From canals@tclayton.demon.co.uk Sat May 1 11:25:02 1999 Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 11:43:56 GMT From: Tony Clayton Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: canals@blacksheep.org Subject: To Basingstoke (nearly) Part Two Day 1: Thursday June 25th - The Journey down the Wey. Very little to report. We had a straightforward journey downriver, leaving Godalming at about 11 am and stopping for lunch below Bowers Lock. This river section used to be quiet and peaceful, but the building of the new A3 Guildford Bypass (which bypassed the old bypass) virtually alongside this section has raised to noise levels rather too high for much of the length. We were on our own almost all the time, meeting a number of hire-boats heading back to Guildford or Catteshall. It is always a good move to plan your journey to ensure that you are not going with the traffic! We finally stopped in one of our favourite moorings on a slight bend just downstream of Dodd's Bridge, just a mile from Woodham Junction. It was a beautiful sunny evening, although we did not see the deer, little owls, or foxes that we have seen there before. The noise level from the M25 is less than it used to be now that the embankments built during the widening are now in place (although it means that you can no longer see the River from the M25!) Day 2: Friday June 26th - Up the locks to Hermitage Bridge When we had booked our passage up the locks we were told to report to Lock 1 at 9 0'clock, so we set off at 8 with a certain degree of trepidation at the task ahead. To our surprise we found a narrow-boat, Caelmiri, from Farncombe, waiting as well. Pat and Sandy had turned up not realising that you had to book, but the Basingstoke Canal Authority were very helpful and allowed them to join us, sorting out the licence arrangements later! The system going up was very simple. You need to send someone ahead to ensure the lock gates are open, as they are already empty. You leave the top gates open and the lock full while the warden follows you up closing the gates and emptying the lock, and scooping silt up to plug the few leaks that there are. The locks are slow to fill, in some cases because the bottom gates tend to leak a bit. The first lock is narrow, and we neede to pull in all fenders to fit alongside. The warden warned us of this (the IWA somehow got their sums wrong when they restored the lock), but added that if we fitted together there we would have no trouble with the others. The water on the flight gets quite rusty in colour as you near the top because of water pumped in from the Rive Ditch which runs alongside the canal. We were warned that if we got it on our clothes to rinse it off as once dry it is the devil to remove. Shades of Harecastle. The collection of house-boats between Locks 1 and 3 is exceedingly variable. Some had had second hulls put on the outside, and one near Scotland Bridge had a brick wall blocking off the cut-off end of the original hull. Woodham Locks set the scene for the rest of the canal, with trees crowding in on either side, making it look very rural. Before long we were at the top lock by Sheerwater Bridge, and the warden told us that we would see him in about 1 and a quarter hours at St.John's. The canal then goes through a fairly narrow section with smart gardens backing onto the canal on the north side and cheaper housing on the south. At Monument Bridge a smart office block dominates the scene, and then you reach a straight section through Woking. The town centre is close at hand and easily accessible from well laid out moorings by a footbridge. We had plenty of food, so we carried on past Bridge Barn, where there is a pub, and also a sanitary station in a small inconspicous building in the hedge. A water tap is available with a standard BWB key. However, there are no mooring bollards to help you here. At St.John's there are five locks, and the warden arrived moments after we joined Caelmiri in the lock. We very quickly developed a routine where I went ahead into the lock while he pottered in after. This is far more efficient in terms of time, as if I follow the slower steel boat it takes him much longer to leave the lock, and then on arrival at the next to pull the boat in to the side. It was just about one o'clock when we got up the top lock, and we were advised that it was better to leave Brookwood to the morning as the moorings were much nicer below than above. At St.John's there are a variety of shops, and a good fish and chip shop which I can recommend. There is also a petrol station not far away. We stopped for lunch, and then pottered on to about 500 yards short of Brookwood Locks to await the morning. A third boat, one of the Odiham hire fleet, was waiting for the morning. Fortunately they were short enough for us to join them next day. The hirer had been hiring for 15 years, so it promised a smooth trip. At Hermitage Bridge one of the two houseboats had sunk. Apparently the new owners scrubbed the floor and found a slight seep of water, but decided that it did not warrant having the bilge pump on over the weekend. When they tried to raise the hull the pressure of water demolished the plywood superstructure. When they restored the canal they dredged deeply under the houseboats to prevent them going aground if the water level dropped. As a result the hull is totally submerged! Shopping note - at Brookwood there is a petrol station adjacent to the bottom lock, and Sainsburys is about 5 minutes walk up the road on the north side of the canal. We had some rain on the way up, but that evening and night it rained heavily. We went to sleep hoping for better weather for the next day. -- Tony Clayton 'Linton', Godalming Wharf Home Page http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk ... How's this for diplomacy? Shoot them all! --Kirk