River Wey - tow path side mooring possibilities

[aremkay]

Hi,

 

Please be gentle, I'm completely new here and newish to boating! If this isn't the appropriate place to post this, then I offer my apologies.

 

I'm planning a short weekend trip along the Wey from the Send area heading upstream towards Godalming to gain more experience. From having been to almost Guildford a couple of weeks ago on my RYA course, I'm aware that the tow path side of the river tends to be overgrown, which makes mooring more difficult, especially for a first time boater like myself. What I did notice from my course was that there were occasionally areas where the vegetation seemed to be cut back to allow one to moor - but I'm not sure if these were done by other boaters or not. I'm wondering if anyone knows the story behind these?

 

I can remember seeing two areas above Stoke lock, but I think I'd prefer something more peaceful away from the roar of the A3, especially for a first night aboard, maybe just above Bower's lock, or maybe between Triggs and Bowers lock. I'm well aware that there's the possibility I may spend the first night aboard wide awake listening to all the strange noises!

 

Essentially, I'll be setting out on a Friday evening (since that's when I can hire the boat), and I would like to have some idea that I'll find a mooring before it gets dark!

 

Thanks.

[OldGoat]

Before other boaters with more current information arrive to contradict me, my experience (admittedly years out of date) is that there are very, very few moorings on the Wey  that aren't official moorings.

It's a river navigation, thus typically the channel is very 'V' shaped so that pulling up at a likely spot may or or more more likely - not have enough draught to let you leap ashore.

The National trust would prefer you to use the official stuff and the river flows helps them in that aim.

 

We were on the Wey for 5 years and discovered that the Thames offered more oportunities  - she was an NT member as well!!

 

 

[Tonka]

Loads of info attached. Enjoy

River wey info for boat users.pdf

[aremkay]

3 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Loads of info attached. Enjoy

River wey info for boat users.pdf 2.77 MB · 1 download

Thanks - this says:

 

Quote

There is ample free overnight mooring on the Navigations. In general you can moor anywhere suitable along the 20 miles of towpath, but you should be aware that the historic ‘dish’ shaped profile in artificial sections of the waterway can mean depth is restricted at bank edges.

As I say in my opening post, that isn't the case because of the amount of growth along the towpath side...

 

7 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

It's a river navigation, thus typically the channel is very 'V' shaped so that pulling up at a likely spot may or or more more likely - not have enough draught to let you leap ashore.

The National trust would prefer you to use the official stuff and the river flows helps them in that aim.

Thanks - this is sort of what I'm asking - is there a list somewhere of "official stuff"... there doesn't seem to be in the NT's guide for boaters. As I quote above, it makes it sound like one can moor anywhere along the towpath side (except of course for services, lock landings etc)

 

Thanks.

[Tonka]

1 minute ago, aremkay said:

Thanks - this says:

 

As I say in my opening post, that isn't the case because of the amount of growth along the towpath side...

 

Thanks - this is sort of what I'm asking - is there a list somewhere of "official stuff"... there doesn't seem to be in the NT's guide for boaters. As I quote above, it makes it sound like one can moor anywhere along the towpath side (except of course for services, lock landings etc)

 

Thanks.

When you say growth what do you mean. Trees or just long grass. We always carry garden shears to cut the long grass down.

[Mike on the Wey]

23 minutes ago, aremkay said:

Hi,

 

Please be gentle, I'm completely new here and newish to boating! If this isn't the appropriate place to post this, then I offer my apologies.

 

I'm planning a short weekend trip along the Wey from the Send area heading upstream towards Godalming to gain more experience. From having been to almost Guildford a couple of weeks ago on my RYA course, I'm aware that the tow path side of the river tends to be overgrown, which makes mooring more difficult, especially for a first time boater like myself. What I did notice from my course was that there were occasionally areas where the vegetation seemed to be cut back to allow one to moor - but I'm not sure if these were done by other boaters or not. I'm wondering if anyone knows the story behind these?

 

I can remember seeing two areas above Stoke lock, but I think I'd prefer something more peaceful away from the roar of the A3, especially for a first night aboard, maybe just above Bower's lock, or maybe between Triggs and Bowers lock. I'm well aware that there's the possibility I may spend the first night aboard wide awake listening to all the strange noises!

 

Essentially, I'll be setting out on a Friday evening (since that's when I can hire the boat), and I would like to have some idea that I'll find a mooring before it gets dark!

 

Thanks.

I have been on the Wey for a few years now, so here is my list of potential mooring sites upstream of Cartbridge. 

High Bridge, RH side between Cartbridge and New Inn
Outside the New Inn
LH side below Triggs Lock (2 or 3 places - very rural)
LH side just past Wareham's Bridge (1/3 mile above Triggs - very rural)
RH side by Sutton Place, a little way before Broadoak Bridge (some A3 noise)
RH side 1/3 mile above Broadoak Bridge (very rural)
LH side just past the lock landing above Bowers Lock (some A3 noise)
LH side after Bowers once you rejoin the natural river (A3 noise)
LH side by the metal footbridge below Stoke Lock
LH side between Rowbarge PH and Woodbridge (against new wooden towpath support structure)
Dapdune Wharf (a perfect peaceful idyll)
LH side next to Odeon cinema in Guildford (only if you want to spend the evening with the local drinkers)
RH side below town bridge in Guildford by the old warehouses (can be noisy)
RH side above town bridge in Guildford (can be noisy)
RH side above Millmead Lock (can be noisy)
LH side above Guildford Rowing Club (perfect all the way along the straight)
In the weir stream below St Catherine's Lock (perfect and peaceful)
RH side in the rough above Unsted Lock (quiet)
LH side Godalming Wharf (handy for Sainsbury's but can be noisy)
RH side above Godalming Wharf

[aremkay]

1 minute ago, Mike on the Wey said:

I have been on the Wey for a few years now, so here is my list of potential mooring sites upstream of Cartbridge. 

High Bridge, RH side between Cartbridge and New Inn
Outside the New Inn
LH side below Triggs Lock (2 or 3 places - very rural)
LH side just past Wareham's Bridge (1/3 mile above Triggs - very rural)
RH side by Sutton Place, a little way before Broadoak Bridge (some A3 noise)
RH side 1/3 mile above Broadoak Bridge (very rural)
LH side just past the lock landing above Bowers Lock (some A3 noise)
LH side after Bowers once you rejoin the natural river (A3 noise)
LH side by the metal footbridge below Stoke Lock
LH side between Rowbarge PH and Woodbridge (against new wooden towpath support structure)
Dapdune Wharf (a perfect peaceful idyll)
LH side next to Odeon cinema in Guildford (only if you want to spend the evening with the local drinkers)
RH side below town bridge in Guildford by the old warehouses (can be noisy)
RH side above town bridge in Guildford (can be noisy)
RH side above Millmead Lock (can be noisy)
LH side above Guildford Rowing Club (perfect all the way along the straight)
In the weir stream below St Catherine's Lock (perfect and peaceful)
RH side in the rough above Unsted Lock (quiet)
LH side Godalming Wharf (handy for Sainsbury's but can be noisy)
RH side above Godalming Wharf

 

Thanks Mike - that's extremely useful, and takes some of the stress off of a first timer!

[Mike on the Wey]

46 minutes ago, aremkay said:

What I did notice from my course was that there were occasionally areas where the vegetation seemed to be cut back to allow one to moor - but I'm not sure if these were done by other boaters or not. I'm wondering if anyone knows the story behind these?

Sorry, forgot to answer this bit. Such mooring locations are generally established and maintained by the lengthsmen. The Wey is rarely left to become overgrown, but with the rainfall and temperatures in May and June the lengthsmen will be struggling to keep up with the growth at the moment. They are a very friendly bunch who really care about the river. 

[aremkay]

21 minutes ago, Mike on the Wey said:

Sorry, forgot to answer this bit. Such mooring locations are generally established and maintained by the lengthsmen. The Wey is rarely left to become overgrown, but with the rainfall and temperatures in May and June the lengthsmen will be struggling to keep up with the growth at the moment. They are a very friendly bunch who really care about the river. 

 

Thanks very much.

 

I think now I have a clearer idea where I'll be mooring for both nights on my first trip!

[aremkay]

An update having been on the Wey this weekend just gone.

 

I used Dapdune Wharf and the St Catherine Lock weir exit to moor overnight.

 

Dapdune Wharf

This is a nice location to moor, although you do get groups of local canoeists racing past around the bend which creates some wash that can rock the boat. Also, there is a noisy railway nearby, which, if you're not used to railway noise (think squealing wheels as the train goes round a curve) then you may end up wishing you'd moored somewhere else. Being my first night aboard, I only managed about 3 hours sleep, sadly.

 

St Catherine Lock exit

Nicely out of the way, and the only noises are from the weir and railway, which seemed to stop fairly early in the night and restart later in the morning. My first plan at getting out from there didn't work, and there's a bit of a story to tell too... Probably wasn't such a good plan, but I put that down to my inexperience. I gratefully accepted some assistance from a RYA instructor who had caused me problems on a bend the previous day. I probably could have managed it on my own eventually.

 

I now have a few stories to tell from the trip... Overall, I found going upstream a lot more relaxing and less eventful than coming downstream.