Flotilla Celebrates Victorian Inland Waterways Adventure

Published on: 31 Jul, 2017
Updated on: 2 Aug, 2017

A Victorian gentleman’s historic voyage to the south coast on inland waterways has been commemorated by a flotilla of small boats on the River Wey.

Two of the boaters in vintage costume setting out from Thames Lock on the Dashwood Day voyage.

Canoeists and kayakers followed the first part of JB Dashwood’s trip to the Solent 150 years ago, on the River Wey, Wey & Arun Canal and the River Arun.

The commemoration – Dashwood Day on Saturday, July 8 – was organised jointly by the National Trust and the Wey & Arun Canal Trust (WACT).

The flotilla navigated from Thames Lock at Weybridge down to Gun’s Mouth at Shalford, where the Wey & Arun Canal connects with the River Wey navigation.

Dashwood, his wife and their dog travelled south in a small yacht in July 1867, on their way to see a Royal Navy Spithead Review staged in honour of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. They arrived in the English Channel after several days of adventures while being towed by horse down the canal through Surrey and West Sussex.

WACT chairman Sally Schupke said: “Our congratulations to all who navigated the whole length from the Thames to the Wey & Arun on Dashwood Day. We are very grateful to Richard and Vanessa Smith for setting up their refreshment stall at Coxes Lock Mill, which certainly helped the canoeists keep going.

“The canal was closed in 1871 but we are working hard to bring the entire waterway back to life so that boaters can again follow Dashwood’s entire route.”