The blog records the voyages of PicoMicroYacht, a seaworthy small sailing dinghy converted for rowing long distances. This includes the 26th July 2012 crossing of the English Channel, as well as rowing along the south coast of England, down the river Thames, around London and across Ireland. PicoMicroYacht is a converted Laser Pico Sailing Dinghy, with a sliding seat, riggers and cleaver oars, fitted with a shortened main mast and a mizzen mast and can be set up as a reduced rig sailing boat.
Astute post readers will realise that PicoMicroYacht has been left stranded as I have taken the land route along the remains of the Wey and Arun Canal as part of the London's Lost Route to the Sea Journey. I had reached, or had been landlocked, at Loxwood.
The best part of the canal is at Loxwood, where this stretch is lovingly resorted and navigable for three miles. However, on this occasion PicoMicroYacht could not get launched since I did not have the special permission to navigate the locks.
Two centuries ago the canal made Loxwood prosperous and now the canal provides pleasure to many in the form of boating experiences. What better way to enjoy an afternoon but be ferried along the canal in one of the fleet owned by the Wey and Arun Canal Trust? I introduce:
Zachariah Keppel:
Wiggonholt:
Or perhaps Josiah Jessop taken over by Pirates for one of the Trust's events:
Leaving Loxwood, I set off for Pulborough where I could be reunited with PicoMicroYacht and row down the Arun River to the sea.
In between there was the beautiful Sussex countryside.
It was time to move on from Shamley Green. As I went onward along the tracks, between the yellow green grass I would see glimpses of the canal.
I passed where the canal opened up into pool in the middle of a wood, providing a turning place.
Eventually I reached the place where the canal remnants pass through Sidney Wood, on the Surrey and Sussex border, where canal's watershed exists.
Old map showing in the centre Sidney Wood, with the Wey and Arun Canal winding through the wood to reach Loxwood.
The woods yield a rich history, including the lives of the charcoal burners and the glassblowers who used their charcoal. The glassblowing is reputed to have started in Roman times and continued until the 1600s. Sand was brought from Hambledon, and ash for flux was obtained from bracken and lime was imported. Until comparatively recently, fragments of fireproof crucibless used as furnaces could be found in the woods.
Smuggling occurred in the 18th and early 19th century in which the ruins of the glasshouses were used to store smuggled goods.
The tradition of glass work lingers on, and, on another occasion, I was able to buy a beautiful vase made nearby at the Smithbrook Kilns.
The track took me into the woodland and inevitably I got lost. I continued to follow the track, the direction of the sun telling me that I was at least going roughly south.
I kept going in hope that something would turn up, but time was moving on and I was becoming more disorientated. Eventually I had to admit I was lost.
Just as this thought occurred I looked to the left and saw through the undergrowth the canal - I had found again London's Lost Route to the Sea.
It stretched out in a south easterly direction, guiding me. The mossy banks of the canal led me onward between trees towards my destination.
It might be hard to see how these three things are related, but there is a link.
PicoMicroYacht was now left behind on the River Wey and I was attempting to trace London's Lost Route to the Sea by exploring what remained of the Wey and Arun canal.
In places I could see the canal was just scrub land and bushes. Here a railway bridge crosses the canal route as I walked onward.
In other places the water filled the canal and enthusiasts were keeping the banks clear, with coppicing woodlands to the right.
As I looked on the map I could see that close to the old canal a small river would come and go, this called the 'Bramley Waters.' I knew that soon I would visit a place where an old track branched off and the path took you over a small wooden bridge, crossing the river and leading to a place called Shamley Green.
The location of the bridge over the Bramley Waters, close to Shamley Green where Ernest Shepard lived.
As I pondered this route beforehand I realised that it was in Shamley Green that that Ernest Shepard had lived, the illustrator of the world famous Winnie the Pooh stories.
The 2017 film 'Goodbye Christopher Robin' explores the relationship between A A Milne and his son, who was the real 'Christopher Robin'
I contemplated whether Shepard had been inspired by the small river and the old canal. Alternatively, he had just based his drawings on his visit to Ashdown Forest, the setting for Winnie the Pooh.
My intuition was that he would have been influenced by the countryside he knew and loved, by Shamley Green.
Ernest Shepard - he illustrated for 'Winnie the Pooh' and also 'The Wind in the Willows' (note the different spelling used by some)
There was a way test this out. I decided to inspect some of the drawings, in particular of the bridge used for 'Pooh Sticks' by the characters in the stories.
Looking at these drawings I realised that the base of the bridge, in the imagination of Shepard, definitely had bricks.
Winnie the Pooh and Rabbit doing Pooh Sticks, the bridge supported by bricks
However, photographs of the Ashdown Forest Pooh Stick Bridge showed only stones, with no bricks.
Adults contemplating 'pooh sticks' in Ashdown Forest
So was the bridge that Shephard had been thinking of a different one from that in Ashdown forest, and even the one over the Bramley Waters, near Shamley Green?
I now had a prediction; if I took that track from the old canal, I could get to the bridge over the Bramley Waters and see whether it had a brick base or stone.
If Ernest Shepard had been inspired by Shamley Green then there would be bricks supporting the bridge along my path
So what is the link with cosmology? I work in a university and have enjoyed the writings of Karl Popper, who sketched out the philosophical basis for scientific enquiry, including in his book 'Conjectures and Refutations.' He believed that scientific theories had to be open to scrutiny and 'falsification.' A scientific theory could never by proven but could be falsified and this attempt should be done by decisive experiments.
Karl Popper
His main illustrative example is a decisive observational experiment conducted in 1919, testing Einstein's general theory of relativity. According to this theory, light is bent by the gravitational attraction of massive cosmological structures by twice the amount predicted by Newtonian theory. A way to test this was to determine the degree of deviation of light as it passed proximal to the sun, the light coming from stars.
There was one snag, however; light from stars was insufficiently bright when looking towards the sun. The solution was to find a good eclipse. This is what the Greenwich astronomer, Arthur Eddington, did in 1919, travelling by expedition to an island off the west coast of Africa. As he made his observations, it was clear that light was bent according to Einstein's prediction, this sensational result making Einstein an overnight celebrity.
Einstein and Eddington
Could I apply Karl Popper's falsification principle to understanding the illustrations of Winnie Pooh. It seemed as if this was possible. Since I did not know whether or not there were bricks supporting the Shamley Green bridge - I had a testable hypothesis. I could disprove my theory if there were no bricks. I set off down the track, leaving the canal behind. As I approached the bridge in anticipation I noticed certain things.
The bridge had obviously seen better days and was now supported by metal girders. Initially, I could not see any bricks and I began to doubt my theory.
But as I moved around the bridge I realised that slabs of bricks that had fallen away from the base of the bridge, no longer needed because of the metal girders. The presence of large slabs of bricks confirmed, or at least did not falsify my theory, and my hypothesis had been proved correct.
Of course, critics of the theory could say there might have been bricks supporting the Ashdown forest bridge that were removed or that what appears as stone could in fact be very muddy bricks. They could say that this bridge type is relatively common and this is no big deal.
But I now prefer to turn things around and say the onus is on those proposing the 'Ashdown Winnie the Pooh theory of influence' to develop testable hypotheses to prove their own theory.
Meanwhile I have another testable hypothesis that the bricks by the bridge date back to the time of Winnie the Pooh.
The comedy writer, Mark Evans, will teach you how to play Pooh Sticks if needed
The search for London’s Lost Route to the Sea had finally
reached the Wey and Arun Canal.
A quick look at the National Trust sign and map orientated me to where I was - Stonebridge Wharf.
It was at this wharf that 'many a barge' was loaded with gunpowder, produced in the nearby Chilworth Gunpowder Mills.
Until the mid 19th Century when the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel perfected the use of trinitroglycerin for dynamite, gunpowder was produced in the mills, using a combination of water power from the Tillingbourne river, sulphur and saltpetre. The charcoal was made from alder trees, which grew profusely along the River Wey. Explosive production continued until about 1920. All explosives were transported down the River Wey and along the Thames to the arsenals to the east of London.
Looking around, I saw an old gunpowder store by the Stonebridge Wharf, supported by staddle stones, typical of this area, protecting the store from water seepage.
Later on I found out that there was a huge explosion at the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills in 1864 and in that same year a gunpowder barge blew up at Stonebridge Wharf
As the last River Wey barge master said in in his memoirs:
'The Powder Mill was at Chilworth. 'Course it blew up - can't tell you what date. But the last powder I remember coming from there... although I think they did still use it after that .. was about nineteen twenty six.' (from Captain White's River Life' edited by Nancy Larcombe).
These days it is a tranquil place to be and, looking out from the old wharf, I saw the muddy still river contrasting with the early yellow-greens of spring.
The commercial imperative of exporting gunpowder around the world had given way to the peacefully moored canal boats around Shalford.
Hidden in trees up the Tilling Bourne valley is the site of the older Gunpowder Mills
PicoMicroYacht finally arrived at Dapdune Wharf in Guildford, a museum keeping alive the history of barging on the River Wey,
The grey days of late winter were over, the trees starting to colour in earnest. Further on could be seen the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and an old mill converted to a theatre studio. Quintessentially Guildford.
The late afternoon light faded fast and soon the early evening sun was setting through alder trees on the banks of the river.
These trees help create the elegant beauty of the River Wey throughout the seasons.
Passing through the Millmead Lock - Who knows where the time goes? 'I know it will be so until it's time to go So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again I have no fear of time For who knows how my love grows? And who knows where the time goes?'
I had got as far as Pyford Lock on the previous journey, adjacent to the Anchor Inn, one of the best public houses on the river Wey. There was low light at the start of the journey.
The Anchor Inn by the Pyrford Lock
As I journeyed on I was reflecting on reading bargemaster Captain White's account of the Anchor Inn, and that 'them olden days' on the river were both good and bad:
'But if you could have seen the old Anchor Public Hours.... There used to be chickens, dogs, cats, pigs, running in and out of the bars. Oh, you was down to earth alright..... How they used to make it pay in these pubs, I don't know. But the stench, it was terrible. you used to go in a pub, get a pint and bread and cheese... 'course in the Anchor, they give you half a loaf and half a pound of cheese...ninepence! you wouldn't get that for ninepence now. The bread they used to bake theirself. There were no bakers in those days. But the beer was good!'
From Captain White's River Life, Edited and illustrated by Nancy Larcombe, 1985
The next stretch of the river onward Guildford has a gentle beauty. The trees were reflected in the still water, the muted greens and greys reminiscent of Corot's landscapes.
I passed the summer house of Pyrford Place, reputed to have been where the poet and Church of England cleric John Donne wooed the heiress Ann More.
Further on there were glimpses of the remains of the Newark priory, which dates back to the 11th Century and was destroyed by cannonballs on the orders of Henry VIII as part of the dissolution of the monasteries.
As PicoMicroYacht voyaged the seven miles to the outskirts of Guildford, the light was fading and arrival was in the dark.
A video clip below captures some of the voyage. I was having trouble with the rudder and keeping PicoMicroYacht going straight, which accounts for some of the jerky camera shots. The background music is an anthem set to music by Aaron Copland.
PicoMicroYacht is now through the Thames Lock and continuing up the river Wey.
Along this stretch of the river and in his exploration of London's Lost Route to the Sea in the 19th Century, J P Dashwood found that he had to be very careful with operating the locks. There was no plank support to get at the lock paddles so he had to shuffle along the top of the lock gates.
As he noted:
'The hatches of many of these locks are placed, goodness knows why, in the very centre of the gates, and in order to open and shut them, it is necessary to sit astride the gates, place the point of the crowbar in the niches of the hatch, and by violent jerks raise it inch by inch until the flood gates are opened. These hatches are always very stiff and difficult to raise and lower, and as it is necessary to get a good leverage, the crowbar much be worked form the extreme end of the handle, and if, whilst the wrench is made, the point should slip out of the niche into which it is placed away goes the unfortunate being into the water.'
(From 'The Thames to the Solent by Canal and Sea')
From J B Dashwood's book - see also the post 21st February 2018
These days a windlass turns a spindle connected to cogs that then grip the paddle using a tooth strip. The locks are far safer but, without electrical power, they still provide a certain satisfaction because of doing everything by hand. I enjoy the process of operating the locks, including leaning on the gates to push them open.
Further up the river Wey I eventually reached Coxes Lock, where a large mill used to process grain, brought up the river by barge. The mill was the last commercially operated mill in Surrey, closing in 1983, now converted into apartments.
Coxes lock with the mill buildings
Until the Second World War, oats, maze and barley were brought to the mill. Then it was just wheat, the flower taken down to London to be unloaded at Winchester Wharf, close to London Bridge.
Illustration by Nancy Larcombe from Captain White's River Life.
Coxes lock.....
Which reminds me .... this year, the fourdaysrunning group, who I will meet on my voyage at Arundel for the start of their 100 K run, are being sponsored by Martin Cox, one of the runners. I do not usually advertise on this blog, but her are the contact details of Martin Cox's business, based in Kent - to be highly recommended!
PicoMicroYacht did not have to wait long for the flooding on
the River Wey to subside in order to continue on London's Lost Route to the Sea.
The next stage required launching at Weybridge and going very briefly on the Thames near Shepperton Lock. I was able to launch using the slipway of the Weybridge Ladies Amateur Rowing Club.
The launching site at Weybridge. The river Wey entrance is the smaller channel to the bottom left. The route of PicoMicoYacht shown in white.
That day the whole of the Thames had the 'Caution Strong Stream' warning which has the following advice:
‘We advise all boats
not to navigate because of the strong flows make it difficult and dangerous.’
As I launched, I realised a large force of water was
sweeping round an effective pool at the confluence of the Wey and the Thames,
gushing out from the Shepperton weir.
The back eddy took me upstream and deposited me right at the
entrance to the river Wey. I was soon entering the Thames Lock, the gateway to the river.
I had the luxury of the lock keeper operating the lock, done by hand. He was very helpful, with good advice about the river. Soon I was exiting the lock, as the lock keeper used his pole to push open one of the gates.
I was now in the river Wey. As I continued onward I realised there was no stream because the navigable section in this part is actually a canal that interacts and is fed by the historical river Wey. This canal system is one of the oldest in these parts, finished in 1653 to transport goods from Guildford and Godalming to Weybridge.
At short video shows PicoMicroYacht entering the river Wey
The next stage of the London's Lost Route to the Sea is to enter the river Wey at Weybridge. But there is a snag, because the rainy weather has created flooding conditions.
The flood warnings seems to cover large areas along the Thames valley where the river Wey meets it, so there would be no chance of continuing the voyage.
The Environmental Agency Flood Warnings Amber Alert
The floods overcome the banks and and the the lock system as this photograph of the river Wey Millmead lock shows, taken on another occasion for the Guildford Dragon News. See http://www.guildford-dragon.com/
PicoMicoYacht will have to bide it's time whilst the floods subside.
