Macc was out quite early this morning but then went back to bed, so we all ended up having a later start to the day than usual. Yesterday evening we didn’t manage to get a proper walk on the water meadows because the cows were right there, but this morning they were nowhere to be seen so Macc got a good run about. It was about 9.15 when we left our lovely mooring, with just a few hundred yards to Trigg’s Lock which was open and ready for us. This one has gate paddles which are operated from the bridge.
Only one paddle on each gate works, the others being locked. Below the lock is a really beautiful stretch of river.
There’s a sharp turn before Worsfold Gates, and the National Trust keeps its work boats in the weir stream, behind the big barrier. You can also see the tower blocks of Woking in the distance.
Worsfold Gates are only closed in floods, so on days like today you just go straight through. If you’ve been watching the latest series of Robbie Cumming’s Canal Boat Diaries, you might recognise the little black wooden building on the towpath: he falls in the river in front of that building in the opening titles!
We stopped at Cartbridge Wharf for the water tap, as it’s the most conveniently positioned one. The bank is quite high, so while the tank filled I washed the dust of the roof this side; it means the other half looks worse, and it’s been too hot to do the rest of it since we moored.
When we got to Papercourt Lock a boat was almost up so we could swap, and then there was another waiting below.
At various points on the river we’ve noticed the level monitoring system that’s in place, and just along from Papercourt is one of the easiest to see. There’s a little solar powered camera looking at the depth gauge. There are lots of them along the river’s length.
Newark Lock was ready for us as a boat had just left. The boat at Papercourt Lock had said it had been busy at the moorings by Walsham Gates, but in fact there was only one boat left there. The space we used on the way upstream was free, and so were at least three others. A boat was just coming out of the gates by the weir barrier, so I had to do quite a sharp turn in. The lock itself looked just as pretty as always.
One of the boats on the permanent moorings above Pyrford Lock has a face at the window. We’ve also seen this boat on the move, and it looks just as creepy then.
While we went down Pyrford Lock, Adrian took a bag of rubbish along to the boaters’ bins, which are a bit of a scarcity here. Then we carried on to the visitor moorings at Byfleet Boat Club. They’ve just been done up, in fact the guys were working on them when we went the other way.
After lunch I took Macc for a walk along the towpath — there’s not really anywhere else to go. We walked up to Woodham Junction and then across the bridge to the towpath up the Basingstoke Canal.
We didn’t get quite as far as the first lock before turning back; he was flagging a bit by then as it was hot again. Back at the boat, I met a chap from the Byfleet Boat Club who did an interview for a future podcast. The other reason we’re here is that we’ve been invited to the club’s monthly DIY barbecue this evening, so that should be nice. We’re only yards from the M25 here, but it’s not as noisy as we’d thought it might be.
6 miles, 4 locks. (71 miles, 39 locks)