Tuesday 24th May moored at Send and off for a walk - suss out the next step!
... past some nice moorings by the New Inn - see those fairly recently pollarded willow trees?
... a little further on are some that were pollarded the season before - you really can't fault the National Trust conservation techniques. Not like BW when it's all done at once - I'm deeply sorry each spring when there's hardly any hawthorne blossom to be seen except what the contractors can't reach with their industrial cutters. (Hawthorn flowers grow on last season's wood and the contractors cut it back before it gets the chance to bloom).
... posh statuary by the weir and ...
... ornamental bridges etc across the river ...
from Worsfold Flood Gates ...
... you can just about see a glimpse of a rather imposing house through the trees there ...
... and the National Trust Navigation Workshops on the right.
Talk about belt and braces - and not or bull or dog in sight!
Triggs Lock viewed from the towpath ...
... it really is so peaceful! ...
I'd rather see a Mandarin duck that an Egyptian Goose any day!
Dog roses in flower and smell heavenly!
... they look pretty - pastel pinks ...
... they look a bit like stocks but are growing too tall ...
... anyone tell me what they are?
Send Church Bridge - someone must have been keen to walk from wherever to church ...
The long drive to Sutton Place with security guards wandering about - didn't take pictures of them - built like the proverbial -whatever!
I cannot find any information/pictures of Sutton Place - all I can discover is that it was originally built for Sir Richard Weston in the 16th century, that Paul Getty lived there in the 1950's (J. Paul Getty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and was told by a local chap that a Russian currently owns the house. I've never read this author but she has apparently written a trilogy based on the true history of Sutton Place. (Dinah Lampitt's Sutton Place trilogy - Deryn Lake)
... and looking the other way the drive continues over Broad Oak Bridge - probably to the A3.
... the approach on the watery front however sweeps around a blind bend - keep clear of the weir on the left and the shallow water on the right ...
... and through the right-hand arch.
There's a 'roller' attached to the front of this post to assist horse-drawn boats to travel round the bend ...
... you can see it in use here on this information board - click the picture to enlarge.
The natural course of the River Wey flowing quite gently over the weir ...
... which is just to the right of this photo of the lock - it's an extremely sharp turn left to enter Bowers Lock!
Held together by a bit of elastic, but still it grows ... amazing!
... and we walked on ...
... a great contrast of colour in the trees ...
... the approach to ...
... Stoke Lock from the towpath ...
... you have to look very carefully for mooring spots on the river ...
Stoke Mill building now houses the Surrey Advertiser
... click to read more easily ...
... the end of our walk for today - The Rowbarge pub on the northern reaches of Guildford ...
... where we had a drink and watched the water world go by - these are the first cygnets we've seen ...
... closely followed by the mallard family ...
... either foolish or brave this little one did not like it at all - and sent them packing!
After getting our breath back and resting the legs, we decided to take a bus into Guildford centre, for a bit of RnR (of the retail kind). We caught another bus back to Rock n Roll at Send, collected fish and chips from the village, took them home - delicious! It was 6pm when we got back we'd walked about 6 miles in all today - another good day!
