The first attempt by DCA members to link the Wey and River Arun Navigations took place in 1986. DCA boats launched on the Thames at Weybridge, followed the Wey Navigation to the entrance of the old Wey and Arun Canal and then bypassed a private section to reach Bramley. Here they portaged overland to Newbridge on the Arun and forced a passage through to the navigable reaches and thence to the sea at Littlehampton.*

This time, the boats will launch at Guildford or Shalford and proceed as before, but will attempt to portage without mechanical aid, using newly-restored sections of the old canal and side streams and will finish on the Arun at Pulborough. Only man-powered skiffs and canoes or silent electric-powered boats will be used in environmentally sensitive areas, but other boats will be more than welcome on the more accessible sections. Those taking part will include the original DCA team: Talbot Kirk, Peter Glover and Len Wingfield, together with John Lillywhite of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust. The trust will also provide volunteers to assist in portaging the heavier boats. Peter Glover is a professional boat builder and intends to bring his much-admired seagoing Grand Banks-style dory. Talbot Kirk, although aged 86, is still very active and has canoed and portaged singlehanded from Bath to Guildford and across the Pennines recently. Len Wingfield’s travel experiences include journeys in dugout canoes with tribal hunters in the Amazon headwater streams.

Would those interested in taking part please write to Len Wingfield, giving details of their boat (if any) — type, length, beam and weight — enclosing a stamped and addressed envelope for reply. Talbot’s modified Mirror dinghy is at Leeds, but he has no transport for it. Could anyone help please?

Note: bivouac or camp on board. If necessary the exercise will continue to 17 April for those who wish to carry on.

See Bulletins HYPERLINK "110-10b.doc" 110/10, HYPERLINK "111-05a.doc" 111/5a, HYPERLINK "113-07a.doc" 113/7a, HYPERLINK "113-15.doc" 114/15 and HYPERLINK "115-21.doc" 115/21.