Salford Trout Lakes
A private fly fishery near Chipping Norton: two spring-fed lakes, five species of trout, and deep quiet.
A private fly fishery near Chipping Norton: two spring-fed lakes, five species of trout, and deep quiet.
When we want a slow, absorbing half-day that gets everyone out of the cottage and off their phones, we point people at Salford Trout Lakes. It sits at Rectory Farm on the edge of Salford, a small village just west of Chipping Norton, and it has been a working fly fishery for around fifty years: family-owned, quietly run, and easy to miss unless you already know it is there. Two spring-fed lakes cover roughly eight acres of north Cotswold countryside, and the drive from Well Cottage is around fifteen minutes.
What we like about it is that the fishing is properly earned. The lakes are stocked with Brown, Rainbow, Sparctic, Blue and Tiger Trout, and the natural fly and insect life is rich enough that the fish are genuinely selective rather than easy. If you have cast before, that is the appeal: reading the water, matching the hatch, and being rewarded for getting it right. If you have not, it is worth booking a lesson so a first visit does not turn into a frustrating one. Either way it is a peaceful spot to lose a morning, with birdsong, still water and very little else to interrupt you, and children old enough to concentrate tend to take to it more readily than anyone expects.
It is a book-ahead fishery rather than a turn-up-and-pay one, and spaces are limited by the intimate scale of the place, so it is worth getting in touch before you travel rather than on the day. Payment is arranged in advance directly with the fishery, and current prices, availability and any seasonal notices are best confirmed on their own site, since conditions on the water can change through the summer. When you arrive you register before you start, and you hand in a catch return when you leave; that record is part of what keeps the lakes well stocked and well managed.
One thing to sort the day before: every adult angler needs a valid Environment Agency rod licence, which you buy online in a couple of minutes. Bring it with you along with your own tackle if you have it. The address is Rectory Farm, Salford, OX7 5YY, and full details are on the fishery's website.
Because it is so close to Chipping Norton, a morning at the lakes slots easily into a wider day out. We often send whoever is fishing off early and meet them later in town for lunch, or pair the trip with something for the rest of the party nearby. The ancient Rollright Stones are a short drive on, Chastleton House is one of the most atmospheric Jacobean houses in the country, and there are plenty of good walks straight from the door if the anglers would rather stretch their legs afterwards. It also works well as a fixed point in an otherwise unhurried day: a couple of quiet hours on the water, a pub lunch in Chipping Norton, and back to the cottage garden by mid-afternoon with a trout or two for supper.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.