Mereway Fish Pass

Mereway Road Weir is located on the River Crane at Kneller Gardens in Twickenham, west London. The weir provides vital river flow control, helping to protect local properties from flooding, but unfortunately it acts as a barrier for fish swimming upstream. The fish pass - which became operational in June 2024 - allows fish to overcome this man made obstacle. The pass was constructed by the Environment Agency following refurbishment of the weir.
Immediately upstream of Mereway Road Weir, the Lower Duke of Northumberland's River (LDNR) splits off the Crane. The LDNR is a distributary of the Crane, constructed in medieval times to supply ornamental ponds at Syon Park. The fish pass is fed with water from the LDNR. Fish can now swim up the pass from the Crane below Mereway Road Weir into the LDNR. From there the fish can then move upstream into the River Crane above the weir.
Within the covered concrete channel of the fish pass there are lots of baffles which reduce the velocity of the water, help to maintain depth and provide places for fish to rest in transit. There is also some brush matting within the channel for eels to move along. The matting is green and can be clearly seen in the video.
The Mereway Fish Pass site is owned by LB Richmond upon Thames and is accessible to the public.

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Video would be much improved by descriptive dialogue rather than funky music. The timeline of this fish pass has been nothing short of incredible. Construction was first planned in August 2019 as a more natural pass further downstream, but was later changed to this highly engineered (and likely more expensive) version. The bulk of construction was complete by the end of 2022 and since then it's been sat there, boarded off, awaiting approval from the secretary of state no less. Ho hum, well, better late than never.