The River Wey in Surrey was one of Britain's first rivers to be made navigable. Called the Wey Navigation, it opened in 1653. Over 200 years later, in 1764, the Godalming Navigation opened, increasing the canal length to 20 miles running from Weybridge on the Thames to Godalming Wharf.
In the 18th century barges plied up and down the canal transporting heavy goods like timber, coal, flour, corn and even gunpowder from the Chillworth Gunpowder Mills, on the banks of the Tilling Bourne river, a tributary of the River Wey. The derelict buildings of the gunpowder mills can still be seen standing in quiet woodland along the Tilling Bourne towpath.
In 1796 the Basingstoke Canal was connected to the Wey Navigation near Byfleet.
The Wey survived the coming of the railways, when many canals fell into disuse, and continued commercially until well after the 1939-45 War. It was finally donated to the National Trust in 1964.
Today it is preserved and protected as a piece of industrial archeology and a much used leisure area. Colourful holiday barges and river boats now use the waterway and many local country walks take in parts of the towpath, visiting locks and peaceful stretches as the canal meanders through the beautiful Surrey landscape.
One can't help but wonder if, as fossil fuels become scarce, there will be a return to these calm waterways as a serious form of commercial transport.
