A big day for Macc today — not that he knew it. I took him for a walk in the field next to the navigation this morning and he had a whale of a time, running back and forth carrying bits of twig or grass. I also wanted to get a decent photo of him.
With more really high temperatures forecast we thought we’d get under way early so set off from our lovely mooring at about 8.15. It was already quite warm. At one point I got the distinct impression we were being followed.
There are some big turns on this part of the river. One is at least a right angle, with a warning that there’s a weir on the outside of the bend while the inside is silted up. And then there’s immediately a bridge you have to go to the right of.
The A3 is close by for the next bit, and you can really hear it. Then comes Bowers Lock, which is also at right angles to the river, with the weir stream straight ahead. The gates were already open though.
The other lock of the day was Stoke Lock, and there’s a water point on the lock landing so we pulled in and filled the tank to the brim.
On the way in to Guildford we passed the Rowbarge pub.
The next bridge is the A3, which we must have driven over thousands of times. On early shifts, I used to meet a taxi in a car park in Guildford and then this would be the route to London.
We moored up on the very smart moorings between the A3 bridge and the A25. The other side of the hedge is B&Q, with more big shops beyond — including a Halford’s and an M&S Food. The other side of the river is Lidl.
Macc’s early run about seemed to have worn him out because he slept the whole way here and was disinclined to get off his cool mat even when we got here. I went to do some food shopping and then Adrian went to pick up Amazon deliveries and an M&S order. Then after lunch it was time for Macc to go for his first grooming session. We had to carry him most of the way because the pavements were so hot, but at least it was only round the corner.
We had more discussions (in addition to the ones we’d had when booking him in) about what they were actually going to do. It was his first visit to the groomer, so they had suggested a puppy pamper; but he really needed to be stripped to get the old hair out. The woman who was actually going to be doing it had a look at his undercoat and said it wasn’t fully there yet, so she’d do some hand stripping, tidy his feet and face, and give him a gentle wash — and she’d see how much she could get done in the time. It’s the first time we’ve left him with anyone so Adrian in particular was a worried about how he’d react, but he was so interested in the place he didn’t even seem to see us leave. We came back to the boat via M&S Food, and then killed time until almost 4pm when we headed back. He was still on the table which was surrounded by clumps of fur. We hung around until he was off the table, and then went to get him. He looks much less scruffy, but we’re pleased that most of his colouring remains. He feels really soft again, having been quite wiry recently.
The other good news was that they said he’d been a really good boy. He hadn’t minded the stripping, the bath or even the driers. He’d also been there with another dog for the whole two hours, so hopefully that will have helped with his excitement levels when he sees other dogs. There hadn’t been quite enough time to finish him completely so he’s going back tomorrow morning to have his face and his tail done. That made another decision for us: we’d been wondering whether to stay here between two busy roads or move on, and had pretty much decided to stay, not wanting to boat in the late afternoon heat. This confirmed that we should stay here so we’re only a few minutes walk away in the morning.
4 miles, 2 locks. (50 miles, 25 locks)