How to get there - KT7 0XB just off the A307 (Portsmouth road) Heading towards Kingston you go passed a petrol station (on left) and Cholmley Road is the next road on the left.
Get a map with driving directions to start (enter the postcode of your starting point at A)
Suggested Launch Site - There is a slipway there used by the sea scouts but I dont think they own it. I drove the car right to the river, unloaded the kayak and then moved the car somewhere it would be less in the way.
General
Description - This is an easy enough trip, one easy portage which has rollers so even with a fully laden canoe and no trailer you could easily do it. The lock keeper did not seem to mind me sneaking into the lock with a narrow boat on the way back. It starts off against the flow of the Thames so that it is easier to paddle back if you are a bit tired.
This is a beautiful trip with plenty to see from the merrily coloured houseboats to the colossal Hampton Court Palace. If you have time to spare then just before Hampton Court there is an easily missed turn off to the left that is in fact the mighty mole. Nosing up there for a couple of hundred yards you will find some impressive looking wiers. Continuing back up the Thames, obviously you can turn round at any time but if you want a swift half and a bite to eat at your destination then after the Mitre at Hampton court there are no waterside pubs until Sunbury. Leave the lock to the left and a few yards further on the right are two pubs, the phoenix and the magpie. I plumped for the magpie purely because its pontoon was lower.
There are a number of eyots on the trip, frequently there are arrows marking the channel but these are purely advisory (like dry clean only or keep out) rather than mandatory and it makes it a bit more interesting going the other side of the eyots on the way back.
Comments on this trip
Graham S 27 Aug 2016
a super launch point with nearby parking, well done to Elmbridge council for making this available. Easy portage at Molesey lock, we didn't get as far as Sunbury lock but got out at Hurst Park for an ice cream before returning.
