2010 New Westel Touring Programme


This year Heather, Andy and Jeff have formed a small Touring Group to organise the touring programme. Brief details of tours planned so far are listed below and more details are available to download. However, you must, if you wish to take part in these events, contact the organisers for details of dates, times and meeting arrangements. For safety, planing and insurance reasons we have to know who is taking part!

The President's Lunch Party

Three tours north and south of Mytchett on the Basingstoke Canal with a common starting point. More details here.

Cassocks and Couplets

Did you know that the term “stiff drink” originates from the use, in earlier years, of The New Inn at Send as a temporary mortuary? More details here.

Four Bridges

A few yards upstream from Penton Hook Lock is the minuscule Truss's Island, named after a former Clerk of Works with the City Commissioners of the River Thames. More details here.

Little Venice and Regent's Park

The Paddington Arm's route runs from the junction with the Regent's Canal at Little Venice, then through the suburbs of West London until it joins with the main Grand Union Canal at Bulls Bridge Junction near Slough. More details here.

Guildford and beyond

Near to the old ferry is the site of an ancient ford. Used for probably thousands of years the ford provided safe passage for the travellers wanting to follow the long-distance route now referred to as the North Downs Way. More details here.

King John's Castle

Construction on Odiham Castle began in 1207 and continued until 1214. In 1216, soon after it was finished, the castle suffered a two-week siege at the hands of the French, but it flourished during much of the 13th century, when it was home to the de Montfort family. More details here.

History and Intrigue

We will pass by Sutton Place which is one of the most important early Tudor houses in England. It stands on high ground above the river and is enclosed by a combination of the original course of the Wey and the canal. This was the home of the Weston family who created the Wey Navigation in the 17th century. More details here.

The Crondall Hundred

Fleet was originally heathland in the northern part of the Crondall Hundred, its name having probably been derived from the Norman French word La Flete meaning a stream or shallow water - a reference to the Fleet Pond from which fish had been taken for the monks in Winchester in Medieval times. More details here.