Active Support Group Go Boating
6th August 2015
On the 9th July some of the Active Support members joined together with the Trefoil Guild and had a great day out on the Wey and Arun Canal. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all. Everyone brought a plate of 'food to share', and there were a few bottles of sustenance around as well. Several of the 'Sailors' helped working the locks but fortunately none had to resort to towing the boat! Although the boat, being electric powered, was very quiet, only a little wild life was seen - just a few ducks and a heron. It seemed that they had all disappeared from the mid-day heat.
One of the locks and half a mile of the canal hadn't seen a passenger boat, or any boat for that matter, for over 150 years. This section had only been restored and opened to boats this year! The group were told about the progress of restoration and of many of the problems that had to be solved. The most spectacular being the lowering of a quarter of a mile of canal by six feet to get under a road that had been built since the canal was abandoned.
Many of the 'trippers' took turns at the stern (the driving position) to see what it was like to drive a 22 tonne boat along a winding narrow canal, under bridges and through a tunnel - without hitting the sides!
All in all, a great day out.
