The Basingstoke Canal at Odiham is in a unique position within the Southern Region.
It is located at the end of a navigable waterway that penetrates far into the chalk lands of Hampshire that are otherwise only notable for the general absence of rivers, with those that do exist being fiercely preserved for game fishing. As a result the wharf at Colt Hill has perhaps the largest catchment area of any paddling access point in the South, extending from Hartley Witney in the East, half way to Reading in the North, to the A34 in the West and South to Winchester and Liss.
This location will make the site similarly important for the coarse fishing community, who fish there from the middle of June through to the middle of March the following year.
