Cloudy, mild. 14.8 miles.
It was an easy stroll from the station to the river Wey and navigation (canal), on the way i picked up a take away coffee in Weybridge and wandered down to the river where i was met by the first great sight of the day, a grand bridge over the river and far right of photo can be seen the canal entrance/start point.
So a good point to sit down with a sandwich and enjoy the cooling coffee. The path launches straight into rural backwaters, quiet and beautiful. Not far at all and up comes a lock/weir combination at an old mill, barges are starting to move and i suspect this can get quite busy in the summer.
A little further along there was a magpie riding on a ponies back (the photo was useless), closely followed by seeing a parakeet inspecting two holes in a tree trunk, me thinks it was looking for a nest site, whether they make holes in trees themselves i do not know but considering their beak shape i suspect they may pinch woodpeckers holes, all this in less than an hour, it’s turning into a brilliant day.
After New Haw the path passes under a railway and the M 25 motorway and passes the junction with the Basingstoke canal.
So it gets a bit traffic noisy for a while but not to bad, then the motorway and canal veer away from each other and it is more lovely country side as we approach Pyrford lock and a huge marina with a large number of small boats and barges moored until the first sunny weekend perhaps. The path continues it’s meander to maybe the jewel of the day, Newark priory remains, another religious establishment dissolved by Henry VIII th.
Looks a good spot for a wild camp for a summer hiker, not obvious in the photo (but clear to see on google earth) the priory appears to be built on a large island with a side stream going around the far side and joining back with the one i’m walking. Now i don’t know if this is actually natural as in those days they needed food as now and often these religious communities were well into fish farming so often modified at least the local water ways, either way it’s a beauty for the historian or possibly the photographer/painter looking for a subject.
I will just be boring and say the path continues good looking, at papercourt lock some people were planting a new hedge alongside the path and a bit further along was another of those you never know what may be drinking/bathing in the canal.
A little further along the path was a Grebe which as normal wouldn’t come close enough for a photo, but produced a bit of fun as water fowl often do, in that when i got close it disappeared under the water, the fun is looking for a slight trail of bubbles indicating which way it is going and so anticipate where it will emerge, not sure if the bubbles are as the bird slowly breathes out but suspect it’s from air trapped in the birds plumage.
Plenty more water meadows, fields, woodland, even the occasional pond with some fine view like this approaching an old mill near Jacobs well.
This is a fine example of design within the environment without destroying it in that the original river is still there taking a big loop across the landscape, this section of canal i can see was built cutting across the loop and using it as a water source to fill the canal and drive the mill, any unused water continues on the original course joining the canal below the bottom lock (simply perfect).
Eventually approaching Guildford i start to see more than occasional dog walker and a few cyclist, the walk into town is still picturesque finally with a park along side the canal with some extremely nice wood carvings.
(Looking at maps and around the net i find that the Wey south path continues south from Guildford with a fork to Godalming, the canal south used to reach all the way to Arundel, this canal fell into disuse and disrepair but is apparently now being returned to it’s former state. The Wey south path does travel all the way to Arundel but not always beside what was the canal. Further to this and rather attractive i find there is a path/cycle route following old railway track beds all the way to Shoreham by the sea. So for anyone wishing to hike from London to the south coast there really are some attractive options).
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