Boat Fire Goldalming Wharf - Police Investigation

Now we haven't been down the River Wey for some time, but somebody in Surrey Police obviously thought it important to contact bloggers who could be boating in the area about an incident that occurred at Godalming Wharf.  Worryingly its a boat fire that was started deliberately. There are references to it in the local media, Facebook and web but an interesting move is circulating bloggers. The published photos look horrendous.

In case any readers might have information, here is the press release verbatim.

Issue Date:03 November 2018

Houseboat set on fire in Godalming - we need witnesses

We are appealing for information and witnesses after a boat was deliberately set alight in Godalming last night.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and Surrey Police were called to Godalming Wharf, opposite Sainsbury's, shortly before 6pm last night (Friday 2 November) to a houseboat that was on fire. The fire caused substantial damage to the boat, but thankfully nobody was on board the boat at the time.

The fire is believed to have been started deliberately, and we are now investigating the circumstances in conjunction with Fire Investigation Officers from the fire service. Early indications are that a flammable liquid was poured on the boat before it was set alight.

Officers are keen to trace everyone who was in the area of the wharf between 5.30pm and 6pm - in case they s aw or heard anything that may assist in their investigations. They are also asking people who were shopping in the Sainsbury's opposite the wharf last night to check any dashcam footage, and to consider if they saw anything suspicious that could help.

Detective Constable Richard Pegden, who is investigating the incident, said: "Setting fire to a boat is a very dangerous, very stupid, thing to do and it is only down to luck that the boat was unoccupied at the time, and that it didn't spread to other nearby boats. I am determined to find out is responsible - there would have been a lot of people in the area, so I am sure someone would have seen something that can help us find who did this."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey Police on 101, or surrey.police.uk/ReportIt quoting reference 45180117331.

A Decade with Albert!

On December 6th 2003 we completed the formalities for the purchase of Albert from her first owner who fitted her out, Mike Hurd. So I thought I would go down memory lane to celebrate our decade.

First time steering Albert on the Kennet and Avon near Bradford-on-Avon

with Mike Hurd watching over me

Negotiating our first lock with Albert, Bradford-on-Avon

December 30th, 2003

Ten years on we can look back on many happy journeys. With Albert we have travelled far and wide;

north to Gargrave on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal,

south to Guildford on the Wey Navigation,

east to Wissington on the River Wissey,

and west to Llangollen.

Strong Stream Warnings

We are planning to visit the Rivers Thames and Wey this spring and I have been planning our route. Part of this has been keeping a weather eye (!) on the river conditions.

After the weather we have had recently I suppose it's hardly suprising, but today all of the Environment Agency controlled Thames, apart from the reach above St John's Lock at Lechlade, is on Red Boards with no navigation!

I wonder if conditions will have improved later this month? Here's hoping - it has been a long winter with few local trips because of the heavy ice. From our experience on the Upper Thames after the floods in 2007 even navigation under Yellow Boards is not that easy, to say the least.

Teddington

On Monday (11/8) morning we took on water above Pyford Lock and went down with NB Swallow who was turning into the Marina. The weather was bright but cloudy as we went down through Byfleet and New Haw. It was an uneventful but very pleasant journey down to Thames Lock where we returned our Wey Navigation’s windlass.


Working out on the Wey - the long throw windlass is supplied by the National Trust

We can certainly recommend the Wey. The staff of the navigation were particularly helpful and friendly and the scenery is stunning. Although moorings on the lower reaches can be difficult it is worth going beyond Pyrford where they improve considerably.

Coxes Mill & Lock

We went down the Thames towards Teddington picking up out temporary licence at Sunbury Locks where we were dwarfed by a barge going north. It was quite windy in the Kingston reach and Albert’s bows began to “nod”. Saw Rangitoto moored up outside Hampton Court; Irene and Brian were not on board, maybe they we were visiting the palace.


Sunbury Locks

We found the moorings at Teddington nearly empty and moored up for the night. We will go down to Brentford tomorrow morning on the falling tide. We had a great evening in Teddington meeting both our daughters and their partners. During the night a couple of large cruisers arrived on the moorings. We assume they came up from London on the evening tide.

Pyrford

Over the weekend we had a great time at the wedding of Holly Winter and Paul Stevens. However, we couldn’t completely get away from water as the wedding was held at Frensham Pond Hotel near Farnham. In our view the pond is certainly not a pond but a lake.

We were picked up by our friends Anne and Edward Winter (the MOB & FOB) on Friday (8/8) morning and left Albert in the hands of the National Trust (in a manner of speaking). In the afternoon we enjoyed a walk around the pond in bright sunshine. There were kids swimming and even a beach umbrella protecting a family from the sun. Unfortunately the sun wasn’t to last but it didn’t spoil the wedding celebrations on Saturday (9/8) at all. As with all good weddings it’s the people that make the event. Here is a picture of the bride and groom near the pond.


The new Mr & Mrs Stevens

On Sunday (10/8) morning we got a taxi back to Albert at Dapdune, winded and made our way back to Pyford. It was a pleasant trip largely in sunshine. The views near Send were again stunning and Newark Priory looked good in the sunshine.


Wey Navigation near Send

We paused at Trigg’s Lock for a sandwich and were caught up by a day boat from Guilford. We had looked forward to sharing the lock with them but when we saw the adults allowing their young children to jump off the roof of the boat onto Send Church footbridge and then back onto the roof of the boat again, all whilst the boat was moving, we decided not to go down that route! The adults on board thanked us for letting them through the lock but Steve told them in no uncertain terms that he considered their behaviour unacceptable and that was why we were not sharing the lock with them.

Their operation of the lock was hardly better. The children operated the paddles but left the windlasses on the spigots (at head height) while the lock filled. This is dangerous enough on canal locks where there are pawl catches but on the River Wey there are no pawls, only hydraulic pressure holds paddles up, and the water flows are significantly stronger. We saw the effects of an impact of a spinning windlass on an adult’s skull some years ago on the Grand Union and it was not pretty. The thought of this happening to a child are at the very least alarming.


We moored up for the night at Pyrford above the lock and in front of NB George. They had managed to reach the head of navigation at Goldalming but with the rains over the weekend reported that getting under Broadford Bridge (nominal 6ft draught) coming down stream was very tight.

Pyrford lock was very busy with boats and gongoozlers. It was a little like a summer Sunday afternoon at Stoke Bruerne Top Lock. The popularity of the Anchor Inn appears to be responsible. Having run down our provisions we visited the Anchor again and had another great meal.


Pyrford Lock, Sunday Afternoon

Guildford (2)

What a start to the day (7/8)! We woke to blue skies and decided to move towards Guilford to see what the mooring arrangements were at Dapdune Wharf; we planned to leave Albert there for two days while we go to a wedding near Farnham.

Maggie went up to Stoke Lock to get it ready and I stayed on Albert to cast off. I cast of at the stern first. Because it was relatively shallow when we arrived we had left the stern well out from the bank and the bows tucked in alongside. I then went forward and cast off. No problem so far. I then walked aft and selected forward – no progress we were stuck aground at the stern. This isn’t usually a problem and often happens with a deep drafted boat, it usually just requires a bit of poling. I tried to push Albert off using one of the long poles we have aboard but she just wouldn’t budge. She appeared to be firmly wedged under the stern and was determined not to move. At this point I should point out that there was a reasonable flow on the river, particularly from a storm water discharge just opposite our mooring. The flow started to move Albert’s bows downstream, but unfortunately not the stern. In a very short space of time the bows moved across the river to the opposite bank and we were blocking navigation, from bank to bank. Try as we may we couldn’t either pole the bows back or get the stern released. In the end we had to call out the local lengthsman who happened to be at the lock on his boat and he immediately saw our predicament. He and his girlfriend arrived with poles, shortly followed by the crew of cruiser Idler who we had shared locks with the day before. Even a passing jogger joined in to help.

Several techniques to move Albert were tried but eventually, some two hours after we had first tried to leave our mooring, we got her free. We joined three ropes together and with five people pulling upstream on the bow and two poling at the stern Albert came free to much celebration. She was unscathed but looked rather muddy. We were very relieved.


Dapdune Wharf, Guilford

We then went up through the lock with a boat that arrived just after we were free and headed for Guildford. When we arrived at Dapdune, there space for Albert available so we headed for it and moored up behind the former working boat NB George. We often see George moored up just north of Weedon on the Grand Union. We checked on the mooring arrangements at the wharf with the staff at the National Trust Navigations Office and they were fine.


Wey Barge, Dapdune Wharf

Guildford (1)

After our night outside the Anchor Inn, on Wednesday (6/8) morning we reversed back to Pyrford Marina. It is a large marina with a very swish dry dock. We took on fuel, which was no problem except the increasing price and the fact that we needed 104 litres, but the pump-out was another matter. We seem to have a jinx when it comes to pump-outs. Last year on the Oxford Canal the pump-out at Heyford Wharf was blocked and this year the pump-out at Pyrford was also blocked. It took two men over half-an-hour to fix it. Still once fixed it did a great job and we were on our way by around 11:00.

Anchor Inn, Pyrford

Walsham Flood Gates

The trip up through Newark and Papercourt Locks was delightful although we still struggled with the strong flows and working the locks alone.

Newark Priory

However, we were soon joined by the cruiser Idler. Sharing the locks that have strong flows with a fibre-glass cruiser appeared a little daunting at first but we soon developed a technique which involved the use of bow and centre lines which kept Albert from moving across.

Send Church

The section of navigation between Send and Burpham was particularly pretty. It probably looked at its best in the summer sunshine. This section passes close to Sutton Place and is also very twisty with a particularly difficult turn and bridge (Broad Oak Bridge) which, just to make things more interesting, also incorporates a weir.

Damsel Fly

Egyptian Geese

Not wishing to travel through Guildford yet, since we are hopefully mooring here over the weekend, we stopped just below Stoke Lock. There are some delightful meadows here but earlier on this evening the A3 road just beyond was noisy. As we settled down for the evening Brian and Irene O’Neill came out of the lock going downstream on NB Rangitoto. From New Zealand, they moor their boat next to Albert at Kingfisher Marina. They left Yardley Gobion in June and are having a slow cruise. It appears their global average distance per day is a mere 2.1 miles per day. Brian explains there slow progress in terms of how much they are enjoying meeting people and admiring the countryside. It looks like we might see them again as they are planning to explore the Regents Canal. We will have to keep an eye out.

Byfleet & Pyrford

Two days worth of blogging in one: We left Teddington lock on Monday (4/8) morning, after Lucy had breakfast with us, and travelled up past Kingston in glorious sunshine. A classic Dutch barge overtook us close to Kingston Rowing Club.


Dutch Barge in the Kingston Reach

Molesey Lock was empty when we arrived and the Assistant Lock Keeper, wearing a jaunty feather in his cap opened up the lock for us. We eventually shared the lock with various cruisers who then overtook us in the Hampton reach. Passing Sunbury it rained heavily. We moored up in Walton for lunch and watched the parrots circling overhead.

After Desborough Island we turned into the narrow channel that leads to the Wey and Godalming Navigations. Thames Lock, at the start of the navigation is a charming place. We waited while two cruisers locked up ahead of us. The navigation books try to explain the purpose of the Stop Lock and its role in the operation of the Thames Lock. The lock keeper had the best explanation: it’s basically a staircase lock with flexible water levels. We paid our registration, received our special windlass (heavy and a very long throw) and then went up the lock.




Thames Lock: Wey & Goldalming Navigations

We had hoped to moor up close to the head of the navigation but we found it difficult to find suitable moorings. We eventually found a spot outside the Byfleet Boat Club (BBC), which although close to the M25, was relatively quiet. One of their members, Gordon, who was moored just ahead of us showed Steve around the boathouse. The BBC was founded back in the 1800s as a skiff club and still hires out rowing boats.

The weather on Tuesday (5/8) was grotty. We woke to heavy rain and it continued all morning. Steve caught up on his email traffic and editing while Maggie worked on her tapestry. After lunch the weather was slightly better so we moved on. We were going to get fuel and a pump-out at Pyrford Marina but we found it closed on Tuesdays! So, being in no hurry, plan B came into operation; we stopped outside the marina and Steve serviced Albert’s engine. We will sort out the fuel and the pump-out tomorrow. Because we are moored up outside the Anchor Inn we will try their fare this evening.