Wednesday 16th May
The weather was bright and breezy today and we started the day at Pyrford Marina getting diesel, water, gas and coal before travelling the 5 miles and 4 locks back to the Thames at Weybridge. We arrived at Thames Lock just before 1pm and had to wait until 2pm for the lock keeper to finish his lunch before we could lock down to the Thames.
There is a rather fierce weir at the confluence of the Thames and the Wey and it was a bit like white water rafting getting past it to the 24 hour moorings opposite the Weybridge Mariners at Shepperton. We had to turn round and moor facing into the flow otherwise we would have had difficulty stopping at the moorings! We had a laugh watching two hire boats coming past the moorings sideways later on!
Ken and I walked the few hundred yards to The Old Crown, we passed The Minnow, a modern looking pub, on the way. There was a riverside garden but we sat just outside the door, in the car park really. This was being used at the time as a picking up point for the pupils of St George’s College Junior School, which must be just up the road. There were a lot of Chelsea Tractors about and some very smart uniforms.
There was a Zumba or aerobics class, or some such, at the Weybridge Mariners in the evening which provided more amusement as all the doors and windows were open and there was a lot of leaping about going on!
Tomorrow we continue our journey along to Thames towards Reading.
