Well worthwhile walks.

Last night was a beautiful evening so we decided to do the self guided walk that we had from a book that Helen had picked up. I had to sort out a bit of trouble that we were having with our solar array. It had stopped working. I had checked all the connections etc and then called Tim Davis of Onboard Solar who installed it in 2013. he told me it was an easy fix and should disconnect the red inputs from the panels and then the red from the battery, wait a minute and then reinstate them in the reverse order. He said that always fixed it, so expected it was just the usual turn off and reboot thing. Unfortunately it didn't work and he then said he would tell the controller people and they would be in touch on Monday. We had started the walk and then Robin from M&R Control Ltd called and gave me some more advice. I tried it all in the morning but still the same. I therefore disassembled the MPPT Controller, packed it up and sent it off to him this afternoon. How we are going to get it back we will sort out later.

One of the major sons of the town of Godalming is John or better known as Jack Phillips. He  was the Chief Wireless telegraphist on the Titanic. Now you know that this isn't going to turn out well, and he died sending distress messages out. He was one of the first people to send the SOS message in earnest. His last message from the 'Titanic' was at 0217 and the ship went down at 0220. He was never found. A year later the Phillips Memorial Cloister was built and dedicated to Jack. It is the largest monument to the Titanic anywhere.

The monument is was partly paid for by the Postal Telegraph Clerks Assoc. Jack had started in the Post Office in Godalming. He later went to sea with the Marconi Company. He was only 19 when he went to sea in 1906 but he was that good they overlooked the normal age of 21. He was appointed Chief Telegraphist on the 'Titanic' in March 1912 and lost his life aboard in April 1912.

This building is known as the 'Pepperpot'. This building was erected in 1814 to replace a Medieval market house and housed the council chamber up stairs. It is also a fact of history that Godalming was also the first place in the country to have public street lighting using electricity. Never mind that it was unreliable and more expensive that gas so it was removed soon afterwards!

The oldest part of the town is down by the river where there were the mills that use the River Ock. These buildings are 16th Century.

Hatch Mill was still in use until 1965 but parts of it date back to the 17th Century.

Godalming is unusual in Surry in that it was an industrial town. The work centred on wool and cloth and woolen cloth was woven and later stocking knitted, underwear and other more specialist items made right up to the 1990's. This building was a hosiery factory. The three stories is very similar to places in Macclesfield and area.

Something that we had never seen before was this example of 'galletting'. This was carried out initially as the lime mortar was soft so the builders implanted little pieces of iron stone to protect it. They then added it it in a more ornamental way and it looks very different.

A look up Church Street towards the Pepperpot. On the High Street was a nice Weaterspoons that were were going to walk past but as it was a nice evening and the walk had given us a thirst, and because the name of the pub was dedicated to a local heron Jack Phillips that I had to give due honour to as a 40 year Merchant Navy guy.

We left our mooring at about 0930 and it was just great timing as when we passed Francombe Boat House all the day boats were just getting there 'talks' so we were ahead of them. It was a lovely morning and plenty of folks were out and about before it got too hot. The trip to Guildford was soon over and we moored up on the Shalford Meadows. We had stopped so that we could go on the free guided walk round Guildford. We like a guided walk, and a free one is even better. It is also research as I do guided walks around Hedon, east of Hull, every month. In Guildford they are every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday between May and September starting at 1430 from the Tungate arch on High Street. It was very good and worth hard cash I would say.

Views of the trip down from Godalming. We also passed Stonebridge Gunpowder Wharf where the Chilworth gun powder factory transported their gun powder by barge after 1763. It was the safest way to get gun powder to London. Accidents did happen and barges carrying powder had to be marked with a broad red stripe. The trade continued until 1921. The gun powder was loaded by a tread mill crane like the one at Guildford. Unstead Mill was where the factory now is.

This stretch of the Wey is picturesque and is worth the trip up, but it is a shame that they charge you £70. Heaven knows what they will charge you if they get the Wey and Arun Canal open too. We are heading slowly down back to the Thames now.