View of Caversham LakesView looking towards ReadingAnother lake view
Caversham Lakes is a set of lakes created through gravel extraction between the suburb of Caversham in Reading, Berkshire and the hamlet of Sonning Eye in Oxfordshire, just north of the River Thames and also refers to the sports buildings and facilities alongside those lakes.
Overview
The lakes are formed from former gravel pits in the floodplain of the River Thames. The company Lafarge and formerly Redland plc have undertaken the gravel extraction though the Sonning Works. Caversham Lakes Trust Ltd has been set up to administer the lakes.[1]
Sport and leisure
Watersports
A wide range of activities from open water swimming, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing & aqua park was available from Caversham Lakes, until it ceased operations in March 2024, following a decision by South Oxfordshire & Reading Councils.[2][3]
Sonning Regatta 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 in motorboating also uses an engineered lake (a marina dock) with access to the river Thames.
Fishing 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.[9]
