Shepperton Cruise from Cowey Sale

JGF Passenger Boats runs a crewed, 45-minute circular cruise from Cowey Sale, right beside Walton Bridge, and it's worth treating as a destination in its own right rather than an add-on to a riverside walk.

The route

The cruise heads out along the Desborough Channel, the artificial cut dug by the Thames Conservancy between 1930 and 1935 to straighten the river between Weybridge and Walton and ease flooding downstream at Shepperton. It's still a working piece of river engineering rather than a historic curiosity, and our full history of the Thames at Walton covers it in more detail.

From the channel, the boat rounds D'Oyly Carte Island, a small island opposite Weybridge with a genuinely unusual history. It was originally called Folly Eyot until Richard D'Oyly Carte, the impresario behind the Savoy Theatre and the Savoy Hotel and the producer who brought Gilbert and Sullivan together, bought it around 1890 (Wikipedia, n.d.). Carte had wanted to use the island as a private, boat-only annexe to the Savoy, but local magistrates refused him a drinks licence for it. He built a thirteen-bedroom house there instead, completed in 1898, and used it as one of his main residences; Gilbert and Sullivan are recorded rehearsing there with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company while Weybridge locals listened in from the bank (Wikipedia, n.d.). The cruise then returns along the older, winding course of the Thames that the Desborough Cut bypassed, before passing back beneath Walton Bridge to the jetty.

Getting there, parking and accessibility

The jetty is a short, signposted walk from Walton Lane car park, on the riverbank at Walton Lane, Walton-on-Thames, KT12 1QW, and this is the car park to use for the boarding point specifically. The car park is free, and Elmbridge Borough Council's own listing confirms it has toilets, including a disabled-accessible facility, plus dedicated disabled parking spaces under Walton Bridge itself (Elmbridge Borough Council, n.d.). If you're arriving by train, the walk from Walton-on-Thames station to the boarding point takes 33 to 36 minutes, around 1.5 miles, via the A244 and Ashley Park Road. The route is mostly flat, so it's a realistic walk in its own right rather than one to plan a taxi around, though it's worth allowing for on top of your cruise time either way.

According to the operator, some of its vessels are equipped for disabled access, but this isn't guaranteed fleet-wide, so it's worth checking when you book if step-free boarding matters for your visit. The boats also carry toilets and a licensed bar on board, useful to know if you're planning to make a full afternoon of it.

What to combine it with

Because the cruise starts and finishes at the same jetty, it slots easily into a longer riverside visit rather than needing a special trip of its own. Cowey Sale itself, right where you'll be waiting to board, has WILDE bagels beside the car park for something to eat before or after, and Walton Bridge, the best viewpoint on this stretch of the river, is close enough to walk to while you wait for the next sailing. If you'd rather be more active on the water afterwards, Walton Boat Hire's self-drive day boats operate from the same general stretch of river at Walton Marina.

Booking

The cruise runs seasonally, usually from mid-March to late October, and sailings depend on demand, so it isn't the kind of thing to build a special journey around without checking first. Book or ask about the current timetable directly through JGF Passenger Boats' own website (opens in a new tab), which is also the right place to check the current season's exact days and times before you travel.