London Calling Week 8 - Dapdune Wharf to Godalming to Windsor

Monday 22nd July - Dapdune Wharf to Godalming

We left our pleasant, quiet overnight mooring and set off for Godalming.

Coming through Guildford we spotted The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in the centre of the photo.  When we lived in Basingstoke we used to make regular trips to have an early supper and see live theatre.  A super evening out.  From here the navigation is known as the Goldaming Navigation.

Once we had left Guildford behind the landscape changed with open fields on one side and large houses with very attractive gardens coming down to the towpath.  Very pleasant.

A footbridge marks the site of the Old St Catherine's ferry on the Pilgrim's Way and a small stream spills into the river below a pretty grotto.  This is the path of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrim's in the reign of King Edward III.

This is the lowest bridge on the Godlaming Navigation, at 6' 4" we needed to remove everything from our roof to get under it safely!

The final lock on the river is also a hireboat centre and from here we cruise gently down into Goldaming.  We moored up on a private mooring, and spoke to some residents who contacted the owner of the space, his boat was moored back at the last lock and he wasn't planning on coming back so we could stay there.

Church Street in Godalming was used whilst filming The Hoilday, it is where Amanda goes shopping.  Godalming is also well known for being the first town to have public electricity.

The Church of St Peter and St Paul has a dramatic spire which can be seen from miles around.

The river here is particularly beautiful and the history is fascinating.

Between 1618 and 1620, Sir Richard Weston carried out the first improvements to the River Wey on his own land.  An Act of Parliament in 1651 opened the navigable River Wey to Guildford.  This was extended to Golalming in 1760 and, in 1796, the Basingstoke Canal brought extra traffic.  Yet, despite the completion of the Wey and Arun Canal in 1816, trade was poor and the Wey became neglected.  In 1912, the river was purchased by William Stevens and in 1964 his son gave it to the National Trust.

Buddy A 15.2hh bay Cyldesdale cross gelding born in 1997.

The vintage packet boat Iona  began life as the Bellerophon, a cargo carrying narrowboat. She was built in 1935 at Woolwich on the Thames by Harland and Wolff for the Grand Union Carrying Company. At 70ft long and 7ft wide, she is the maximum size for boats navigating the inland canal network and could carry up to 35 tons of cargo.

The end of an idyllic day and a beautiful sunset taken from the side hatch of our boat.

5.25 miles, 4 locks, 3 hrs 6 mins cruising time.

Tuesday 23rd July - Godalming Wharf to Ferry Lane Footbridge

This morning we woke to morning mist, with the promise of hot sunshine to burn it off!

One could be forgiven for thinking we were in the middle of autumn, a clever photograph.

This is the junction with the Wey and Arun Canal, In 1816, The Wey & Arun Junction Canal opened to great fanfare, linking the Wey Navigation near Guildford to the south coast via the Arun Navigation. Conceived during the Napoleonic Wars, the Canal was intended to provide a safe, efficient route from London to Portsmouth to carry goods supplying the dockyards. In its heyday, the Canal did carry many tons of cargo but the end of the war with France, and the arrival of the railways, sounded the death knell for the Wey & Arun as a business, and by 1871 it was formally closed. It is now being restored with some parts already open to navigation.

The lowest bridge on the navigation, you can see why we had to clear everything off the roof!

This panoramic view of the river shows a rather dramatic swan's neck in the navigation, slowly does it and we got round in one go!

The Author Lewis Carroll, under his real name of Charles Dodgson, spent much time in Guildford in the company of his sisters.  It is likely he was not recognized then as the already famous author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which had been published three years earlier under the name of Lewis Carroll.

On our walk back from Guildford we passed the little grotto beside the Pilgrim's Bridge, with a stream flowing gently into the river.

The Ferry Lane Footbridge was extremely busy with the youth of Guildford queuing up jump off in to the River below.  Signs were posted saying it was dangerous and not to jump or dive off the bridge, obviously a clear invitation to do just that!

Our mooring for the evening was beside Shalfont Meadows, used for cattle grazing, with an electric tape between the footpath and the cattle.  Unfortunately at 10pm Toby decided to try and investigate and caught his head on the wire, he made an alarming noise and jumped 2 feet in the air, but seems to be non the worse for his experience!

3.5 miles, 3 locks, 2 hrs 24 mins cruising time.

Wednesday 24th July - Ferry Lane Footbridge to Cartbridge

We left our mooring with the cows and these friendly ducks.  I find it amazing that the water is so still and calm, considering this is a river.  We will be looking for a mooring with plenty of shade as it is going to be a very hot day.

We made our way through Guildford, where Dave talked a young lad on holiday from Malta through how a lock worked.  He was incredibly polite and asked a lot of intelligent questions.

We then came past "The Bargeman" Sculpture on Town Wharf, reflecting the time when the Wey was a working river.

The 1913 Electricity Works has now been converted into state-of-the-art studio theatre:  The Electric Theatre opened in January 1997 and is owned, funded and managed by Guildford Borough Council.  It is a small community arts venue hosting a mix of events ranging from international cinema, dance and music as well as comedy and amateur theatre.

Guildford Cathedral is a modern Cathedral which was started in 1936, work was disrupted by WW2, but work re-started in 1954 and the Cathedral was finally consecrated in 1961.

This is a very tight bend in the river with a weir on the outside of the bend and silting on the inside of the bend.  

 And yes, a deep sigh of relief and we have got round in one piece!  We carried on and finally arrrived back at the New Inn at Cartbridge, where we stopped on our way out and had lunch with Annie and Alba.  This time we set up camp under the trees and enjoyed the weather in the shade.

6 miles, 3 locks, 3 hrs 30 mins cruising time.

Thursday 25th July - Cartbridge to Walsham Meadows

Today is going to be even hotter than yesterday, so we have decided to leave early and make a short journey, again looking for a mooring with shade.

Papercourt Lock has a very pretty stepped weir which feeds back into the river as you come through the lock. Today there wasn't a lot of water and Ella managed to maintain a straight course through the water flow.

An hour later we had found our shady spot, moored up and set up chairs and table.  There was even a spot close by low enough for Toby to get into the river to cool off.  

2.75 miles, 2 locks 1 hour 6 mins cruising time.

Friday 26th July - Walsham Meadows to Chertsey Meads, River Thames

This morning, we left our peaceful mooring and headed back towards the Thames.  We have really enjoyed our stay on the Wey Navigation and will definitely return for another visit.

Sitting right next to the Navigation is the brick summerhouse belonging to Pyrford Place dating back to the end of the 17th century, and which bears a blue plaque making reference to the fact that John Donne (1573 – 1631) lived here for four years from 1600.  I remember studying the poems of John Donne for my Englsih 'A' Level!

I was rather impressed with the artwork on the side of this boat, most unusual!

Coxes Lock and Mill were originally an iron mill, then a flour mill and remained in operation until 1983.  It was then converted into apartments.
We then passed through the Thames Lock and made our way back onto The River Thames.  Unfortunately the first lock we needed to go through had broken down so we moored up and went into Weybridge to do some provision shopping.  Eventually after a couple more delays we were through the lock and on our way to our overnight mooring at Chertsey Mead.

8 miles, 6 locks, 4 hrs 42 mins including delays.

Saturday 27th July - Chertsey Mead to Runnymede

This morning we left our mooring and having passed through the first lock we encountered two regattas.  In this photo, two boats are racing with referee in the boat in the middle.  They were going pretty fast compared to us going 'dead slow'!

This is the Dutch barge Parglena, we first met her at Teddington Lock were she was moored overnight after a repaint in London, she is now back at her home mooring in Staines.

We moored at the National Trust moorings at Runnymede and watched a couple of dragon boats practising on the river.  They row to a beat played on a drum at the bow of the boat, amazing to watch!

After our lunch we went for a walk and found this architectual artwork, Writ in Water, by Mark Wallinger which celebrates the legacy of Magna Carta at Runnymede.

Inside the central chamber is a pool of water open to the sky and around the sides of the pool is the reversed lettering of Clause 39, the letters are reflected in the still water and by walking around the circle you can read the whole clause.

We continued up through Cooper's Wood until we came to Kingswood, student accommodation for Royal Holloway University.  The bottom left hand window was Dave's first year room when he was a student there in 1970.

We then came to Runnymede Memorial, sometimes known as the Air Forces Memorial. The memorial commemorates more than 20,000 airmen and women who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe who have no known grave. 

A memorial for the sealing of the Magna Carta by King John in 1215. 
On the 15th June 1215 King John met his barons to discuss their grievances and in order to prevent a civil war, agreed to seal a Great Charter (Magna Carta). In its principles, it was to have significant influence on rights and freedoms.

To mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015, artist Hew Locke created a permanent artwork called “The Jurors”, consists of 12 bronze chairs placed in a circle around an invisible table – a direct reference to Clause 39 of Magna Carta, which states that no man can be imprisoned “except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land”.  Each chair is decorated with images and symbols relating to past and ongoing struggles for freedom, rule of law and equal rights.

After tea and cake we returned to the boat for the evening.

6.25 miles, 2 locks, 2 hrs 36 mins.

Sunday 28th July - Runnymede to Windsor

A cool and breezy cruise this morning towards Runnymede, the first lock we went through was still on self-service, but the lock keeper took pity on us and took over the lock operation.  We cruised alongside the Crown Estate and eventually Windsor Castle came into view on the horizon.

Eton College Chapel then became visible.  Eton was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore” to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King's College, Cambridge, which he founded 1441.

We are approaching Windsor Bridge, this bridge was built in 1824 but was closed to traffic in 1970 as cracks were appearing.  It was restored in 2002 when the weight of pedestrians was causing concern and the lights that illuminate the bridge at night were added at that time.

We moored up for the evening at Baths Island and we welcomed Lizzie and Bea on a surprise visit.  It was lovely to see them, it was the first time Bea had been to Windsor and she was keen to see the Castle.

The river was busy with day boats, river boats, narrowboats, and trip boats.  

A magnified Bea with Windsor Castle in the background.

The entrance to the Castle, the queue stretched way down the hill. The size of the Castle (5 hectares/13 acres) is breath taking, in fact it is the largest and oldest occupied Castle in the world and it’s where Her Majesty The Queen chooses to spend most of her private weekends.

Bea relaxing after being a tourist, on the green beside the boat, followed by ice cream and cake!  We are moored in almost the same space we moored in the last time we came to Windsor.  We have now cruised the whole of the River Thames from Brentford Lock to Lechlade and we are very pleased we have done it!

6 miles, 2 locks, 2 hrs 40 mins cruising time.