My SUP Stories

Sometimes I wish I had a car. Getting from Richmond to Weybridge riverside on public transport was complicated with the usual weekend engineering works – 90 minutes for a modest 17km. Seriously! It would have been a feasible bike ride, but I am yet to carry my SUP bag on my trusted electric Brompton. At the potential expense of lowering my prized Uber rating in addition to the £30 fee, I opted to support an Uber driver.

The launch point was conveniently located next to Elmbridge Canoe Club and a free riverside car park. Great spot! We had access to the River Thames, upstream or downstream, as well as the River Wey intertwining with the Wey and Godalming Navigations. A bit confusing with the river and navigation, until I learned that the navigation was built to make the river navigable and offer a commercial traffic route to London in the 17th century. Basically, half natural river, half canal. Makes perfect sense and what a brilliant canalisation scheme by a local boy, Sir Richard Weston, back in the day! Today, it is purely a leisure waterway.

A lovely autumn’s day, we explored the meandering backwaters of the Wey. The shallow section to the left at Wey Bridge was ideal for paddling. Clearly an affluent Surrey neighbourhood: huge mansions, bungalows, villas and manicured gardens stretched all the way down to the water. The odd colourful, quirky narrowboat resided next to the extravagant yachts. I smiled at the ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ sign on a tiny uninhabited island with a colony of ducks. Past the sweeping reeds and overhanging trees, there were green meadows and even fields with grazing cattle. I did not expect this kind of rural tranquility and serenity. Only 30 minutes from London!

We were nimble enough to steer around the dense green patches of floating pennywort that had taken over some of the stretches. What a vicious invasive aquatic plant that is. After four kilometres, we reached Seven Arches Bridge, turned back and cruised downstream with the gentle flow of the river.

Weird & wonderful

• How cool is the mysterious Eyot House, Grade II-listed mansion, on the private island of D’Oyly Carte in Weybridge, accessible only by a narrow footbridge from the Thames south bank?
• My first encounter with a black swan. Because they’re more rare and exclusive than white swans, they’re considered the symbol of uniqueness and “going against the tide”. I like that!

Need to know

• Waterway: The River Wey is a tributary of the River Thames with the main section between Weybridge and Godalming in Surrey, England.
• Entry: D’Oyly Carte Gardens, Weybridge
• Exit: D’Oyly Carte Gardens, Weybridge
• Distance: 8 km, can be shorter or longer
• More details: Locks – Thames Lock, Portages – 1 each way, Authority – National Trust, License – Yes