Caversham Lakes is a set of lakes created through

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

extraction between the suburb of Caversham in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

and the hamlet of

Sonning Eye Sonning Eye is a hamlet on the River Thames in the Sonning Common ward of South Oxfordshire, England, in the civil parish of Eye & Dunsden (one of its four small settlements), at what is since 1974 the southernmost tip of Oxfordshire. Geography ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, just north of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

and also refers to the sports buildings and facilities alongside those lakes.

Overview

The lakes are formed from former

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used eithe ...

s in the floodplain of the River Thames. The company

Lafarge La Farge, LaFarge or Lafarge can refer to: People * Antoinette LaFarge (1966–), American artist and writer * Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), American architect and partner in the firm Heins & LaFarge * Christopher Grant La Farge ( ...

and formerly

Redland plc Redland or Redlands may refer to: Places Australia *Redland City, a local government area in South East Queensland **Electoral district of Redlands *SCECGS Redlands, an independent school in Cremorne, New South Wales Canada *Redland, Albert ...

have undertaken the gravel extraction though the

Sonning Works The Sonning Works are a gravel works owned by Lafarge, located near Sonning Eye, Oxfordshire, England. Overview The gravel works is positioned on the south side of the B478 Playhatch Road between Playhatch to the west and Sonning Eye on the ...

. Caversham Lakes Trust Ltd has been set up to administer the lakes.

Sport and leisure

Watersports

A wide range of activities from open water swimming, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing & aqua park are available from and run b
Caversham Lakes
the Thames Valleys premier watersports venue.

Open Water Swimming

Open water swimming sessions are available from the main lake organised b
Caversham Lakes
Suitable for all ages and abilities with three swim courses marked out across the lake from 400m, 750m & 1500m.

Rowing

In 2006, the

Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake is a rowing lake in the United Kingdom, named after the Olympic rowers Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent. The lake and its boathouse are specifically designed for training use, and provide training, med ...

was added to the lakes in the park. The GB Rowing team use this lake as a main base at which to train. Team GB also carry out land-based training at

Bisham Abbey Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. This original Bisham Abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the trad ...

and occasionally close to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of The National Water Sports Centre is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent. It is used for many different types of sports and has recently received sign ...

Sonning Regatta Sonning Regatta is the regatta of the village of Sonning in Berkshire and the hamlet of Sonning Eye in Oxfordshire, England, on the north and south banks of the River Thames.Perkins (1999), pages 139, 140, 145, 150, 154. It is a part of the Sonni ...

has been held every two years since 2000 – usually on the Thames adjoining, alternatively, in bad weather, on the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake.

Motorboating

The

Thames and Kennet Marina The Thames and Kennet Marina is located at Caversham Lakes in south Oxfordshire, England, just north off the River Thames on the reach above Sonning Lock. It is just to the east of Caversham, a suburb in the north of Reading, Berkshire. The ma ...

in motorboating also uses an engineered lake (a marina dock) with access to the river Thames.

Sailing

The main venue in mid-Berkshire and south Oxfordshire for

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

is at Reading Sailing Club.

Waterskiing

A wide variety of

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a Surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a Cable skiing, cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or ...

courses with fixed jumps is available and used by the Isis Waterski Club.

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

and her husband

Lord Snowdon Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017), was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fai ...

waterskied here during the 1960s.

Angling

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

is available at no charge on the public stretches of the Thames adjoining, having obtained the relevant annual government licences. It is also available on a paid basis at a few of the lakes which are accordingly replenished with a wide variety of fish.

References

Lakes of Oxfordshire Sonning LCaversham Artificial lakes {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub