Clifton Lock

Just yards downstream of Clifton Lock is the Barley Mow pub, mentioned in Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat.

Jerome writes: 'If you stay the night on land at Clifton, you cannot do better than put up at the Barley Mow. It is, without exception, I should say, the quaintest, most old-world inn up the river. It stands on the right of the bridge, quite away from the village. Its low-pitched gables and thatched roof and latticed windows give it quite a story-book appearance, while inside it is even still more once-upon-a-timeyfied.'

Discussions started in 1793 about whether a lock should be built here, but it wasn't until 1822 that it was completed by the Thames Navigation Commissioners.

The lock today is a hydraulic pound operated electrically athough it remains very similar to how it did nearly 200 years ago. However, the heavy oak beams have long since been removed.

The lock keeper here plants his gardens to attract wildlife. The plan seems to be working because the area is visited regularly by kingfishers, red kites, buzzards, and owls are known to nest nearby.

The unusual, rustic-looking footbridge over the Clifton Lock Cut provides access to the island situated between the cut and the weir stream.

You can find remains of World War Two pillboxes in the lock gardens.

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