Survivors

No rain today, so we set off this morning through Guildford lock to Dapdune Wharf where we stopped to look around at the old Wey barge there, Reliance, a horse drawn barge was built at Dapdune in 1931.

Harry Stevens was a barge building company here for many years up until the late 1960's when commercial traffic stoppped on the Wey.

The rudder looks enormous

Inside the boatman's cabin, quite roomy compared to the narrowboat cabins.

The National Trust have restored the site and keep it in good order, it is not open to the public on Tues or Wed, but we managed a sneak round as they were waiting for a school party to arrive.

In the boathouse a highly varnished slipper launch and day boat.

The old Smithy

The information centre with interesting displays and working models

This is a rotor wheel from a turbine used for pumping water from the River Wey to Pewley Hill reservoir behind the castle. It was housed in the Guildford Mill after it had ceased producing flour in 1894.



Do you remember the duck sitting on her eggs that we saw on Friday? She had chosen a rather strange place and we wondered what would happen when they hatched.

As we came past today we took a look in the top of the post to see if she was there.

But the sight was a sad one,

8 eggs with some hatched but dead, others partially out of the shell and Mum gone. Then I saw her, she was not alone...

She has one survivor

Tonight we are moored at the bottom of the Basingstoke Canal at Byfleet.