Weston Farm Middle Beat

Weston Farm Middle Beat covers a little over a third of a mile of the River Lambourn in Berkshire, running from the footbridge at the top of the lower beat up to Elton Lane. The downstream end has good gradient and clean gravel, and two hatch pools are the set pieces of the beat.

The first, the mill hatch pool, holds adult trout well, with overhead cover from the trees around it, and a fish pass lets fish move up and down past the mill structure. Above the mill the river slows and backs up, impounded by the structure itself. A line of woody flow deflectors, installed under an old Environment Agency habitat project, still earns its keep, breaking up the flow and adding variation in depth.

Further up, the Elton Lane hatch pool is bigger again, with a riffle at its tail that offers good spawning habitat. The old fishing hut sits on the bank beside it.

Bank management tells its own story on this beat. The fishery’s own bank is left with a thick fringe, giving cover and holding the soil together. Across the river, where a neighbouring garden runs down to the water, the bank is mown lawn over hard revetment. The contrast between the two banks is worth a look on the way past.