River Wey

[Alan de Enfield]

..................... I was told that there is a horse drawn trip boat up at Godalming so don’t have anything on top of boat.

 

Can you explain the connection ?

[mark99]

One you get past the M25 it's surprisingly rural.

 

Easy mooring outside the Anchor for a pint and a meal which has got to be one of the best spots in Surrey for a pub garden.

 

The locks are a little tricky - each one has a little "trap" set for you it seems.

 

Guildford is a lovely town worth swanning about for a day or two; your missus will love the high streets. Surrey is posh esp around Godalming.

Edited January 24, 2016 by mark99

[cuthound]

Can you explain the connection ?

The horse is a kleptomaniac!

 

No seriously, its line will drag across your roof when it passes you, pulling anything loose off as it goes.

[dave moore]

The horse line may need to be passed over the cabin top to allow boats to pass or if the trip boat passes moored craft between it and the towpath.

 

Dave

[Peter X]

 

Croydon has not been in Surrey since 1965. It was a good day for Surrey as the crime rate went down by 80%

To be precise you're referring to the local government re-organisation in which large areas of the London suburbs became part of borough councils in the GLC (now the GLA) such as Croydon, Sutton and Kingston. These boundaries, and those of parliamentary constituencies and postal areas, all cut across each other. My postal address is in Surrey.

 

Croydon and a great swathe of Surrey have been part of London for police purposes, no doubt including crime statistics, since 1840:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_District

The article describes various changes in the boundary since, but the changes in Surrey in 1965 were quite minor.

[Alan de Enfield]

The horse is a kleptomaniac!

 

No seriously, its line will drag across your roof when it passes you, pulling anything loose off as it goes.

 

Ok - I now understand.

 

So, no mushrooms, dog boxes or pigeon 'lofts', no cratch covers or pram hoods.

Never seen it but surely the 'driver' has a pole and lifts the line above your roof while the momentum keeps the boat moving.

[Tony Brooks]

But as long as you are happy to reverse round a bit of a bend you can go above the winding point where the horse boat is moored and moor up on the towpath side opposite the permanent moorings (space allowing). We did it twice in a fortnight.

 

I would say the the requirement to use two lines in the locks when going DOWN with only two of you is downright dangerous because you can not open paddles whilst at the same time shortening lines. I had a stern line snap where it fouled as the boat descended.

 

People often comment on the heavy paddles but you can borrow a long throw windlass from Thames lock on you way into the Wey and I found a long throw canal windlass perfectly adequate.

 

I urge anyone going to the Wey in the spring and early summer to plan a side trip on the Basingstoke canal. The office and rangers are VERY helpful (despite out of date rumours to the contrary). The wide beam boat will not be able to get all the way to Odiham because of a landslip beyond fleet but it should get over 3/4 of the way there providing it can creep under the two bridges at Fleet. In later summer one must expect water shortages so do not plan later then mid July but it depends upon the rain.

[ditchcrawler]

The Wey is the only part of the waterways where virtually no-one on the towpath returned my greeting - snobby Surrey!

 

 

 

 

Agree

[RichLech]

For a visit to Guildford use the water meadow moorings just south of the town. Plenty of space and a lovely area.

 

Also visit Dapdune Wharf in Guildford for water, rubbish disposal etc. and a dose of Wey navigation history. Can moor there overnight but the water meadow is better.

 

I've always found the towpath users respond positively to a friendly wave and greeting.

[lockedout]

We 'live' on the Wey, and we love it.

 

We were out for a couple of hours today, had a friendly hello from the 4 boats we passed and either a wave or a chat with all but two of the towpath users, both joggers with their heads plugged in. We have never found the Wey any snootier than any where else on the network, and we have never come across bridges lined with idiots armed with chunks of paving slab.

 

The locks can be challenging, mainly the first three which are bas***ds, after that they get friendlier and they are usually pretty well maintained. One thing to remember is that convention on the Wey is that we leave lock gates open on departure. Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to, but it is how the NT want it done.

 

A good selection of mooring opportunities, yes, the towpath can be sandy in places, so be aware and maybe put an extra pin in.

 

If you are interested in the history of the waterways, Dapdune Wharf is a wonderful half day's insight into the history of the navigation and don't forget to cross over to the other side and have a wander through the sculpture park.

 

It's a horrible place, if I were you I would steer well clear

[mark99]

 

 

It's a horrible place, if I were you I would steer well clear

 

 

It is a horrible place. Definitely best not think about it. For those that think us Southerners are miserable, can you point to the invisible boundary where this happens where north of this line everyone is happy?

 

We're going back there this spring / summer and going to swan about there a week or two or three.

Edited January 24, 2016 by mark99

[lockedout]

 

 

For those that think us Southerners are miserable, can you point to the invisible boundary where this happens

 

According to my Mrs., about a metre north of where I am presently standing...

[Drayke]

 

Can you explain the connection ?

The trip boat tends to drag their line across the top of moored boats.

[Drayke]

Agree

Disagree

[cuthound]

Ok - I now understand.

 

So, no mushrooms, dog boxes or pigeon 'lofts', no cratch covers or pram hoods.

Never seen it but surely the 'driver' has a pole and lifts the line above your roof while the momentum keeps the boat moving.

The things you mention are fixed, so the horse operator will have tomliftvthe line to prevent snagging, or to release it. Chimneys, and other unsecured stuff will just be swept off, unless the horse operator pre-empts the rope snagging.

[Bewildered]

so the horse operator

 

(ring, ring) "Hello operator, sorry I can't quite hear you, you sound a little horse"

[cuthound]

(ring, ring) "Hello operator, sorry I can't quite hear you, you sound a little horse"

Very droll.

 

I was struggling to find a concise, understandable term. I think "horse marine" may be the correct nomenclature, but suspect most people wouldn't understand it (visions of a soldier on a horse).

 

Jockey would definately be wrong, and "person leading the horse" was too wordy.

[blackrose]

We 'live' on the Wey, and we love it.

 

How do you get to live on the wey (assuming you're using 'live' in the commonly accepted use of the word)?

 

I thought the NT prohibited permanent liveaboards apart from wardens, or have I got that wrong?

[jenlyn]

 

How do you get to live on the wey (assuming you're using 'live' in the commonly accepted use of the word)?

 

I thought the NT prohibited permanent liveaboards apart from wardens, or have I got that wrong?

I took it He meant alongside it.

Thanks for all the advice and info. Its much appreciated. We shall pootle down during the summer and have a couple of weeks.

[lockedout]

 

How do you get to live on the wey (assuming you're using 'live' in the commonly accepted use of the word)?

 

I thought the NT prohibited permanent liveaboards apart from wardens, or have I got that wrong?

 

Sorry to cause confusion - we don't live on the Wey, in the Wey or next to the Wey.

 

Our boat is moored at Pyrford. I thought by putting the word live in inverted commas, readers would take the meaning to be less than literal.

 

As a self proclaimed Grammar Nazi, I am mortified!