Eel Trap

The Eel Trap is one of those quietly brilliant Surrey landmarks that most people drive past without a second glance. It's an old brick structure built into the River Wey near Woking, designed centuries ago to catch eels as they migrated upstream - a proper piece of working heritage that's still doing its job today. You won't find much fanfare or visitor facilities here, but that's rather the point. It's a genuine historical artifact, not a polished tourist attraction.

What you're actually looking at is a modest but ingeniously engineered trap, best appreciated from the riverside path where you can see how it channels fish into holding chambers. It's the sort of thing that speaks volumes about how people once lived off the river's bounty. Water engineers and history enthusiasts will find it genuinely interesting; small children might manage five minutes before asking what's for lunch.

Access is free and straightforward - just find your way to the river path. Allow 20 minutes unless you're really keen on 18th-century hydraulic engineering, in which case you might linger longer. The Wey's towpath walks are excellent in this stretch, so combine it with a proper riverside stroll rather than treating it as a standalone stop.

If you're based at Warren Farm Home Park just down the road, it's barely worth the detour on its own. But if you're walking the Wey Valley, it's a worthwhile piece of the puzzle. Best visited when the light's decent - muddy banks and grey water don't photograph brilliantly, but they're authentic.