That meant an earlier stop than planned here at Weybridge, rather close to the road, but it'll do. We are also on a good bank edge so Tacet has been washed down and polished this afternoon bringing back her lovely shine, on one side anyway. No tellings when the other side will get done.
houseboats
Our trip on the Basingstoke Canal was short and sweet, it is only open to boats up to Brookwood, and the canal ranger follows you up and down caulking the top gates behind you to stop leaking. We were the only boat on the canal, moving that is and the ranger commented that 'nobody wants to come up here.' It's hardly surprising when you have to book to use the locks, can't go at weekends, pay £12 a day, and can only go 6 or 7 miles with no services.
getting smarter
It's been a bit of a wet trip, heavy showers but with sunshine in between, so I don't seem to have many photos...
with another storey
even grander
Tree felling in progress
Way up there.
And our views this morning at Brookwood....
And a few moments ago at Weybridge...
Godalming to Weybridge, Basingstoke Canal, 4 days
33 miles, 36 locks
Ian and Karen
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you felt the way you did about the Basingstoke experience. We are currently testing ' Open Access' which is best described as 1) Purchase a licence (National Trust at Thames Lock or Dapdune or from TLC at Parvis Bridge) and 2) Travel. We tested it with eight boats over Easter and I do think it was a great success; we have a followup meeting this Thursday. Deepcut and Brookwood flights remain closed due to some more structural work being required and the lack of water (not any more....) to refill Deepcut. I am promised that the canal will be fully open in 2013. I am on the Board of Directors of the Canal Society so have my finger on that pulse. The two counties (Surrey and Hampshire) have invested a huge amount of money on some of the structural repairs in Deepcut as has the Canal Society.
I do hope you enjoyed the Wey - do you know about their River Conditions website (http://riverweyconditionsnt.wordpress.com/) which may be of help in the next few days! The website is new and not foolproof yet but a huge improvement on the facilities we had previously. I did drive past Town Lock about lunchtime and saw you moored there - did the boat behind stay or go through the lock as it looked as if it might? Dave and/or Tracy at Thames lock will help I am sure.
If you have difficulty getting out onto the Thames (all warnings are Stream Increasing) you would be most welcome to moor outside Byfleet Boat Club (www.byfleetboatclub.com) if you need a quieter place to be.
Kind Regards
Kathryn
Thanks Kathryn, we have enjoyed our time on the Wey and the Basingstoke, I didn't mean to imply that we didn't like the Basingstoke, just that it did not seem very easy to access and spend time there. We would have loved to linger longer. Maybe we will one day.
ReplyDeleteWe have been keeping an eye on the websites about the river conditions and are happy to stay here until they settle down.
Thanks for getting in touch and we are glad to hear of all the work that is being done to open up the Basingstonke further. We understand the constraints you are working under. If you are passing us again do stop and say hello.