River Thames — Franklin's Meadow, near Farmoor

The lowdown

• Fancy a quieter bit of bank? The Alliance describes Franklin’s Meadow as quiet and remote. That’s the character here: meadow fishing on the Thames, with several large bends along the stretch.
• Get your bearings before setting up: fishing is on the right-hand bank looking downstream. That downstream bit matters — it’s the easiest way to make sure you’re looking at the right side.
• The fishing boundary is nice and straightforward. Start at the kissing gate and follow the meadow downstream to the next gate. Those gates mark the stretch, rather than the whole towpath being fair game.
• The big bends are the standout river feature named here. There aren’t specified depths or individual swim descriptions to work from, so keep your choice of peg tied to what’s actually in front of you.
• Roach, chub, perch, pike and bream are all named for this meadow by the Alliance. A proper mixed list, rather than a stretch described around just one target fish.
• For the walk in, follow the drive towards the cruiser station, then turn right onto the towpath. Go through the wooden gate and carry on approximately 200 metres to the kissing gate.
• Coming from Oxford through Farmoor, look for a layby on the right. There’s another just beyond the cruiser-station entrance, also on the right — handy landmarks to save a bit of faff.
• For navigation, the parking layby is smooth.sprayed.lifeboats and the meadow entrance is paraded.rooster.removers. OX29 4DA covers nearby Oxford Cruisers, but don’t treat that postcode as permission to park there.

Methods: If you’re lure fishing, a wire trace is compulsory. Whatever your approach, the Alliance allows a maximum of three rods with the appropriate EA licence, and you’ll need the required net and padded mat or cradle.

Access & tickets

Get an Alliance coarse-fishing permit through its online shop, and carry the official digital permit as proof of membership. The checked shop does not list a public one-day ticket.

Fish the club names

roach, chub, perch, pike, bream

Key rules

• Carry your official Alliance digital permit as proof of membership.
• No night fishing unless a special notice permits it; no venue exception is listed.
• Maximum of three rods, with the appropriate EA licence.
• Carry a suitable padded unhooking mat or cradle and a landing net of at least 36 inches.
• Carp, barbel and pike must not be retained in keepnets.
• Wire traces are compulsory when lure fishing.
• Keep dogs on leads and take their waste home.
• No littering or lighting fires.

River level

Where it is