The Wey & Arun Canal Trust honoured the memory of Winston Harwood at Lordings Lock on Sunday 14th May. Small boats took to a restored section of canal and local landowner Henry Ayre unveiled a plaque in Winston's memory. Winston sadly died in September 2005; restoration in the Lordings area made tremendous progress thanks to his enthusiasm and inspired leadership. The idea for the boat rally had been Winston's and he had even suggested the ideal date, near to the full moon which he felt always brought settled weather. He was right too; although brilliant sunshine was too much to hope for, it stayed dry all day. Wet weather would not only have dampened the spirits of the boaters but would also have made driving to the site very difficult - it is about a mile from the nearest public road and access for vehicles (by special permission) was across the fields.

Inviting Henry Ayre to unveil the memorial plaque, Wey & Arun Canal Trust Chairman Peter Foulger suggested that Winston might be watching over us still. Certainly he would have been delighted with the event; Lordings Lock and Orfold Aqueduct are fully restored from a structural point of view and next to the plaque the waterwheel constructed by Winston and his team of volunteers was happily delivering water from the River Arun into the canal. A short distance away, a section of canal about 1km long was accessible via a new slipway. Boaters and walkers on this section could admire the unusual flood lock and the adjacent bridge, also rebuilt by Winston's group.

The Lordings site is about 1 mile south of the A272 between Billingshurst and Wisborough Green. Although not normally accessible by vehicle, the site can be inspected from public footpaths forming part of the Wey-South Path, a 36-mile route that follows the River Wey, Wey & Arun Canal, Arun Navigation and River Arun between Guildford in Surrey and Amberley in Sussex.