Puffing a-Wey

Puffing a-Wey – 10-12 July 2026

Dapdune Wharf, River Wey Navigation, Guildford

We are very fortunate that the National Trust, our gracious hosts, have invited us back for Puffing a-Wey again this year. Puffing a-Wey, named thus by the National Trust has been running since 2011 and still not everyone gets the name right!

It gets called ‘Puffin away’, which is obviously an event under the auspices of the RSPB for sea birds with funny beaks. Others call it ‘Puffing away’, evoking a weekend of serious coughing and wheezing sponsored by the tobacco industry.

A gift event: only charge is for the Saturday barbecue

But ’Puffing-a-Wey’ is the actual name because it’s held on the lovely, intimate, River Wey Navigation and it’s a gift event for those of us in the SBA who care to take our boats along to enjoy it. The only charge made to boat owners is the cost of the Saturday night barbecue for which boaters are charged £15 per head

We’re very grateful to the National Trust team at Dapdune Wharf for the waiving of licence and camping charges and free use of slips and other resources. It’s a real gift event for steamboat owners. Our presence brings in many more visitors than usual to their well-hidden but rather lovely town-centre site

It’s an undemanding weekend. Boats arrive for launching on the Friday and the quay at Dapdune is ours for the weekend. There’s a very usable slip and trailers can be parked in a nearby locked enclosure.  Larger boats can use a very gentle slip a mile or so downstream at Stoke Lock in North Guildford. Dapdune itself is the former barge-building and admin centre for the Wey and Godalming Navigations when they were in private ownership and it is tucked away behind the town’s cricket ground, so although Guildford surrounds the site there is a sense of being in the countryside.

On the Friday night there is a shared pub meal at a venue close to Dapdune.

Saturday is the day we’re on display to the public  

Saturday is the main event. SBA boats are asked to stick around not too far from the site so that they can be seen by visitors and owners can talk to those who are obviously interested. There are waterside pubs in both directions from Dapdune and those are the ones to use on the Saturday so that the quayside at Dapdune always has some boats milling around providing atmosphere and colour to enhance other activities also there – a model boats exhibition and exhibits by local model engineers for example.

Our very own SBA member Trevor Jenkins will be displaying a selection of his models and SBA VP Mark Rudall will give a talk to NT visitors on things related to steam - in a bigger venue this year as last year not all children and parents could squeeze in for the fun.   

Saturday evening sees a barbecue, but the National Trust asks steamboat owners (of suitably sized boats) to be prepared to take some of their River Wey maintenance team volunteers aboard for a short early evening cruise while the barbecue is in preparation. On their return the open air barbecue,  a joint NT/SBA effort is shared with the Wey volunteers and is accompanied by music from local entertainers - our very own VP Mark has been known to strum his double bass along with his blue grass jazz colleagues.

Sunday is a free day. Some choose to pull out and head for home while others enjoy the river and set off for a distant pub, but there’s no hurry to go if you have the time.

Ian Bucknall / Mark Rudall

SBA members: please register for the event and we will send you more details nearer the event.

Boat owners: also please download the SBA Boat Owner's Declaration Form and send a completed copy to Ian Bucknall as soon as possible but definitely before the event.

 declaration_form sba.pdf

This is a Type 1 Rally

Key to event types

1 - SBA Organised Event (owner's declaration required)

2 - SBA organised participation in 3rd party's event (owner's declaration required)

In event types 1 and 2 the SBA organisers and SBA members are covered by the SBA Liability Insurance; 

3 - private meeting of members with or without boats

4 - private, individual participation of members in 3rd party's event

5 - for information only