Week Long Break

Week Long Break, Leaving on Monday afternoon

A one week break allows you to use most of the locks Deepcut, Brookwood and St Johns locks (providing they are open. From mid July until September there is the risk that they may be closed to preserve water supplies in the upper Hampshire pound of the canal). These need to be completed in 3 days to allow you time to return the boat, failure to do this will end the next holiday makers break!

If you are collecting the boat on a Monday afternoon we would suggest that you aim for The Exchequer Pub as the Barley Mow is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. There you will find a good mooring and the Barley Mow pub just a minutes walk across the car park [Wheelchair Accessible Mooring]. The pub is dog friendly and has a good menu and selection of real ales and wines. In Autumn when the nights are drawing in you may decide that it is best to moor at Colt Hill Wharf at our base. From here you can visit the Waterwitch pub or venture into the Historic town of Odiham which has a good selection of restaurants and bars; El Castello (Italian restaurant), The Red Lion (hotel, restaurant and a lively bar), Odiham Spice (Indian restaurant), King’s Restaurant (Chinese restaurant), The Bel & Dragon (hotel, restaurant & bar).

In the morning you head eastwards to travel through The following areas; Broad Oak, Winchfield, Dogmersfield, Crookham, Fleet, Pondtail, Farnborough, Ash, Mychett and end at Frimley Green where you can moor alongside Frimley Lodge Park. If you don’t want to go that far there are good alternative overnight mooring points at Mytchett Lake or just opposite the Swan Pub in Ash Vale.

• Broad Oak – There are no facilities in this area but it is a peaceful stretch of canal and if you moor overnight there are badgers to be seen.
• Winchfield – Barley Mow Bridge has a water point and the Barley Mow pub is a mere 2 minute walk across the car park, mooring is quiet. [Wheelchair Accessible Mooring]
• Dogmersfield – Tundry Pond is a very scenic quiet mooring point and is unusual as it is on the non towpath side, a bit difficult to find so keep your eyes peeled. There are views over a large lake but there is no access as the grounds are privately owned. A great place for a bankside barbeque (subject to conditions).
• Crookham – This is a nice mooring area with a picnic table and small car park [Wheelchair Accessible Mooring]. The Exchequer pub is about 5 minutes walk (marked as George and Lobster on most maps). It is advisable to book in advance. Half an hour walk further on is another good pub called The Queens Head. Continue past the Exchequer and turn left at the ‘T’ junction, the pub is about half a mile further on.
• Fleet – Just before Fleet is the Fox and Hounds pub, one of only 3 pubs actually on the canal, there is good wheelchair accessible mooring here. Further on there is a very good mooring at Reading Road Bridge, it can be a little noisy as the road is a main road but it does give easy access to Fleet  which has an excellent choice of pubs, restaurants and supermarkets, chemists, fishing tackle shop and others. If you have forgotten anything, this is the place to get it. Pubs in Fleet include; The Oat Sheaf, The Prince Arthur, Propaganda Music Canteen or around 1 mile at the top end of Fleet is the Heron on the Lake on the bank of Fleet Pond.
• Pondtail – Access to Fleet from the north side. If you more up at the 2 Pondtail bridges and walk up from the towpath to the road in the southerly direction, there is a Sainsbury’s Local store less than a minute walk. It also has a cash machine outside.
• Farnborough – Farnborough Road Bridge has mooring but is quite noisy due to road traffic. If you head north on Queens Ave Bridge (Iron Bridge) you will find the Aldershot Military Museum after a 15 to 20 minute walk.
• Ash – Lock 29 is at Ash. There is a water point  by the slipway. Waste can also be disposed of here, there are no shops or other facilities. About 2/3rds of a mile after Ash Lock you will go over the Blackwater Aqueduct, be careful here as many fenders are lost to the sharp brackets when passing over the bridge. Further along at Ash Vale bridge there is a mooring but not recommended for overnight stops as it can be noisy and isn’t the most scenic of places to stay. It is best used as a shopping stop. There is a fish & chip shop, Chinese takeaway, Indian takeaway, Budgens supermarket, chemist and a Post Office. Lakeside Nature Reserve is very close by. Head north over Ash Vale Bridge on Vale Road then take the first exit on the roundabout, there is a pedestrian walkway under the railway bridge. Then continue for about 200 metres and the car park entrance will be seen on the left through a large gate saying ‘Nature Reserve’ More by clicking this link. Just before Heath Vale Bridge you can moor the boat and walk across the bridge to get to the Swan Pub.
• The Mytchett Canal Centre is another mile along the canal and we recommend mooring here to take on water, there is a good water point right outside the centre [Wheelchair Accessible Mooring]. The Centre has an information point and gift shop, tearoom, picnic area, children’s ‘trailblazer’ play area, function room and a campsite. Public boat trips are available throughout the summer, please contact the Canal Centre for dates and times. You can also purchase fishing licences here.
• Just before Frimley Aqueduct is Frimley Lodge Park mooring  [Wheelchair Accessible Mooring]. A little way past this is the final winding hole before you get to the Deepcut flight of locks, another 1 1/2 miles further. The Kings Head pub can be reached from the towpath side by turning left along Guildford Road, you will see it almost straight away. Another option is to walk another 4 minutes until you reach the Rose & Thistle which is an independent pub serving good beers and food.
• You will need to be ready to go down the Deepcut and Brookwood lock flights by being at the top lock (number 28) on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday. We will go through this during your boat handover but if you leave on a Friday this means you will need to be at the top lock on Wednesday at 9:30am. The ranger will then unlock the padlock and let you through the 17 locks, these take around 4-5 hours to complete. Once you have completed the 2 flights you can reward yourself with the rest of the day off! You can moor between lock 12 and lock 11. The mooring just before lock 11 is next to Bellini Restaurant. The next set of locks will not be open until the following day (Thursday if you left on Monday). Again the ranger will unlock the padlock to allow you down the St Johns Flight. This is done at 9am so be ready to transit!. There are a number of turning points (3 to be exact) to allow you to turn depending on how you have planned your day and you will need to be back through lock 11 by 3:30pm which is when the ranger will lock them up again. If you want to have a pub lunch you can turn just past Arthur’s Bridge and moor outside the Bridge Barn. If you would rather travel further and forgo a pub lunch then the furthest point of travel is the turning point just after Chertsey Road bridge. Please keep an eye on the clock as different crews can take differing amounts of time to travel the same distance. As a guide, wherever you reach at midday is the best time to turnaround to make sure you get back in time. Once you are back through lock 11 you can relax. Make sure you are ready at lock 12 for 9am on Friday morning to return through Brookwood and Deepcut flights. It is your choice how far you travel past lock 28 and stop for the day. You will have all day Saturday and Sunday to travel back to our Odiham base for return of the boat on Monday morning at 10am.
• Once you have journeyed back to Odiham if you have time, you can explore the last 1.5 miles of canal past us and turn at King John’s Castle [Wheelchair Accessible Mooring]. This is favoured by many people as a final night stop. The area around here is very quiet and the canal is crystal clear and you can see large carp and pike amongst the fish. The Mill House pub is a short 10-15 minute walk back along the towpath and north along the road at Swan Bridge (Head towards The Jolly Miller on most maps and it is opposite). If you walk the other direction (west) from the castle along the towpath you will come to the entrance of the Greywell tunnel. The tunnel collapsed back in 1932 and has been closed ever since. If your timing is right you may see groups of bats awake from their sleep to go hunting around dusk. The tunnel is home to thousands of bats and has five different species living there. If you cross over the tunnel entrance you will come out on a lane, turn right and then left at the junction to find the Fox and Goose pub. PLEASE NOTE the pub does not serve evening food on a Sunday or Tuesday evening and is closed on Mondays. The next morning you will be an hour from us making it an easy trip back for 10am to return the boat.