Lord Egremont, President of The Wey & Arun Canal Trust, officially unveiled a plaque at the Three Compasses Inn, Alfold, on 12 August to commemorate the opening of the canal in 1816. The opening ceremony for the canal, held at the Compasses on the 29th September 1816, resulted in great local rejoicing. Lord Egremont is the great-great-great grandson of the 3rd Earl of Egremont, who promoted the canal and was the first Chairman of the Wey & Arun Junction Canal Company. He welcomed the restoration of the canal by the Trust and spoke with enthusiasm about the work being undertaken by all the volunteers. He also mentioned that the canal had lost his ancestor quite a sum of money; however, he had not built it to make money, but for the benefit of the local community.

In his reply, Peter Foulger, Chairman of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust, welcomed over 50 visitors to the ceremony, including the Mayor of Waverley, Jacquie Keen, and Cllr John Robini, Brian Ellis, Chairman of Cranleigh Parish Council, together with representatives from Surrey County Council, Dunsfold Park and local authorities. He said that although refreshments would be provided in the Three Compasses after the ceremony, it wouldn't be on the scale of the original opening when the party "devoured a roasted ox and drank two hundred gallons of ale".

(Left to right) Peter Foulger (chairman of the W&A), Lord Egremont and the Mayor of Waverley, Jacquie Keen, standing in front of the unveiled plaque at the "Three Compasses Inn", Alfold. Photo, Copyright The Wey & Arun Canal Trust.

Finally, Lord Egremont presented an original drawing of "The Summit Level" of the Wey & Arun Canal (by local artist John Russell-Hayes) to Mr Jim McAllister of Dunsfold Park in recognition of his help and encouragement in the restoration of the canal, known as "London's Lost Route to the Sea".

The Wey & Arun Canal runs from the River Wey near Shalford in Surrey to the River Arun at Pallingham near Pulborough. The Wey & Arun Canal Trust aims to restore this unique link between the inland waterways system and the South Coast. The section of the canal that passes near the Three Compasses is the summit pound (the highest part of the canal) that runs from Rowly, near Cranleigh, to Sidney Wood on the Surrey/Sussex border.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Although the Wey & Arun Canal had taken, from first to last, six years to complete, the actual building of the waterway had occupied only three years. Few canals had been planned, dug, and opened in less time.

The day appointed for the official opening, 29th September 1816, was one of great local rejoicing. The canal promised to reduce the price of fuel and from all accounts it was an inauspicious autumn morning when the Earl of Egremont, accompanied by numerous friends and shareholders, attended by the Mayor and Aldermen of Guildford, assembled by the "Compasses Inn" at Alfold. Hot punch, exchanges of congratulatory messages and salutatory greetings, and then the company embarked by Compasses Bridge on four gaily decorated barges.

Towards noon the weather improved; and on reaching Stonebridge in Shalford, the colourful procession entered the River Wey and travelled towards Guildford.

Meanwhile, outside "The Compasses" the navigators (navvies) had devoured a roasted ox and drunk two hundred gallons of ale. Tales are told, apocryphally perhaps, that several navvies fell into the canal that night. It had been an historic occasion for Alfold village, with the first benefit of the Wey & Arun canal when the coal which had been carried sold for 50s a chaldron instead of the usual three guineas.

Extract from P.A.L. Vine's book "London's Lost Route to the Sea".

Further information and photographs in the form of JPEG files can be obtained from the Wey and Arun Trust's Public Relations Officer: Sally Schupke (01483 560543): e-mail: press@wact.org.uk