It’s always a mix of emotions arriving somewhere new. An exciting adventure, somewhere new to explore, would we find Dr Fosters puddle….
We’d just completed a journey down the tidal section of the River Severn, albeit a very tame tide but still a big river for our little canal boat. We were faced with this huge space, surrounded by 18th century warehouses and a choice of mooring.
But we’d heard that Gloucester had some extra magic awaiting Firecrest – electric points. So our first goal was to recharge our batteries. It’s never a given that the shore power advertised by CRT will be available and in working order, or for that matter that we would be able to access one of the several payment methods used along the cut. And Gloucester was no exception- you need a prepaid card, which are sold at the museum, which is closed on a Sunday, the day we arrived. Luckily we had one squirreled away from a trip up the Trent in 2018. Once we’d hooked up, between the big boys, we set off to explore.
The dock complex has undergone extensive gentrification since it became superfluous to requirements for the transhipment of goods.
The warehouses that once held corn from Ireland salt from Worcestershire and timber from Canada have been restored and now hold a mixture of vibrant restaurants and rather nice apartments.
That look wonderful at night
One of the smaller docks has become a residential marina
And there’s still areas for commercial dockyard enterprises with dry docks and mooring for historic boats
It reminded us of Liverpool’s Albert Dock complex and ironically the warehouses were used to film the Liverpool based Onedin Line tv series.
Mooring in the dock is free for the first 48 hours and although we enquired about staying longer, no one seemed to know who we could pay or how much an extra night would be. It seems a shame that so few boats were moored there.
We explored the town centre, but with a few exceptions,
It all felt a bit modern and soulless although the cathedral complex was stunning.
It didn’t surprise us to recognise it as part of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts
Luckily we didn’t see any Basilisks, but the giant seagulls strutting their stuff next to out boat were a bit scary.
We would have liked a few more days here cause I’m sure there’s a lot more to see than just the modern city centre. But next stop the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.