Hurley Weir

Hurley Weir needs no introduction as it's the most well known play spot in the South East of England [well, it was when I paddled there regularly, but that was before the Lee Valley White Water Cente was built!]. It hosts numerous competitions and some of the top rodeo paddlers paddle there. Furthermore, Hurley Weir is not operated as a commercial venture so it's totally free.

Location

Hurley Weir is located on the River Thames just outside the village of Hurley, about 4 miles North West of Maidenhead. To get there by road, assuming you've come along the M4 get onto the M404 (Junction 8/9 of the M4) and follow it north. After a short distance this road becomes the A404. Whilst heading north, look for the exit signed 'Henley (A4130)'. Take this exit. You should now see a smaller sign for Hurley Village, follow these signs. At the first roundabout go straight on following signs for Henley and Hurley. After about 1 mile you will see a sign for Hurley village pointing to the right. Turn right, off the main road as directed by the sign and follow the road through Hurley village. At the end of this road is a small free public car park. Here's where you park and change. The car park is known for car crime so please do not leave any valuables in the car!

Once you are changed you need to know where the river is. Most of the time you can follow the other boaters, but in the rare case that there isn't any around, follow the signs for the public toilets (signed towards the lock). This is a footpath that leads northwards between some houses, over a small stream to the river edge. Here's where you get on.

Once on the water turn left and paddle upstream. You'll pass a weir to your right with chain links across it - this is not Hurley weir! Continue past this weir until the river opens up. You will observe a very large weir structure to your right. This is Hurley weir! Paddle down the right side of the weir and watch out for the odd post that sticks up at the bottom - DO NOT paddle through the radial gates at the left end of the weir that form the play wave as this is prohibited!

The Weir

Hurley Weir is a complete fluke of engineering. There are 4 radial gates that control the flow of water through the weir. The optimum play boating experience comes when there are between 2 and 4 gates open. My personal preference is with 3 gates open as it's possible to get onto the wave(s) from both the left and right side (thus a shorter queue).

It's possible to determine how many gates Hurley weir is on and the level of water by visiting the Thames Weir Project website (TWP). This is an excellent website and I recommend a read of it!

Useful Information

We've all done it, but you're not supposed to climb on thr weir structure or its gantries! - even if it means not getting some good photographs!

Other Links

TV Freestylers tvfreestylers.co.uk

Thames Weir Project (TWP) http://www.thamesweirproject.co.uk
Probably the most comprehensive website for Hurley Weir. It's kept up to date on a daily basis (so we know what the weir is doing). There's also lots of interesting articles etc. [EDIT: 22Sep2021: The Thames Wier Project appears to be no more!]