By The Wey

Number 82 January 2017

Byfleet Boat Club The Boat House, 4, Old Parvis Road, West Byfleet, Surrey KT14 6LE

BBC DIARY 2017 EVENTS IN BLUE ARE IWA EVENTS

January 2017 20th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

21st Winter BBQ Club House "Lighting up" at 5pm

February 17th Third Friday Quiz, and Games from 7pm

March 17th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

18th Inter Clubs Skittles at the Club House 7.30pm Start

25-26th Working weekend Club House

April 9th AGM Club House

14th-17th Easter Cruise Basingstoke Canal

21st Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

29-1st IWA Canalway Cavalcade Little Venice

May 6th-7th Commodores BBQ Warren Farm

19th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

19th Brewery tour Hogs Back, Tongham

26th-29th Spring bank holiday Cruise Boveney Lock

June 10th-11th Boat handling Warren Farm

16th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

24th Race Night at the Club House from 7.30pm

July 15th Byfleet Parish Day Byfleet Recreation Ground

21st Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

22nd West Byfleet Live West Byfleet Recreation Ground

August 5th Fun Day Open House at the club.

18th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

25th-28th Bank holiday Cruise St Catherine’s Lock

26th- 28th IWA Festival of Water Ilkeston

September 9th-10th Heritage weekend Cruise to Old Woking Palace

15th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

22nd-24th Guildford Boat Festival Dapdune Wharf

This is a Byfleet Boat Club sponsored event

October 20th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

21st-22nd Working Weekend Club House

28th-29th Ripley fireworks The Meadows

November 17th Third Friday at the Club House from 7pm

18th D + D Dump leaves and Decorate Club House

25th Illuminated Boats Parade Boat Club

December 2nd Christmas Party at the Club House

15th Third Friday/Carols at the Club House from 7pm

30th New Year Cruise To Thames Lock, and Dinner.

31st New Year's Eve Party Club House

Please note that this diary is subject to change. Do check with the

club nearer the date.

Cover photo: Zavala at the Warren Farm mooring

Photo by Nigel Prior

A Foggy Day in Byfleet Town .......

A beautiful photograph by Suzanne Wilson

EDITORIAL RHYS BEYNON

Once again I must thank all contributors. One or two were a

little embarrassed to have more of their reports or photographs

included. I can only say that without their efforts and help

there would be no magazine. The number of BBC magazines

has reduced from four per year to three per year over the years

and we surely don't want to make them even fewer.

While on the subject, I must let you know that my tenure as

Editor will come to an end after the Spring issue so please be

prepared to volunteer to take over the job at the 2017 AGM.

I will happily help in any way I can the new Editor over the

September issue. Other factors will take precedence over the

time I will able to allocate to the club. Boating itself may

become one of the pleasures that may be sacrificed over the

next few years. Things change as time passes both Mel and I

have enjoyed our years with the BBC. We don't think we've

ever known such a wonderfully dedicated and energetic group

of enthusiasts.

Editor's email address: rbeynon1@btinternet.com

Copy date deadline for May/June issue: Sunday May 7th

Please note personal opinions expressed by contributors to

By The Wey are not necessarily those of the BBC........ Editor

NEW MEMBERS

September 2016 to date of printing.

A very warm BBC welcome to the following new

members:

Brian & Janet Carruthers

TANAMARIS Cruiser

David & Sally Gibb

BON BECK Cruiser

Ian Carruthers & Jennifer Norfolk

TANAMARIS Cruiser

Andrew & Emma Merriman

FOX HOLLIES Cruiser

Nigel Northridge & Susan Frost & family

MIGHTY CRAIC Narrowboat

NAVIGATION NEWS Wey and Godalming Navigations Manager JOHN GIBSON

What a Wonderful 2016 !

We have had, I think, a super year on the River Wey and

Godalming & Navigations and at Dapdune Wharf and

Shalford Mill and we could never have achieved that without

you. But it hasn’t been easy and has involved a lot of hard

work by volunteers and staff alike.

We have fitted a lot in this year, new lock gates a Triggs and

Thames locks, new lock bridge at Millmead Lock with 50m of

new upper lock landing bay piling, 1 mile of river bank and

towpath improvements below Guildford and countless

hundreds of metres of bank repairs. Miles of grass cut and

many trees pruned and cut back. We have spent a lot of your

money on your waterway to keep it maintained, operational

and fit for you to use again next year.

Other highlights of the year include record breaking visitor

numbers at Dapdune Wharf – over 20,000 for the first time –

another super Wey River Festival, the busiest yet, a presence

at the Basingstoke 50th anniversary weekend, continuing to

help and support the Wey & Arun Canal Trust with their

endeavours and of course taking part in the fabulous Byfleet

Boat Club Illuminated Boat Pageant – great event getting lots

of people involved with the waterway, well done to you all.

What lies ahead for us in 2017? The crystal ball shines less

brightly when looking at the challenges ahead. We will start

the year off replacing two pairs of lock gates at Bowers lock

and we have plans to re-steelsheet the Unstead and Triggs

Locks lower lock landing bays. We will continue with our

principal asset inspection regime undertaking detailed

engineering surveys in Bowers Lock and of Old Bucks Weir

and later in the year in Newark Lock. We will replace another

pair of lock gates before Christmas 2017 – possibly in Newark

Lock. Bank works will include work from Byfleet Boat Club

to the railway bridge and other locations at Send, Walsham,

Worsfold, Triggs and above Bowers. This is the stuff we

know at the moment.

We are, as ever, challenged by the outside environment

whether it is the weather, bureaucracy or the economic

climate we face going forward. While our income continues

to grow our expenses are growing faster. We need to look to

new ways to generate income. We are a self-funding

property, no grant aid from government, no handouts from

central National Trust funds. What we make we spend on the

property. We are going to need more of your help.

We recently ran a supporter day at Thames Lock running

guided tours to the bottom of the lock while it was dewatered

during the lock gates change. Our aim was to raise awareness

with others about the work we do looking after this special

place for everyone – forever. We want to take people on a

journey from being a visitor to being a supporter – as member,

volunteer, or someone able to give us a gift or donation of

funds or to leave a legacy to the property. Even little amounts

make a difference. People don’t realise you can be very

specific about where you can leave money to and how it can

be used – leave something to the River Wey Navigations and

it won’t be swallowed up by HQ! If anyone wants to know

more, please feel free to contact me or the Legacy and Gifts

team at Heelis HQ.

On that cheery note I would like to thank all BBC members

for their invaluable help and support at our events and work

projects during the year. I especially want to thank you for

using your waterway, being ambassadors for it and

introducing new people to this wonderfully special place.

Have a super Christmas when it arrives and wishing you the

very best for 2017.

Basingstoke Canal News FIONA SHIPP BASINGSTOKE CANAL MANAGER

Well, winter is finally here and we have a whole stack of

work happening on the Basingstoke. We had a successful

summer but now its heads down for the winter slog to get

through all the work in time for the boating season. By the

time you read this works to Ash Embankment should be

completed with it newly relined with Bentonite to prevent

leaking on this large, high risk embankment.

Work should have begun on repairs to the Dogmersfield

landslip and hundreds of trees will be being pruned all along

the canal to keep the navigation and towpath safe. A month

or more of offside cutting has already taken place to try and

get back on top of the vegetation overhanging the navigation.

This lets light back into the canal channel to benefit the water

based vegetation and dragonflies as well as the boaters.

The towpath edges will also have had a major haircut to keep

the access clear and keep on top of that woody vegetation that

so quickly starts to encroach. In addition to this soft bank

works are planned to deal with repairs to long sections of

towpath edges particularly where these are also on an

embankment

Coxmoor Wood Hampshire

‘Before’ ‘After’

A further 3 sets of gates (plus cills and balance beams) are to

be replaced over the next couple of months as part of our

annual cyclical replacement programme and further works to

repair lock chambers in the Brookwood and Deepcut lock

flights will be underway in January and February.

We are working hard to bring in new revenue income through

new business initiatives such as the unpowered boat hire at

Mytchett and plans for improvements to the campsite.

Volunteers have been playing a big part in this through for

example organising and running our trip boats on the canal

and their continued enthusiasm and dedication is always very

motivating for the team. We are already planning for next

season!

THE CLUB DEFIBRILLATOR

COMMODORE NIGEL PRIOR

There is now installed at the club house a Zoll Defibrillator,

with the support from Woking Borough Council.

We shall be showing the quick video of how it is used on third

Fridays during the next three months. But if you would like

to look for yourselves, then there is an internet link below.

If you have to use this apparatus in an emergency it will talk

you through the things to do so you cannot do anything

wrong.

Just hope it's only there for show!!

For more information here is a link:

https://youtu.be/OtvXMjpjkac

The Strépy-Thieu boat lift RHYS BEYNON

On our family visits as we drove along the E42 through

France and into Belgium we were intrigued to see signs

directing us to see a canal lift. We were always in such a

hurry to get to the family or to dash home after a visit so for

some ten years we did not stop. Then on one occasion we

decided to stop at a service station and see if we could spot

the lift from the motorway. We were not impressed by a big

building that looked just like a shed. A year or two later with

time to spare we thought maybe we should make a detour to

get a closer look.

Boy! Were we impressed!!

Until this year when the Chinese built the Three Gorges Dam

Boat Lift we were looking at the highest boat lift in the world!

The Strépy-Thieu boat lift was built between 1982 and 2002

and was designed to replace four smaller lifts that could cope

with vessels up to 300 tonnes. The new lift can accommodate

vessels up to 1350 tonnes which is the European standard.

The two canals have a height difference of over 73 metres

(240 ft.) In comparison, the Falkirk Wheel raises boats 24

metres (79 ft.)

The boat lift is promoted as a tourist attraction in its own right

by the local government and a pedestrian ride on the lift costs

5.50 euros.

It's very difficult to get a sense of the size of this monstrous

machine but one of the photographs shows the passenger train

that takes visitors around the building and another shows a

barge that had just come down in one of the caissons which

may help you get some feeling for it. The lift takes seven

minutes and each caisson measures 112 metres by 12 metres

(about 370 ft long by 39 ft wide.)

Facebook Do you know that the Byfleet Boat Club is on Facebook?

Members can add photographs and comments in Facebook to

let you know what they're doing and where they are. I've

found these two photographs on Facebook to give you a taste

of some of the fascinating things in the BBC Facebook area.

A day doing something different. I enjoyed making this

Christmas Wreath at a National Trust Workshop in Send.

Cruising home, the only sensible place to hang it was on the

front of the boat! Melanie Cambridge

Lexi getting ready for Christmas. Photo by Suzanne Wilson

Christmas Meal and Party MEL BEYNON

Our Vice-Commodore and Master of Ceremonies.

Well, first of all, well done to those who were involved in the

preparation for this event. There is a lot to think about but to

mention just a few points we all enjoyed the decorations, the

novel idea of a colour theme and the general atmosphere.

Later in the evening, the raffle proved to be a very enjoyable

part of the evening with those of us looking on in wonder and

envy at the lovely gifts being won by those around us.

Terrific stuff.

I would personally have preferred to have had the meal in the

"Blue Room" as those of us at the ends of the tables and next

to the exits were very cold indeed some even donned their

outdoor clothes and covered their knees with a blanket. A bit

restricting when you are meant to be "chilling out" and

enjoying! Despite this, the conversation moved easily and it

was all very good humoured. Hector's staff whizzed back and

forth ensuring that meals were delivered to the right recipients

while still piping hot.

I know the "blue room" is our "best room" but it is also the

cosiest. Dancers get very warm with all that jigging around

and would have, in my opinion, been more comfortably

accommodated in the work shop. The down side would, of

course, be that it wouldn't have been as easy for us to watch

the dancing. The upside would be that we could have chatted

more easily to those we had not seen for some time. That was

not an option on this occasion. The very excellent and

thoroughly enthusiastic band was just a tad over-enthusiastic

and made conversation of any kind virtually impossible. Very

sad given that this is the only event at which one meets some

people!

All that said, it was a fantastic evening and an event of which

the club can be proud. Friends who came along this year and

others who came along last year were all very complimentary

about our club, the friendliness of other members and the

supremely polished event. They were all thoroughly

impressed at the facilities we have and the standard at which

the club is maintained. But hey, we can improve even on near

perfection so could we please try to ensure that we are ALL

warm next year wherever we have our dinner?

One more thing. Such events require a "clean up" team. I have

to tell you that they get up too early for some of us to muck in

to help. We arrived to find coffee being served and all the

cleaning up work done. Sorry, REALLY, REALLY sorry!!

5th November Bonfire and jacket potatoes

NIGEL PRIOR

Neither wind nor rain could keep nine boats away from

Warren Farm for our last trip to the moorings in 2016. We

even brought up the clubs large green rowing boat for the

gazebos and BBQ equipment and to use as a ferry for our

social members that couldn't get there by water. Only Ron

and Sylvia took up on the ferry crossing challenge!

We all worked hard, some gathering the last of the

firewood, while others prepared the shelter and dinner.

Before dusk, after enjoying hot chestnuts on an open fire, we

managed to get in a few rounds of Nigel and Jo’s games. The

always popular "Parcel Game” or, what is now called

“I want that box back!”

This was followed by a "Stand up Sit down" game of Bingo.

This had to be explained several times to some, who couldn't

get the hang of remembering their number! By this time the

fire was raging and the tables were getting loaded with what I

thought was fire water, only to later find out it was Rodney’s

finest Scotch.

Whoops!

Dinner was served with hot jacket spuds plucked from

the embers and a good healthy supply of salad, thanks to

Richard and Wendy. What could be more fitting than to

finish off with melted marsh mellows supplied by ex-member

Graham Thick and fireworks. Under fire by fifty exploding

coloured shells and “Ron’s Rockets” was quite an experience!

Most of us felt a little safer with sparklers.

Another great evening had by all.

Our very own Ferry,

fit for king and queen Just warming up the vocal chords

Sparklers at the ready!

A lesson from Graham on marsh-mellow melting, using a

long stick.

SUMMER OF GERIATRIC BOATING

TONY DAVIS

Well, I don’t know how the rest of you ageing boaters got

along with your summer cruising, but I am happy to report

that Doreen and I managed another year very well. Long may

it continue. Perhaps we do a little less cruising each day than

we used to, but we are not ready to give up yet. Nor, I note,

are Timothy West and Prunella Scales, and I can assure you

that we hit far fewer locksides and other boats than they do!

So what is the clue to geriatric boating? Easy. Find someone

else to do the hard work for you! Like operating locks and lift

bridges. Our statistics for the last summer----710 kilometres

cruised and 370 locks passed through, none of which we

worked ourselves!

The secret of course, which many of the readers will have

guessed, is that we are currently cruising our narrowboat

abroad (in France), where you are not allowed to work the

locks yourself. Think about that. On the mainly pleasure boat

waterways there are still lock-keepers, who sometimes cover a

few locks and travel with you by van or moped. On the mixed

commercial/pleasure boat waterways the locks and swing

bridges are now mostly mechanised, being electrically

operated and automatically triggered. So no need for landing

stages. Just stay on the boat and work everything from there.

Just for demonstration purposes I append eight photos

showing the sequence of operation, in this case travelling

downhill. Figure 1 shows the device you are given on entering

the automatic section; called a telecommande and about the

size of a TV remote control.

Figure 2 shows the canalside

notice that reminds you when to press the button on your

remote. This is usually about 300 metres before the lock, and

if you are lucky you won’t even have to slow down, and will

find the lock ready on arrival.

Figure 3 shows that the lock mechanism has received your

signal, the lights having turned from red, to red and green.

Figure 4 shows the lights then

having turned solely to green, with the gates open and ready

for you to proceed.

Figure 5 shows the lockside pole operated by the crew, and

this can be done either from within the boat or on the lock-

side.

This starts the lock operation

process, and Figure 6 shows the top gate then closing;

Figure 7 shows the lock now

empty with the bottom gate open and ready for the boat to

proceed out.

Finally, Figure 8 shows the radar

beam that is broken by passage of the boat on exit, which then

resets the system. It can take as little as ten minutes to pass

through a lock ---- our record is eight.

Very relaxing cruising as you can see, and seldom do shouts

and harsh words need to be exchanged. Timothy West please

note! Should any members happen to be passing through

central France next summer, and fancy a day trip to see how it

all works, you are welcome. Our contact details are in the

membership list.

I wonder how things are going Down Under?

EDITOR

During the Working Weekend in October I had a chat with

Brian Bickell and he promised to keep in touch with the club

by sending us news of his relocation in Oz.

I thought we might consider him as our BBC Ambassador in

Australia. After all, if Nigel Farage can be seriously

considered as the UK ambassador in the USA, why not have

Brian as our Club Ambassador "Down Under."

Easyfundraising IAN SMITH

Raising money for your Club is really easy.

Register with Easyfundraising.org.uk and nominate

Byfleet Boat Club as your chosen benefactor.

Then, whenever you buy things online from associated

suppliers a donation is made to the Club funds. There are

numerous approved suppliers, from Amazon to Zooplus,

Boots to Holiday Extras, Screwfix to Marks & Spencer.

The more we can raise the better we can maintain the club and

the more facilities we can provide.

So don't hesitate any more. Sign up today and start saving

funds for your Club.

I realize this was first printed in the September issue but it is such an excellent

scheme that I thought it would help the club funds to repeat Ian's

appeal. .................................Editor

A rough day at sea, is better than any day in the office.

"Thought is the wind,

knowledge is the sail,

mankind is the vessel."

"Life is simple, just add water."

VALERIE WARDLAW

OUR BOATING LIFE

BRIAN OLIVER

It happened after our short sighted, or dare I say stupid,

politicians killed the coal mines, sold off the council houses

and privatised everything and to top it all joined the EU. We

now have very expensive energy, a serious housing problem,

a grossly ineffective transport system, a population growth out

of control and worst of all a failing NHS.

Although this destroyed our way of life it did my wife and I a

great favour as my working life as a chartered engineer

working on hospital building could be seen to be coming to an

end. As a result we bought our first narrowboat, a “sail away”

from Pat Buckle on the River Nene at Stibbington.

We had from the late 70’s spent many happy holidays on hire

boats particularly at Easter, starting when our two girls were 8

and 10 and on school half-term breaks. We learnt a lot then

and travelled in many parts of England and Wales, loving it

all, and in particular the BCN and the Trent & Mersey.

At 55 I was indeed made redundant. Prior to this with the

inheritance from my father we had bought our first boat

Cecileo. I was particularly unhappy about her cruiser stern (I

froze in summer on the Stainforth and Keedby Canal) we

decided to fit out a new 60 ft R and D Shell complete with a

Beta Engine. This is our current boat Zavala, built in 1993

with considerable help from Pat Buckle and friends moored at

Stibbington.

All this was made so much better as on my retirement

Margaret decided to give up her successful Ballet and Stage

Dancing School and it became a joint retirement.

We spent about 8 enjoyable years at Stibbington and went to

our third National Festival at Peterborough. Since then we

have attended most Nationals and regularly attended

Cavalcade where I judged the Boat Handling Competition for

many years. It was during this time that we became aware

from Frank Cox (nb Drifter II), a retired Thames River Man

who became my mentor on Thames Navigation, that a trip to

Belgium was planned. As a result we put our name forward

and joined the Narrows Flotilla. This was a wonderful trip and

we made more new friends. Memorable events included a

cruise down to Nieuwpoort to visit the war memorials and of

course the visits to Bruges, Ghent, Deinze, Oudenaarde and

Kortrijk. Other memorable moments included Zavala’s hair

raising trip down the M2 at over 70 mph and the lifting out at

Ostende. The Flemish are lovely people as we found out in a

bar at 5 a.m. when we were invited to join an eighty year old's

birthday party when out came their collection of Vera Lyn

World War songs!

There were of course difficult moments like the large Dutch

barges drawing over 2 feet making mooring along the wide

canals impossible and the open sewer nature of the

waterways, even in the centre of Ghent.

Eventually the long trip up and down the very lovely River

Nene became a time restriction and once we had fully

explored the middle level, the Great Ooze to Bedford and the

Cam to Cambridge, we moved from Stibbington to a new

mooring on the Grand Union at Winkwell. Here we had

another 13 years of enjoyable company with the Anchor Boat

Club which also enabled us to explore a widespread area of

the canal and river network.

It was during this time (2005) that we were contacted by Paul

Ayres who with Lyn and their working pair, Aldgate and

Angel had joined the Flotilla to Belgium. Paul was looking for

companions to take their narrowboats to Sweden to coincide

with the International Waterways Conference at Trollhättan

under the Narrows Flotilla banner. His plan was to go from

Gothenburg to the Dalsland Canal and return to the river Göta

and join the Conference Proceedings at Trollhättan.

We were of course delighted to join but, in the event only four

boats went: Lyn and Paul with Aldgate and Angel, Jill and

Clive Field on Witcombe and Margaret and I on Zavala.

What a trip the others missed! The Swedes and the

Norwegians were magnificent hosts supplying wonderful

hospitality and waiving all lock charges. We had the heads of

both the Swedish and Norwegian waterways management

with us much of the time. It was a great disappointment to us

that the BBC programme with Penelope and Timothy in

Sweden did not see fit to involve these organisations but

instead used a passenger cruiser and hire boats.

Since this trip we have continued to enjoy our own unique

waterways from our third location on the River Wey which

gives us good access to the River Thames. Here we also

enjoy the companionship of the Byfleet Boat Club members

and attempt to join in their many functions when we are not

cruising the system

This year we made a second trip, the first was in 1997, to the

River Medway and made several bus journeys to and from

Tonbridge to the home we share with our youngest daughter

and her family. The trip down was very well organised by

SPCC which made the navigation down to Southend and to

Rochester very easy with little need for concern. Just a simple

buoy table was all that was really required but backed up, of

course, by up-to-date charts and good weather. Like the Nene

the Medway is another very beautiful river which deserves to

be visited by all keen boaters not put off by the tidal Thames

We then did another BCNS Explorer Cruise with Marie and

Stuart, ending up at an excellent Festival of Water at Pelsall

on the Wyrley and Essington Canal. This was with enjoyable

company and only marred by the amount of rubbish

particularly in the "Curly Wyrley." This was worse than I

recall 30 years ago with a lot of bedding and heavyweight

plastic sheets discarded in the canal. We saw very few CRT

staff and then they were mostly on "gardening duty" on the

towpaths. We found the South Oxford in a very sorry state

with much of the paddle gear out of action and the bottom

gates full of brick rubbish. The two Weir Locks were almost

impassable and the bottom stretch into Oxford was blocked by

the moored boats and the overgrown trees.

We are so lucky in England and Wales to have such a

wonderful network of narrow canals. Sweden and Belgium

were lovely but without our magnificent array of wild life and

farm animals. From the odd kingfisher and the many birds

such as heron, mallards, swans, cormorants, to the frequent

supercilious stares from grazing cows.

Environmentalists seem to think that we should devote an

inordinate amount space to support wild life but most of what

we see is on the canals and rivers where there are people or

where there is effluent discharge such as on the Thames at

Belvedere. When we explored the open section of the

Montgomery Canal, championed as a nature friendly example,

the only wildlife we saw was a pair of swans at the terminus,

where, yes, there were people. Similarly, the Basingstoke

Canal has more life in the back gardens of the adjacent houses

than in the rural sections. Indeed, there is more life on one

hundred yards of the Regents Canal than there is on many

other canals. In Pelsall this year however I did see red deer

and we both saw a muntjac from the Oxford Canal.

Finally, I must say that we seem to have had the best years.

The canals and rivers are increasingly full of “Go Nowhere”

boats. Many of these are wide beam which to us makes the

narrow waterways much more attractive. CRT and the

Agency and their predecessors have lost control of this state

of affairs and should take note of the way the National Trust

have dealt with this problem.

As I said we are now moored on the River Wey and may

complain from time to time about the Trust but we don't have

this particular problem. We do however suffer the national

problem of very little dredging. Again, this is an Agency

problem because they won't accept that dredging is the best

way to limit flooding.

QUIZ CORNER

A few general knowledge questions:

1. When flags are flown at "half-mast" where are the flags put

on the mast?

....................................................................................................

2. What colour is the "black box" used in recording aircraft

journeys?

...................................................................................................

3. How many British queens have been named Elizabeth?

..................................................................................................

AWCC Social Evening PHIL HARDYMAN

In early November around 30 people gathered at the

clubhouse for a sociable evening. It was evenly split

between BBC members and visitors from other AWCC

affiliated clubs. Nibbles drinks and chatter led up to the

catering break for a ploughman’s platter. Nigel’s boat

quiz kept us all thinking whilst eating and for some of

us even during the game of killer skittles. Nigel proved

to be a dab hand and won that game.

The inevitable raffle involved a bit of trading over one

prize.

A good night and a profitable event enjoyed by all who

attended.

Basingstoke Canal Society's 50th Anniversary

PHIL HARDYMAN

The Byfleet Boat Club gets several mentions in the

Basingstoke Canal Society's 50th Anniversary

commemorative booklet. The following extract from the

publication shows recognition of our commitment to the

Canal over the years.

"The greatest boating support for the Society's events has

come from members of the Byfleet Boat Club who have made

their way up from the Wey on numerous occasions in sun, rain

and even snow."

In the chronology of events on the canal the club is mentioned

three times.

"July 1992 Independence rally at Lock 1 organised by the

Byfleet Boat Club and Guildford & Reading IWA"

"2010 13 boats from the Byfleet Boat Club attend rally at St

Johns"

"2013 Deepcut locks reopened but Easter cruise by the Byfleet

Boat Club curtailed by further bank slips on both sides of the

cutting at Dogmersfield. The towpath is closed although

navigation is later found to be passable"

ILLUMINATED BOAT PAGEANT

26th November NIGEL PRIOR

This is an annual event that the club puts on in

connection with the lighting up of the Byfleet Village Green.

Getting special permission from the National Trust to cruise

this stretch of water says Nigel Prior this year's Commodore

of the Boat Club, takes a lot of forward planning, including a

vigorous health and safety briefing before all the boats head

down to the start point at the junction at the Basingstoke

Canal and the Wey Navigation. The procession leads off with

our smaller craft leading the way, which this year included

two canoes, and the rowing boat, powered by our very brave

club member Dick Dolton. A short trip back to the Club

House, is viewed from house owners along Dartnell Park

Road, and many onlookers along the towpath waiting to see

Santa. Although one of the cruisers was powered by

Reindeer, others just showed what can be done with a few

fairy lights.

This year the club showed off its facade, with a light

show, even a Classic Truck made an illuminated appearance.

The evening was supported by RNLI who always works very

hard looking after us, when we venture further afield. With a

presentation, from John Gibson, of the National Trust, and as

always, everyone was a winner in the 250 or so onlookers.

The evening was finished off with music in a “Christmas

spirit” with food catered by “Piggy Rolls

Dick Dolton with Number 9

Hours of preparation of a Narrowboat

Lighting up the Wey Navigation

PHOTOS BY DAVID GIBB AND OTHERS

YOUR COMMITTEE

Commodore Nigel Prior 07846 860912

Gentle Dreamer

Vice-Commodore Richard Pilgrim 07961 927204

Herbie

Hon. Treasurer Cathy Wooden 07984 453248

Miffy

Hon. Secretary James Osborne 07918 913342

Tristan III

Minutes Secretary Tina Osborne 07747 600 001

Tristan III

Membership Secretary Phil Hardyman 01932 343545

Winter Lily

Asst. Mem. Secretary Carol Hardyman 01932 343545

Winter Lily

Boat Hire Roster Raz Brooks 07831 467210

Babbling Brooks

Maintenance Mick Wilson 07876 563285

Cranley

Editor By The Wey Rhys Beynon 01483 283498

email address rbeynon1@btinternet.com Merlin’s Wey

Web Manager Ian Smith 07836 594898

Yum Sing

STERN VIEW COMMODORE NIGEL PRIOR

If I haven't seen you down at the club over the past few

weeks I hope you all had a nice break, visiting your friends

and families over the Christmas period. It’s the only time of

the year that we make that extra effort to share memories of

2016, and wonder what 2017 brings.

Well, highlights of 2017 for me, could be the wedding

of Sarah my eldest daughter, completing the renovations of

the house, or finishing off the heating in the boat. In true

boating fashion, one will cost money, one will be labour

intensive, and the other, may end up with someone sleeping

out under the back canopy at minus three degrees.

I believe this sums up life in general. Money, Time, and

Friendship, but the latter is what our club is all about.

Although I placed myself at the top of our club ladder, it

has not given me vertigo, as we are all members of the same

club. It showed up in the Illuminated Boats Parade this year,

when we had one rowing boat, two canoes, a host of cruisers,

to complement the narrow boats and courtesy of Chaz, his big

red truck!!

The first time I joined a club illuminated parade I had just a

few battery fairy lights. I headed downstream, not knowing

that Blackpool Illuminations on water, had just landed in

Byfleet!! But it didn’t matter a bit!!

Take part when you can, and do what you can to support

our club.

Looking back upon 2016, the club has been very active,

with our traditional Bank holiday cruises to Godalming (Wey)

and Boveney lock (Thames) and a short cruise up to Old

Woking Palace on Heritage weekend. There were open

invitations to Byfleet Parish Days, Guildford Festival, and

Woking Canal Rally, to name but a few. We should not

forget the overnight events we have held, at our very own

retreat “Warren Farm” moorings. For those new members

that have only just ventured to “The Anchor”; Warren Farm

mooring is the ideal place for a short cruise, to light a fire, to

BBQ your dinner (washed down with a few laughs) and then

cruise back to the clubhouse. Jo and I have shared many

evenings there this year with other members (no names

mentioned but memories of trying to light charcoal, of trying

to swim with a strimmer and to straining vocal chords!) which

I believe to be a real addition to the club's facilities.

I haven't attended many third Friday evening socials as they

clash with my other social event, darts. I am glad that they

have kept going. We are planning to have some other

activities to add to these third Friday evenings to attract more

members.

I’m very pleased that the clubhouse is in really good

shape. The major work in recent years has paid off and we

have certainly made good use of it. From line dancing in the

workshop, a professional actor in the "blue" room, to the

recent Illuminated Boat Pageant.

It has been, as always, that we lose a few and gain a few

new members, but I have been pleased that, with our website

and “Facebook” page we can keep in touch with all members,

current, and ones that move away.

It has been a whirlwind of experiences as your

commodore with the committee working alongside me. Every

decision, whether it be simple or involved, has been made

jointly. So, my thanks to the committee for helping to make

the club become what it is today.

My thought, as my year as commodore comes to an end

at the AGM, has been one of responsibility to the club and to

all its members. I hope I have served well, in my year, but

believe that I should not stand for another year at the helm,

but offer the opportunity to other members of the club to put

their stamp on the club and to keep the spirit of the club alive.

There are plenty of positions within the team that would

benefit from your skills.

In 2017 I look forward to seeing you on the water, at the club,

or both!

Wishing all members and their families all the best for 2017

Nigel