary (and many do) you will be going slowly. You will also be able to see if anybody is coming out (it's not a good place to meet somebody unexpectedly). As you enter the Brent River the current will change very suddenly, so be warned.

 

The sandbank at Brent-mouth presents no danger. If you have left it so late that you ground on it, you will be too late for the lock anyway.

 

Only the most powerful VHFs work up here. If you need assistance urgently, dial 999 and ask for Coastguard. You will be put through quickly to London VTS, and they will send the Chiswick lifeboat if necessary.

 

Do an anchor drill before you go. Make sure you can drop it quickly, control the amount of line you let out, and raise it again afterwards. No point in wasting an expensive anchor.

 

And now we come to the vital bit. The best pub, unless you are looking for totty, is the Brewery Tap, just beyond Thames Lock. Second best, and best for beer range and condition, is the Magpie.

 

Good luck.

[junior]

Rather than me starting a new thread, can anyone tell me if Limehouse > Brentford or the reverse can be done in winter, or is it a summer only trip?

[Doodlebug]

Rather than me starting a new thread, can anyone tell me if Limehouse > Brentford or the reverse can be done in winter, or is it a summer only trip?

 

No reason why not. It wasn't quite winter but we did it in both November and March. When we did it in March it was Arctic conditions. We went on a sunday before the trip boats started though which made it alot easier.

 

I'd recomend if you do it that you take a few crew and have one of them stocking up the coal fire. It didn't matter how warmly we dressed standing still for 4 hours in the battering wind was pretty cold. We ended up doing shifts to go inside and thaw out.

[alan_fincher]

If you search the forums for Brentford and Teddington you will get 115 results. To save time, here is a precis.

 

Yes, which is precisely why I said prefix each search term with a plus sign.

 

Searching for "teddington brentford" will give you the posts that contain either word, even if the other one is not present, hence your number in excess of 100 posts.

 

However searching for "teddington +brentford" will give only the posts that contain both places.

 

There are 5 of those - so not hard to dive in and see how relevant they are.

 

The forum search may be far from perfect, but if you actually learn how it works, it is nothing like as useless as some people suggest!

[George94]

 

Yes, which is precisely why I said prefix each search term with a plus sign.

 

Searching for "teddington brentford" will give you the posts that contain either word, even if the other one is not present, hence your number in excess of 100 posts.

 

However searching for "teddington +brentford" will give only the posts that contain both places.

 

There are 5 of those - so not hard to dive in and see how relevant they are.

 

The forum search may be far from perfect, but if you actually learn how it works, it is nothing like as useless as some people suggest!

 

 

I did what you suggested, and prefixed both words with a plus sign. Result - 115 posts.

 

I have just done it again, prefixing only Brentford, and got 114!

 

How you got 5 I don't know. Did you search all forums?

ETA: Just done it again, and got 113. Bizarre.

 

Did you spell Teddington correctly? Or Brentford? Not Brentwood.

 

ETA more. I wonder what you are doing wrong...

 

Final ETA. I've sussed it. You just searched on this topic, not all forums. Now Alan, what was that about learning to use the search facility correctly?

Edited August 19, 2014 by George94

[George94]

Rather than me starting a new thread, can anyone tell me if Limehouse > Brentford or the reverse can be done in winter, or is it a summer only trip?

 

I love winter boating on the Thames. There is so much less river traffic (in the centre) that the water is calmer and the air is often very clear.

 

But choose your day with care. Freezing rain and a howling gale won't improve your mood. And try to avoid falling in. The water itself isn't so bad, but the wind gets to you once you are out.

 

I speak from experience.

[Leo No2]

If you take a look at the link at the bottom of this post entitled 'Tidal Thames Help' you will find lots of information including the Downstream and Upstream guides put together by BW (in the main with huge input from Jeremy who was one of the Limehouse lock keepers) some years ago which now sadly don't seem to be on the CRT website. We (Indigo Dream and Leo No2) put the website together as a portal to direct users onto other websites where the data/information correctly resides. Where we thought the data/information may be lost (in the case of the Upstream/Downstream/Estuary guides) we took copies.

 

If you find anything that may have changed, cannot now be accessed or can be enhanced please PM me - would love a photo of the new CRT signs at the entrance to the GU from the Thames at Brentford if possible.

[alan_fincher]

 

 

I did what you suggested, and prefixed both words with a plus sign. Result - 115 posts.

 

I have just done it again, prefixing only Brentford, and got 114!

 

How you got 5 I don't know. Did you search all forums?

ETA: Just done it again, and got 113. Bizarre.

 

Did you spell Teddington correctly? Or Brentford? Not Brentwood.

 

ETA more. I wonder what you are doing wrong...

 

Final ETA. I've sussed it. You just searched on this topic, not all forums. Now Alan, what was that about learning to use the search facility correctly?

 

You are of course quite correct!

 

I was surprised the number was so small, but should have checked before posting.

 

No excuse, other than I should have been in bed by then.

 

Please accept my apologies.

[George94]

No need for apologies, old chap. One needs to make the occasional mistake to remind others that one is human.

[Bettie Boo]

the number for Teddington Lock is 02089408723 - I called them when we went through last week and they were most helpful. Told me what time we needed to be at Brentford to catch the correct tide and explained the reason no one answered the phone at Brentford was that it's only manned when in operation.

 

You'll LOVE the locks on the non-tidal Thames .... they are lush, whether manned or self service. Very easy to use, the first few have very clear directions. Have only encountered friendly helpful lockies all the way up to Lechlade.

 

I was very nervous about the trip from Brentford to Teddington = 5 minutes into the crossing, I was asking myself what the concern was

 

Enjoy your trip. As others have said, watch out for the rowers and Swimmers!!

[roggie]

We've just cruised the Oxford ring, startign from Iver on the Slough Arm (dredging now finished) and headed anti clockwise up to Braunstone and onwards to Thrupp - took a easy 14 days to do this including a present trip down the Wendover Arm) - should have taken the opportunity to fill up with diesel at 79.9 at a couple of boatyards. Brought some emergeny diesel at £126 (60/40) in case we didn't meet up with nb Dusty the fuel boat (we did). Left Salar in Thrupp for 14 days and continued out trip onto the Thames (3 hours) and then turned right to Lechlade.

 

We only had 6 days but I thought it was worth the long days to go to the 'end' of the Thames, 9.5 hours a day. I was surprised how remote the Thames is out that way, no villages to speak of, now nearby towns till Lechlade itself but a few pubs - being a river mooring spaces are at a premium but we were lucky to find somewhere near to when we wanted. Most of the locks were staffed and those between Oxford and Lechlade are not electric - paddles operated by a wheel system which is easy to use. No shortage of water so no need to share. Lechlade was nice - local boater offered to breast up outside the pub (he had obviously been sampling the wares) which was nice of him. Our mooring locations for the 6 nights were:-

 

1 Just north of Rushey Lock

2 Just west of Newbridge £4 pn moorings (no one asked)

3 Abingdon Abbey Meadows

4 Tesco Reading

5 Opposite Windsor Racecourse

6 Hampton Court

High tide at Teddington was 11.10 and the lockie said we could go through 30 minutes beforehand - slack water. We were followed by 1 nb and a wilderness boat to Brentford as they hadn't done it before. I tool them to the left of Eel Pie Island as you get a good view of Twickenham, did a U-Turn into Brentford - the tide really takes you when you are at 90 degrees and you realise the flow. Young lady lockkeeper at Brentfor was expecting up - I think Teddington ring ahead - and into the very narrow (and not too clean GU). Once on the Hanwell flight (volunteer lock-keepers at Brentford and Hanwell) the water is crystal clear - you can easily make out he beer cans at the bottom. Handily nb Ash was moored at Brentford so filled up there at 90p so don't have to worry about that for a while.

Great trip - 90% of the time moving the sun was shining which isn't bad going. Oh EA licence for 46 ft 7 days just over £50.

[blackrose]

The entrance to the GU is just beyond a not terribly attractive '60's council estate (called Brentford Dock, now privately owned)

 

Which was actually built in the late 70s - and although originally built for the GLC as council flats only a small number of the flats were ever let by the council - the rest were privately sold straight away. So it never really was a council estate - it just looks like one! I actually find it very attractive. If I had to live on land I wouldn't mind a great view of the Thames.

[George94]

 

Which was actually built in the late 70s - and although originally built for the GLC as council flats only a small number of the flats were ever let by the council - the rest were privately sold straight away. So it never really was a council estate - it just looks like one! I actually find it very attractive. If I had to live on land I wouldn't mind a great view of the Thames.

 

Close, but not entirely correct.

 

It was designed in the 60's, which is why I called it a 60's estate. Construction commenced in 1972, and it was completed in 1978. And the reason it looks like a council estate is that it was built as a council estate.

 

I will grant that from the river it doesn't look too bad, but within the estate itself the architecture is as unpleasant as any local government project of its time. However, the residents have had the sense to spend quite a bit on the gardens, and that helps a lot.

 

Its worst feature is that it was built down to the councul housing standards of the time. The rooms are small and incredibly narrow, and there is no storage space. I know because for a time in the 80's I rented a flat there. It was a relief to get out.

 

Basically, it was criminal to have spent public money on a council estate in such a great location. The people now living in the little rabbit hutches that the estate is composed off must wish that the GLC, as was, had left well alone.

 

I also grant you that the view across to Kew Gardens is lovely. But just because you can view a palace from the top of a midden doesn't make the midden beautiful.

[Mr Badger]

 

 

The rooms are small and incredibly narrow, and there is no storage space.

 

Some people on here would feel quite at home!

[George94]

 

Some people on here would feel quite at home!

 

Dead right!

 

But not Blackrose. He has the widest of widebeams.

[zubeye]

I'm a newbie and was worried but it was really easy, pretty much indistinguishable from the rest of the thames. I didn't have an anchor or a VHF. I asked a few lockies about this on the way down, and all said, it's fine, don't worry, it's easy, go for it. It's easy to moor for free if you are not picky. It's a pretty stretch.

Edited August 24, 2014 by zubeye

[George94]

I'm a newbie and was worried but it was really easy, pretty much indistinguishable from the rest of the thames. I didn't have an anchor or a VHF. I asked a few lockies about this on the way down, and all said, it's fine, don't worry, it's easy, go for it. It's easy to moor for free if you are not picky. It's a pretty stretch.

 

VHF is a waste of time (on the upper Tideway) but you should have had an anchor. Although the chance of you needing it might seem slight, the consequences of not having one could be horrendous.

 

Say your engine cut out close to Brentford, and you drifted down to Kew Bridge and hit it. The boat might well capsize, perhaps killing you, and if you weren't killed then you would almost certainly die when you saw the bill for bridge repairs.

 

On the canal, the water is pretty placid, but on the river the Cockney Sparrow blasting along at full tilt (or even worse, the RNLI) will cause a huge wash, and this in turn will make you toss about and perhaps cause some dormant diesel bug ectoplasm to start swimming around and block your filter.

 

There are lots of reasons why you could lose power. In almost every case, the anchor is the first part of the solution.

 

But you are right that it's all pretty easy. I am simply advising care and preparedness in case something does go wrong.

[Simon clarke]

I'm a newbie and was worried but it was really easy, pretty much indistinguishable from the rest of the thames. I didn't have an anchor or a VHF. I asked a few lockies about this on the way down, and all said, it's fine, don't worry, it's easy, go for it. It's easy to moor for free if you are not picky. It's a pretty stretch.

[Simon clarke]

It's easy until it goes wrong. No anchor is dangerous and on that stretch below teddington you need it as a last resort.