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Lechlade, or Lechlade-on-Thames, is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near The Trout Inn.
The town is a popular venue for tourism and river-based activities. There are several pubs, some antique shops, a convenience store, food outlets, a garden centre and a Christmas shop. Near the 15th century Church of England parish church of Saint Lawrence, in the centre of the town, there is a large open space which is now a car park. The main roads through the town are busy, as the town is at the crossroads of the A417 and A361. Where the A361 enters the town from the south it crosses the River Thames on Halfpenny Bridge. Another tributary of the Thames, the River Coln, joins the Thames at the Inglesham Round House. Lechlade has hosted a music festival since 2011. In 2015 the festival's headline act was Status Quo.
Lechlade is the highest town to which the River Thames is navigable by relatively large craft including narrowboats. It is possible to travel by river or on foot from here to London. Indeed, in the early eighteenth century goods unloaded in Bristol were transported to Gloucester, carried overland to Lechlade and sent down the Thames to London. The Halfpenny bridge is therefore the usual start for a water based Thames meander - the term for a long distance journey down the Thames. The Thames Path also continues upstream to the traditional source of the Thames at Thames Head). The river is actually navigable for a short distance further upstream, near the village of Inglesham, where the Thames and Severn Canal joins the River Thames. Rowing boats can reach even further upstream, to Cricklade. Lechlade is a popular resort for Thames boating. Boats of different types can be hired from here, from rowing boats to river cruisers.
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