Swim 51 Track: Staines Penton Hook Lock to Chertsey Meads

Swim 51 Map: Staines Penton Hook Lock to Chertsey Meads

Swim 51: Staines Penton Hook Lock to Chertsey Meads

We met at the first car park at Chertsey Meads:

http://goo.gl/maps/JL41i

We then walked up to the start at Staines Penton Lock (you can either swim across or cross at Chertsey bridge):

http://goo.gl/maps/6NAsI

And then swam back to a small beach near the car park:

http://goo.gl/maps/a29Ox

Simples. This is swim 69 in Michael Worthington's 'I ♥ the Thames'' and is about 3.5k

Swim 50 Track: Runnymede Bell Weir Lock to Staines Penton Hook Lock

Swim 50 Map: Runnymede Bell Weir Lock to Staines Penton Hook Lock

Swim 50: Runnymede Bell Weir Lock to Staines Penton Hook Lock

We met here, in the Runnymede Pleasure grounds car park:

http://goo.gl/maps/wiFQp

(Parking is £4.50 / 3 hours or £6.00 all day.)

We shuttled a couple of cars down to a small car park at Egham Hythe, near the finish but on the wrong side of the river. (But you can swim across, right?) here:

http://goo.gl/maps/vTVqn

(Small car park but free.)

We got changed, strolled down to Bell Weir Lock:

http://goo.gl/maps/uGiAH

We jumped in and swam down to Penton Hook Lock,

http://goo.gl/maps/cm1L2

stopping for Elevenses on the way down. This is swim 68 in Michael Worthington's 'I ♥ the Thames'' and is about 4.5k.

Swim 49 Track - Old Windsor Lock to Runnymede Bell Weir Lock

Swim 49 Map - Old Windsor Lock to Runnymede Bell Weir Lock

Swim 49: Old Windsor Lock to Runnymede Bell Weir Lock

We meet again, same as Swim #48, on the single track Ham Lane, just as it crosses the river a short way upstream of the finish at Old Windsor Lock:

http://goo.gl/maps/pBCkP

You can park on the verge at the edge of the road.

We got changed, walked the sort distance down stream to Old Windsor Lock:

http://goo.gl/maps/1VYdZ

jumped in and swam down to Bell Weir Lock (taking care to keep to the right on the approach to avoid the weir): 

http://goo.gl/maps/cDURO

from where we had a magnificent view of the M25 in all it's 14 lanes of glory. This is swim 67 in Michael Worthington's 'I ♥ the Thames' and is about 4.5km. You can optionally shuttle some cars down to the Runnymede Pleasure Ground car park here, near the finish or walk back:

http://goo.gl/maps/aLsuK (£4.50 / 3 hours or £6.00 all day.)

And then we headed off for lunch at the Jolly Gardners - highly recommended:

http://www.jollygardeners.com/

Swim 48 Track - Romney Lock to Old Windsor Lock

Swim 48 Map - Romney Lock to Old Windsor Lock

Swim 48: Romney Lock to Old Windsor Lock

We met on the single track Ham Lane, just as it crosses the river a short way upstream of the finish at Old Windsor Lock:

http://goo.gl/maps/8GAia

You can park on the verge at the edge of the road.

We got changed and walked up to Romney Lock, crossing the Albert and Victoria bridges, with a brief excursion into Datchet along the way.

We jumped into the backwater at Romney Lock where one of the fishing platforms allowed for easy access to the water:

http://goo.gl/maps/Tb7kF

and swam down to just before the weir at Old Windsor Lock. You can't swim in the lock cut and the weir is dangerous so we got out at a convenient spot just short:

http://goo.gl/maps/HtJLt

This is swim 66 in Michael Worthington's 'I ♥ the Thames' and is about 4.8k.