We had a very enjoyable evening at the Byfleet Boat Club DIY barbecue last night. We went along about 7pm, taking our food with us, and there was a gas barbecue alight that everyone could use. There were probably more than a dozen people there to chat to, and they were a friendly bunch. By this morning the M25 seemed much noisier. We reckon it’s most noisy when the traffic is moving well, but when it’s at a crawl like on a Friday afternoon, it’s quieter. Before leaving this morning I walked up to the huge Tesco in Byfleet. It’s quite a long walk, but the shopping centre in built inside the old Brookland’s circuit — in fact the access road follows the curve of the banked track which is still there, a bit overgrown and with private notices all along the fence.
We walked along to the boat club before leaving, to say goodbye to the members who were manning the rowing boat hire today. They hadn’t had any takers yet but it was still early and I imagine that on a sunny day like today they’ll do quite well.
It was getting on for 11 by the time we set off, with a very unambiguous target in mind. After a few minutes we were going under the railway bridge and passing Woodham Junction, where the Basingstoke Canal goes off. There’s also the footbridge Macc and I went over yesterday, then a pipe bridge and then the M25.
As we’d done some more washing we stopped on the offside tap to top up the tank, but it’s an incredibly slow flow. We were glad the tank didn’t need much. Then we carried on for the rest of our mile, and moored above New Haw Lock, pretty much where we were nearly two weeks ago. After lunch I took Macc for a walk north along the towpath, and he found a place to have a little paddle in the river.
Finally, I’m a bit late to this because this round of voting ends on 23 July, but I’m trying to see if The Water Road can get into the top twenty for the Listener’s Choice section of the British Podcast Awards. Click this link to go to the voting page and follow the instructions. Thank you!
1 mile, 0 locks. (72 miles, 39 locks)