Up to Godalming.

Rural backwater

Thursday we carried on up to Godalming and moored by the wharf which was very convenient for a shop at Sainsburys. I was able to wheel the shopping trolley almost to Petroc.
We couldn't stay there overnight so turned and went a short way back to just before the last lock. The mooring was not ideal for Ellie as we had to use the gangplank and she was not impressed. Geoff went off for an explore and whilst he was away the horse drawn barge came past. There were no problems going this way but they said they would be back in an hour and needed a longer run for the horse to get going after the lock and would we mind moving over to the other side temporarily!! It is not too bad to move when there are mooring rings but when Geoff has had to brave the nettles to get 3 stakes in, life gets slightly more difficult. Luckily he arrived back from his wanderings just before they came back as I didn't fancy doing it on my own.

After that it was a quiet night apart from a group of teenagers trying to vandalise the lengthman's small boat which was moored opposite. Geoff shouted at them and they did disappear luckily.

Friday morning we went up to town to see the market but it was very small. However I was lucky enough to find a hairdresser who could fit me in immediately for a cut and blow dry. I had been getting a little shaggy!!

We waited for a small shower to pass through and set off just before 12 to do the 3 locks back to Guildford Meadows. We had seen the moorings there on the way up and they seemed ideal for the weekend.

There are quite a few blind sharp bends on this stretch and we used the horn at each one. At one of them we heard another boats horn alerting us to an oncoming boat. The boat proceeded to appear on our side of the river and as he passed he shouted "I did hoot" Geoff replied that he also had to stay on the right!!

Along the way by these sharp bends you can still see the rollers which were used assist the horse drawn barges to turn sharp corners without chafing the rope. The rollers can be seen under this bridge on the left if you look closely

We have found a nice secluded spot right at the end of the meadows, no gang plank this time.
There is plenty of room to sit outside and Geoff had had his normal wander into town and it is only about a 10-15 min walk.