Any Tips For the Basingstoke Canal?

[mark99]

We shall shuffle up there soon?

 

Any tips.

 

Passage booked. 1 week = £40 squid - not bad.

[Hair Bear Bunch]

A couple of very low bridges, 5' 10" clearance I think. There are some restrictions around Winchfield where there's been a landslide - not closed but ask the ranger for the latest.

If you fancy dining out there are many eateries and take-aways within a few minutes walk of Reading Road bridge in Fleet, also shopping.

Most importantly, enjoy.

[Dave123]

Once you get to the end there is a nice walk over Greywell tunnel and along some of the disused section the other side of the tunnel. Enjoy! More boats should visit!

[cereal tiller]

A couple of very low bridges, 5' 10" clearance I think. There are some restrictions around Winchfield where there's been a landslide - not closed but ask the ranger for the latest.

If you fancy dining out there are many eateries and take-aways within a few minutes walk of Reading Road bridge in Fleet, also shopping.

Most importantly, enjoy.

Yes,Reading road south Bridge is listed at 5'10" ,normally it is more like 6'2"

 

CT

Edited May 27, 2016 by cereal tiller

[Fu Manchu]

Yes,Reading road south Bridge is listed at 5'10" ,normally it is more like 6'2"

 

CT

There are three very low bridges and Reading Road Bridge is the last of these that you come to. It is the lowest - guess how I found out!

 

"Normally" there is a water shortage which means that the clearance is better, but at present there is plenty of water, so it is likely to be 5'10".

 

Once you get beyond Fleet the canal is exceptionally attractive.

[Leo No2]

Be careful at Farnborough Road bridge (A325) - it slopes upwards (when coming up) from left to right and from downstream to upstream - it's really quite OK going upstream because you get more room the further you go but a we bit 'challenging' going downstream especially as there is a left turn as you exit the bridge - keep the roof clear. There's a bit of a wiggle through Pondtail Old and Pondtail New bridges and they are quite low.

 

Keep away from the big 'flashes' especially the wonderfully named Great Bottom Flash (queue Biz for a comment) - they look very inviting but are in fact quite shallow.

 

Elsan points at Bridge Barn hotel (Woking), Canal Centre and Odiham

Edited May 28, 2016 by Leo No2

[twbm]

Yes, that bridge brought us to a bit of a rapid stop. Which was annoying 'cause I knew it was there. Too busy nattering.

Edited May 28, 2016 by twbm

[mark99]

Blimey looks lower than the one on Wey nr Shalford. For that one I had to remove Luby and the hand wound Klaxon.

[twbm]

Blimey looks lower than the one on Wey nr Shalford. For that one I had to remove Luby and the hand wound Klaxon.

 

Always trouble was that Luby, never knew why Andy Pandy and Teddy put up with her.

[Theo]

We are on our way up the Basingstoke now. Had a very wet passage up Woodham and St John's Locks. Very pretty it all is.

 

Don't be in a hurry, though. Lots of leaves from last autumn in the locks. Enter very slowly because when you go into reverse you will get them on the prop and lose all stern power. A quick swish astern clears them, though and I haven't had to go down the weed hatch today. Many of the lock gates don't open right back. I would guess that the leaves are piling up behind them.

 

Avoid rubbing your boat along the lock gates. Especially the new ones. On some of them the heads of the bolts have been put on the wrong side leaving a nut and a bit of studding sticking out to catch the unwary. They haven't heard of coach bolts down here and even the heads of the bolts can be a bit nasty.

 

Read the web site. SWMBO has and comes up with all sorts of useful information. It tells you all you need to know about booking and giving notice when you want to go through the locks.

 

Amusingly, I was told by the office that the reason the lockie needs to follow behind with a bucket of wood shavings (not ash!) to seal up the gates is that the gates are hand made! She didn't understand the situation. They are normal gates made with power tools in the usual way but some of them are very leaky especially at the cills. The problem is that the Basingstoke has a poor water supply so they can't allow the usual amount of wastage that is permitted on the rest of the system.

 

We worth a visit and an excellent £40 worth even though Theodora will not get up to the top. That bridge is much too low. We will bike up to the top having moored somewhere sensible downstream of the last winding hole below Wharf Bridge (A325).

 

That reminds me. The web site tells you about places to moor. Do take note. I haven't seen anywhere else except the recommended places. I suppose it might be possible but it didn't look good. We are moored outside the pub above St. John's top lock, this evening.

 

HTH

 

N

Edited May 31, 2016 by Theo

[magnetman]

We shall shuffle up there soon?

 

Any tips.

 

Passage booked. 1 week = £40 squid - not bad.

How does it work with the River Wey visitor license? We are on the Wey on a week license (at Guildford now) so if one wanted a week on the Basingstoke would it be a day each side or would you need the week of Wey license and do 5 days on the Basingstoke?

 

Might look at it in the summer if its still navigable (AFAIK its a bit weather dependent ? )

[ditchcrawler]

How does it work with the River Wey visitor license? We are on the Wey on a week license (at Guildford now) so if one wanted a week on the Basingstoke would it be a day each side or would you need the week of Wey license and do 5 days on the Basingstoke?

 

Might look at it in the summer if its still navigable (AFAIK its a bit weather dependent ? )

They use to do a transit licence

[Theo]

They use to do a transit licence

The transit license costs £7.

 

I am pretty sure that you turn up at Thames Lock and ask for it, but you will have to arrive during the opening times for Thames Lock.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Theo

[Theo]

How does it work with the River Wey visitor license? We are on the Wey on a week license (at Guildford now) so if one wanted a week on the Basingstoke would it be a day each side or would you need the week of Wey license and do 5 days on the Basingstoke?

 

Might look at it in the summer if its still navigable (AFAIK its a bit weather dependent ? )

 

Time spent on the Basingstoke does not come out of your Wey license period AFAIK.

 

What you do is phone The National Trust and say what you want to do. They will organise a transit license and you just turn left at the junction. Do look up the web site for the Basingstoke and make sure that lock open times fit in with what your schedule. After today's downpour I would not have thought that there will be problems with water levels.

 

There are very few moving boats on the Wey so lock usage is not a problem at the moment. From what Andy the lockie was telling me we are the only moving boat on the Basingstoke ATM. There were two earlier on today but they will have left by now. I tell you, it is really quiet here. And very lovely.

 

N

Edited May 31, 2016 by Theo

[magnetman]

Sounds nice.

 

Been terribly wet here on the Wey todey - got the fire going so no real hardship. Basingstoke looks interesting will check that out !

[sueb]

It is very noisy in the autumn. The whole canal is lined with trees and all the nuts fall on the boat roof. How do I know?

[mark99]

We are up past the very low bridge near the end of navigation. Decent water depth here. Not so good at Deepcut after the flight at certain spots or Woking.

 

Really needs two weeks to enjoy. One of the Deepcut locks has had a bollard concreted in position so you can't open one lock top gate.

 

Also the swing bridge near Crookham is a heavy beast. Not sure a widebeam could get through.

 

After Fleet it's very Purdy. Deepcut flight is great too.

Note the low bridge is very low. We went through with 1 inch to spare clearing right down the roof taking off looby and klaxon and tiller pin. This is the last of the three low bridges.

Sounds nice.

 

Been terribly wet here on the Wey todey - got the fire going so no real hardship. Basingstoke looks interesting will check that out !

Recommend if you draw less than 2'6.

 

Bizzarly the further you go the less issue with stodge as depth average increases.

[FadeToScarlet]

Recommend if you draw less than 2'6.

 

But perfectly possible with deeper. The Historic Narrowboat Club, together with the Basingstoke Canal society, are holding a rally this year at Woking. So far, about 30 ex working boats have booked in, all at around 3' draught.

 

So there will hopefully be a bit of a channel to follow afterwards.

[mark99]

I know a 3 footer done the lot recently as I spoke to him before we left. He was glad he did it but was not going to do it again despite being perm moored 1.5 miles from entrance.

 

I had to be flushed out of a lock which I could not get in and shortly after, got ground mid pound and had to let water down. However both were above Woking.

 

Some bits were very slow progress prior to Woking.

 

Still I would come again but as said extend my stay. Great canal.

 

I should add that two ex working boats together in one lock will not be possible in one or two locks. Can't remember which ones - gates won't open far enough and sticky out bolts on gates etc.

Edited June 1, 2016 by mark99

[magnetman]

Do you think 9ft beam would be okay with the locks? When you say a gate won't open - will it open a bit ie say half way

 

Our holiday boat is only about 2ft draught (with a 7ft wide baseplate so using a similar channdl profile to an average narrow boat) and bridge clearance will be OK as she is very low.

 

I might look at it for summer holidays or maybe another half term

It is very noisy in the autumn. The whole canal is lined with trees and all the nuts fall on the boat roof. How do I know?

Terrible.

 

Years ago I moored under a conker tree in autumn just as they were falling. The clonking and splashing noises were quite nice really.

[mark99]

Magnet you should be fine. Whats the air draft? If you can get under the low bridge it's well worth it.

Edited June 1, 2016 by mark99

[magnetman]

Magnet you should be fine. Whats the air draft? If you can get under the low bridge it's well worth it.

Last time up the Wey we cleared the low bridge (Broadford) with several inches to spare. Going under it later today as it happens so I will check it again. Apparently Broadford is 6'4 so I will need 6 inches clearance if I am to clear 5'8.

[mark99]

Same here.

[Theo]

Last time up the Wey we cleared the low bridge (Broadford) with several inches to spare. Going under it later today as it happens so I will check it again. Apparently Broadford is 6'4 so I will need 6 inches clearance if I am to clear 5'8.

 

We are going to take Theodora as far as we can and accept the fact that we might have a goodish bit of reversing. I would hate to miss it if there is the slightest possibility of getting under the low bits.

 

I will see if I can persuade 20 or so heavy persons to stand in the hold for a little trip. Perhaps I will phone a local builder's merchant and see if they can lend me a bag of aggregate and deliver it into the hold. These suggestions are only half joking. I must do some calculations to find out just how much I need to load and in what position (as far forward as possible) to effect the right reduction of air draught.

 

N

Just to add that we came up Deepcut today. It is really very beautiful. Didn't get wet at all today. This was a good thing!

 

N

[magnetman]

I went under Broadford bridge on the Wey todey with about a foot to spare above my Alde boiler chimney which is the highest not-easily-removed part of the boat. I could remove it if needed.

 

The bridge gauge showed around 2.1m which is 6ft10 so that means I would probably clear 5ft10 and another 3 or 4 inches if drill out the rivets holding the Alde chimney and remove it (its disused anyway). I definitely fancy a trip up there in the summer if there is enough water about

 

Let us know how you get on with the builders and/or burly chaps !

 

Edited to change chaos to chaps

Edited June 1, 2016 by magnetman