Weybridge to Dorney

Tue 27th July  Weybridge to Staines via Penton Hook Marina

We have just come off the Wey, after buying a three-week Licence. We have had a lovely experience, really taking our time, and appreciating the water meadows, wildlife, and, of course, our friends. We have never cruised the navigation so slowly before, usually rushing to Guildford or Godalming over two days, perhaps spending a night at Send. If you are reading this, and haven’t cruised the Wey, we recommend you try it.

Wey licence

Moored on the Wall at Weybridge

We set off, expecting to purchase a Thames Licence at Shepperton Lock. However, when we arrived, there was a self-service sign, so Hazel stepped ashore to press buttons, while James stayed on the boat. At that moment, the lockkeeper turned up, but said he had to see to the weirs, so we should see ourselves through, and we could get our licence at Chertsey Lock instead.

James was therefore single-handed while Hazel was lock-keeping. Rather than climb up the slimy steps, and juggle with two ropes, James stayed at the helm with the engine running, keeping the boat in the middle – much safer.

Shepperton Lock

Hazel at the controls

Oxford Barge (?) at 4 All Marine

Chertsey Bridge

At Chertsey Lock we purchased a 31-day licence, which should be about right for getting to Lechlade, and back to Oxford. £226.00.

We spotted a boat called Jolly Brit, which used to be a tender (or jolly boat) for the Royal Yacht Britannia. It has just been restored, for the second time. See THE JOLLY BRIT | Community Life (community-life.co.uk)

Jolly Brit at Dennett’s at Laleham

We contacted Chris on the fuel boat at Staines, and said we were coming today. He replied to say he wouldn’t be there until Thursday. We will have gone past by then. So, we decided to go into Penton Hook Marina. This involves an extra mile of cruising, going up the river to the left of the lock, and then weaving around the pontoons in the marina to reach the fuel pontoon, which is as far away from the river as you can get. The price was a lot more than on the canals, so we didn’t fill up, but took on 50 litres, which should get us to Better Boating at Reading, which people say is cheaper.

Penton Hook fuel price

Penton Hook Marina

The Fishing Temple (Couldn’t find any history)

Going past Merchant, the fuel barge that is not open, we went under Staines Railway Bridge and saw a jetty mooring for one boat. We decided to go for it, although we were slightly longer than the jetty, so the bows stuck out.

Fuel barge Merchant

Moored on the jetty at Riverside Park

We sent a message to Mary to say where we were, as we had arranged to meet this evening.  We did some more boat cleaning, as this was the side we hadn’t been able to do before. Rain started soon after we had finished, which helped to rinse the boat.

Later in the afternoon, a crowd of youngsters gathered and started playing loud music, and shouting things at the passing boats. There was some bad language involved, and they were encouraging each other. We decided it was time to move on, so we set off once more, past several moored boats near Jimmy’s restaurant, which sadly looks closed.

We went under Staines Bridge, and up the backwater behind Church Island, and moored on the Lammas Recreation Ground, where there are some rings. We contacted Mary once again, and arranged a rendezvous by the Bells pub.

Mary and Jim arrived at the appointed time, and took us to an Italian restaurant in Englefield Green, where we had a very pleasant meal. The place was full, which shows that they must be doing something right. The food was excellent, and the service was friendly. After the meal they drove us back to our mooring, where we had a very peaceful night.

Mary and Jim

Moored at Lammas Recreation Ground

3 locks, 6½ miles. Dep 0915, arr 1220 Staines Riverside. Dep 1510, arr 1530 Lammas.

Wed 28^th July  Staines to Runnymede

The London Stone once used to mark the boundary of the jurisdiction of the Corporation of the City of London. It has stood in Lammas Park for centuries, and James went to take a photo of it before we left. He couldn’t find it. We have seen it before, in a secluded spot behind some trees. He asked a parks worker where the London Stone is, and he was asked if it was a pub! There is a pub named after it, but James was looking for the stone. Looking online, he discovered that it had been moved in 2012 to Memorial Park in Staines.

We needed to go to Sainsbury’s for a few things, so we set off back to Staines-upon-Thames, noticeably easier with the flow downstream. The unofficial moorings we used to use on the right bank were all occupied, and are now designated as private moorings. We moored instead outside the Slug and Lettuce.

We found it difficult to get ashore as the quayside is too high here, so we reversed down river to the first jetty which is a lot lower. At the top of the steps, we found the London Stone! Apparently, this was its original position before it was moved centuries ago to the Lammas Park.

Difficult to get ashore

London Stone

Information plaque

We walked across the bridge to Sainsbury’s, armed with brollies and sunhats, as the weather forecast was uncertain. Returning with our shopping, we passed an Indian restaurant with enticing aromas on the air. We dropped the shopping off at the boat, and returned for a very pleasant lunch at Roshni’s.

We had heavy rain in the afternoon, and we set off once more when we thought we had a dry window. We caught another shower when we were waiting for Bell Weir Lock. It had stopped again by the time we left the lock, and we headed upstream to the visitor moorings by a large warehouse at Runnymede.  We had more heavy rain.

Later, James had a chat with BCF member Clive, from My Diadem. He and his wife Sally know several people we know in BCF, including Peter and Fran Braybrook, Babs and others. (It later turned out that in 2017, we had given him a leaflet about BCF).

We had a lovely red sunset

Where have the cherubs gone?

1 lock, 2 miles. Dep 1010, arr 1025 Slug and Lettuce. Dep 1040, arr 1050 Memorial Gardens. Dep 1515, arr 1600 Runnymede moorings. Total 1hr 10. Not a lot of boating.

Thu 29^th July  Runnymede to Dorney

My Diadem left quite early, but we didn’t need to rush.

As we set off, we noticed a garden opposite that was full of balloons with large eyes, and aluminium foil on poles. It looked a mess, but we assume it was to keep ducks and geese away.

Foiling the ducks.

We had a gentle cruise past all the Runnymede memorials, which have grown in number in recent years.

Runnymede, and the Airforce Memorial on the top of the hill.

French Brothers have their base here and we saw the steam powered river cruiser Streatley, built in 1905. Name Streatley | National Historic Ships

Streatley

At Old Windsor Lock, it was self-service, and in front of us there was hired narrowboat Orion with extra crew, so one of them went to press buttons.

Sharing Old Windsor Lock

We left first and soon left them behind. We spotted an elderly looking vessel called Royal William, and research revealed that it was used on D-Day in WWII. Name Royal William | National Historic Ships

Royal William

We saw some extremely large rocks being unloaded from a barge. Is the Queen having a rockery installed?

Windsor Castle

The Queens rockery?

At Romney Lock we had advised the hire boat crew to tie on, as the lock is side filling, and tends to push the boat out. We had been told to do this years ago by a previous lockkeeper. This time we were told not to tie on, as we should be taking up the slack. The force of the water is very strong, so it is difficult to hold the rope when the boat is being pushed sideways to the middle of the lock. We had to take a couple of turns round the T-stud to keep control.

We cruised through Windsor slowly, trying to avoid the trip boats, the rowing fours that suddenly stop mid-stream and start to turn, as well as small hired dayboats that zigzag. It is always busy in Windsor.

Duck tours

Windsor

A sightseeing boat like the ones in Amsterdam.

We stopped to empty a cassette and rubbish just before Boveney Lock. We were pleased to find a mooring by the Olympic rowing lake at Dorney. The permissive footpath that used to connect the Thames Path with Dorney village now appears to be padlocked!

Moored by Dorney Rowing Lake

We sat in the bows for some of the afternoon, and we saw a mink swimming across the river. Hazel saw a kingfisher. 

There were a lot of boats racing past to get to the next lock.

Moving water art

3 locks, 7½ miles. Dep 0920, arr 1215

Next: Continuing upstream through Maidenhead, past Cliveden to Cookham, Bourne End, Marlow and Henley.

Pyrford to Weybridge

Thu 22^nd July  Pyrford to Pyrford via New Haw

Sunny again this morning! A gentle cruise downstream brought us to Byfleet Boat Club and TLC. We bought some gas from TLC, where Julia had put our name on one of the bottles. We understand that there is a shortage of gas bottles at present because many people are doing a staycation instead of going overseas, and they are buying boats, caravans and gas barbecues. We also bought some Fuel Set to prevent diesel bug.

We met Terry Simmonds at the club, and caught up news with him. He is one of three guys named Terry we know who each are married to a lady called Chris. It can be confusing. We also know three couples named David and Carol.

We cruised to New Haw and went down through the lock to a place below, where the weir stream joins the canal, and it is wide enough to turn. We turned round and went back up through the lock, and moored up in some shade.

Moored at New Haw

We enjoyed a meal at the White Hart with Sue Graves. The pub now serves simple pub food. Last time we came it was a Thai menu. We went next door to the Co-op where we bought some milk.

Sue Graves

The garden at the White Hart

Back on the boat, the shade had gone, so we set off upstream back to Pyrford, where we turned once more and moored up close to where we had been earlier.

2 locks, 5 miles. Dep 0940,arr 1015 TLC. Dep 1040, arr 1150 New Haw. Dep 1610, arr 1720 Pyrford.

Fri 23^rd July  Pyrford to Byfleet

We had a short cruise today, just as far as Byfleet Boat Club, where we moored under some trees for shade. Hazel put some washing out to dry.

One of the amazing plane trees between Pyrford and Byfleet.

A beautiful display of ragwort

Moored under a tree at Byfleet Boat Club

We noticed lots of pond skaters, all going up stream, and then floating back to where they had started.  When Hazel took in the washing, she found lots of little black caterpillars on the deck and roof, as well as twigs, leaves, and thousands of black specks, presumably seeds.

Pond skaters

James went to chat to Adrian who was sitting watching the world go by. While they were talking, James spotted a grass snake swimming along. It disappeared into some reeds on the other side.  Then, later, we saw a fox in the garden opposite. It didn’t wait for a photo.

Grass snake

Mark and Christine arrived on Journeyman. They are planning a week away to Godalming.

Robin appeared, and showed us his new workshop, where he maintains the rowing boat hire fleet.

Rodney also appeared for a short while.

0 locks, 1 mile. Dep 1055, arr 1130

Sat 24^th July  Byfleet

Raz and Eileen turned up on Babbling Brooks. Raz had some work to do on the boat. Mike and Jeanette came to see us as well, and we took photos of each other.

Mike and Jeanette

James and Hazel (Photo by Mike Chamberlain)

We started to get a little light rain, so we took our brollies as we waited for Oliver to collect us. He took us to Greg and Jessy’s in Leatherhead, where we had a family gathering to celebrate some birthdays: Greg, Amanda, and Jasmin.

Jasmin with her birthday cake

Jasmin and Claudia

Greg, Amanda, Oliver

Jessy, Greg, Amanda, Oliver, Hazel, James

We had a BBQ with far more food than we could possibly eat. Thankfully there was no rain until late afternoon, when we had a brief heavy shower.

We had a lift back with Amanda, who stayed on Gabriel overnight, before driving to Poole the next day.

Brian and Claire Clarke arrived late on M’Lady. He is the Commodore this year, and is on boat hire duty tomorrow.

We had some heavy rain and thunder in the night.

No boating today

Sun 25^th July  Byfleet

The pond skaters were still skating upstream

It was a bit cooler this morning, after the rain. We spent the day chatting to lots of people at the Boat Club, including Brian and Claire, also Ron, and Richard Pilgrim. There was very little boat hire going on – just two or three boats.

Rain started again in the afternoon, so we stayed where we were. We moved the boat back from under the trees, hoping the rain would wash away some of the debris that was all over the roof.

Moored in the distance at Byfleet Boat Club

No boating today

Mon 26^th July  Byfleet to Weybridge

This morning felt a bit fresher after the rain. We departed quietly, as no-one seemed to be up. We had a gentle cruise past what used to be Ed Stewarts house, past the Basingstoke Canal Junction, and under the M25, where we stopped at the water point.

Leaving Byfleet Boat Club

The house once lived in by Ed Stewart

Under the M25

Facilities under the M25

We emptied two cassettes and filled the water tank. Then James spent almost two hours, taking everything off the roof, and trying to wash off the twigs, leaves, small black seeds, and caterpillars.

Everything off the roof

Roof in need of cleaning

While he was there, a widebeam came past, heading for Godalming. It was Machaseh, with Barry and Pippa Tarr, of BCF. We warned them that there was another widebeam up there already, and they would probably meet somewhere.

When we had loaded all our gear back onto the roof, we set off once more, and met John Webster on Corn Dolly. We only had a chance for a quick “Hello”. It’s a shame we hadn’t met somewhere where we could stop.

Corn Dolly

New Haw Lock was in our favour, as John had just come from there. Coxes Lock was mostly empty, and all the gates were closed – unusual for the Wey. We filled it and went in. When we were most of the way down, we realised that there was a lot of water coming from the top gates, like a fountain. James took a video, and sent it to the National Trust.

Leakage at Coxes Lock

Passing Coxes Mill

At Town Lock, there were two boats about to come up, so James beckoned them in first as the lock was empty. One was Sundragon.

The view of our quayside from Weybridge Town Lock

We decided to go down through Thames Lock and onto the Wey, and moor up on the Wall. We had to wait half an hour for the staff at Thames Lock to have their lunch hour.

Thames Lock

There was a cruiser waiting to come up, and they wanted to have a one-day licence. There is not much you can do in a day, especially if you come in after lunch. When we had moored up on the Weybridge Wall, we saw them go back past. They probably realised that they needed to plan a bit better.

We walked into Weybridge, to visit the Kitchen Shop, which is an excellent place to buy all manner of kitchen items. We also went to Robert Dyas, to buy another soft brush for cleaning the boat, as our last one had broken. We came away with a new oscillating fan as well.

Then we had a small meal in Morrisons café, before buying our groceries. It was very hot again, and we took a taxi back. At £7.00 for just under a mile, I think he overcharged us, but for us it was worth it.

We tried to use our tyre fenders as we were getting buffeted by the flow from Shepperton Weir, but the tyres disappeared under the mooring wall, where there must be some sort of cavity.

The view from our mooring on the Weybridge Wall

5 locks, 4 miles. Dep 0940, arr water point 0950. Dep 1150, arr Thames Lock 1330. Dep 1405, arr Wall 1435. Total 2hrs 20m.

Next: We set off up the Thames tomorrow, getting a 31-day licence at Shepperton Lock. Hopefully we will find the fuel barge Merchant at Staines, as we need diesel. We are meeting Mary and Jim in Staines after that.