Fun In The Sun At Festival Boat Gathering And Raft Race

Published on: 8 Jul, 2013
Updated on: 8 Jul, 2013

With no hint of the weather conditions that cancelled last year’s event (first drought and eventually flood) the Guildford Festival Boat Gathering took place at Millmead at the weekend, with sizzling temperatures and lots of sunny smiles from those taking part, and those looking on.

They even had a game of cricket on the roof of this narrow boat! All pictures copyright Mike Bennett.

Seventy boats moored up along both banks of the river in a colourful burst of bunting and waving flags; the Rowing Club joined in the festivities and a variety of other interest groups supported the National Trust in the annual big event for boaters on the river.

John Gibson, general manager for the National Trust, said: “It was a fantastic day out for all the family, with loads to see along the river, and fun activities with the trust’s learning team and Woking Sea Rangers.”

A musical interlude.

The first boat gathering, in 1990, was inspired by the Inland Waterways Association rally held on the River Wey in 1970, when 380 boats (mainly cruisers) and 15,000 people attended.

It’s a good job things have changed because 380 narrowboats would probably take up the entire 20 miles of navigation! Since 1999, the event has been supported by the National Trust and has been cancelled three times – in 2005, 2006 and 2012 – always because of the threat of drought and the potential damage to the fabric of the navigation.

The River Wey upstream was a riot of colour with all the decorated boats.

Two pageants now dominate the day – the decorated boat pageant, this year’s theme was Best of British, won by narrow boat Corn Dolly, and the illuminated static pageant – where boats are decorated with lights at dusk. This was won by narrow boat Barley Twist.

The River Wey Navigations’ visitor services manager, Sarah Crawcour, said: “For the trust, this event is a big deal, with virtually all property staff involved and a good few volunteers, and the boaters are kind enough to invite us to their evening barbecue.

“There was good feedback from all concerned, and huge thanks go to Sandra Holbrook, Graham and Netty Excell-Erhmann – the volunteer team who put so much energy and commitment into the organisation of the event. Thanks also to all our sponsors.”

The charity raft race organised by Guildford Lions set off from Millmead at 3pm on Saturday (July 6). Teams, with a cinema characters theme this year, raced downstream towards the waterside centre near Stoke Bridges.