Beautiful though it may be, the 30 miles cruising upstream on the Severn to Worcester is too far for us to do in a day. Our Gloucester Dock Lockie recommended mooring at the Lower Lode Inn just before Tewksbury. It’s nice and peaceful and the food’s good …..
Not sure where the sun had gone, but otherwise it was perfect
And he was right, a whole pontoon to ourselves, with a pretty willowherb garden and a whacky sculpture on the flood post, (is it really possible for the river levels to rise that high?- the answer is yes) so we moored up and went for an obligatory pint to check if we needed a reservation for dinner. I even took my knitting. (If you look closely at the header photo, you’ll see a spinning wheel in the upstairs window of the pub)
But the bar maid said…. “if you want a table grab it now to stake your claim and order your food before 5:30….” sure enough, half an hour later we were over run, motor bikes and bikers in all shapes and sizes
I’m not going to attempt to describe the bikes, I’ll just share some photos. I admit to knowing very little about bikes, but the atmosphere was amazing, (although I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe the noise)
It was one of the Cotswold bikers weekly meets and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were over 500 bikes.
We chatted to several people and we were taken on a tour looking at different wheels and chassis and to admire the shiny chrome and leathers
The Gloucester and Sharpness canal was completed in 1827 in order to provide a safer transit than the dangerous tidal Severn estuary. Although only 16.5 miles long it was once the deepest and broadest canal in the world. It was a major route for goods being brought in from overseas, there was an oil tanker delivering to Gloucester and in 1937 two submarines also made the journey inland. Commercial traffic more or less ceased by the mid 1980s but the largest inland hotel boat in UK, the Edward Elgar still uses it regularly.
Just a bit bigger than Firecrest
It’s a fascinating waterway for us with lots of unfamiliar boats making it home
Dutch Barges, Pirate Galleons, Yachts and little launches
lot of the journey south you can look to the west and see the river running close to the canal, and the Welsh hills in the distance.
Glimpsing the big River
The proximity of the river and canal proved to be a constant source of worry, as any breach would have rendered the canal unusable. At Purton, there was little more than the width of the towpath between the two during a high spring tide. When the river bank collapsed in 1909 a plan was devised to create a tidal erosion barrier Between 1909 and 1965, ships and boats that had reached their sell by date were “hulked” by towing them up to Sharpness then releasing them to be carried up the bank to Purton at high tide. They were then holed and left to fill up naturally with silt, much in the same way that stone groins protect coastal beaches.
Only visible at low tide
A total of 86 known vessels were hulked, including Severn Trows, Kennet Canal Barges, Schooners and some WWII ferrocement barges.
Tread carefully cause you don’t know what’s lurking in that grass
Nowadays, the “Purton Hulks” would be preserved as historic boats as there are so few of them left. Burocracy stands in the way of doing so now, as they are neither covered by the “Preservation of Wrecks” act because they aren’t on the sea bed and they aren’t classed as “Ancient Monuments” because they aren’t on land. Although since 1999 an enthusiastic team of Friends has been doing what they can to record what they can and the tales these ships can tell. Our favourite story, was the Katherine Ellen a schooner that was impounded for gun running to Ireland in the 1920s. But the most impressive to look at now are the ferrocement barges
Hard to imagine a boat made of concrete
It really was a surreal and quite emotional sight seeing all these boats at what is the largest Ships Graveyard in Britain. It’s not the safest place to walk, around because there are metal ribs and sink holes camouflaged by the grass, but nothing that common sense and respect can’t handle.
A poignant image that such a splendid boat will rot away to nothing in time.
Sad though it is that most of them are now lost, they have served their purpose and the canal is safe. For most narrowboaters, Sharpness is the end of the line. You can walk along to the disused lock and stand in awe as the tide swirls around.
Now that’s a lockies cottage with a view
And there is a tidal basin and dock yard which provides access onto the river. Some intrepid travellers, engage a pilot to take their narrowboat out onto the estuary and down to Bristol, like our friend Jo did this summer, but not for us. The currents and tides can be legendary at certain times of the year when surfers ride the Severn Bore. We were quite disappointed not to have arrived when the tide was more dramatic. But even so the size of the estuary is awesome, you can just about see the severn bridges in the distance.
Looking to the south with the Severn Bridges in the distanceLooking inland
We spent a week, there and back on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal. It was a novel change, the channel is deep and wide so highly efficient on fuel, the variety of boats is interesting and the mooring is rural and peaceful. There’s no locks to pass through and all the swing bridges are operated for you. It’s not somewhere we will rush back to because it’s so far off the main system, but we’d strongly recommend it as a short trip.
It’s always a mix of emotions arriving somewhere new. An exciting adventure, somewhere new to explore, would we find Dr Fosters puddle….
Arriving in Gloucester dock, looking towards the canal
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.
Looking back towards the lock entrance
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.
Yes, we’re down there somewhere, getting on and off the boat was somewhat undignified, but it entertained the passers by.
The dock complex has undergone extensive gentrification since it became superfluous to requirements for the transhipment of goods.
This sculture is known as the candle.
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.
We wondered if the seagulls outnumber the people
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,
There’s a growing number of rainbow crossings although they aren’t without controversy
It all felt a bit modern and soulless although the cathedral complex was stunning.
Gloucester cathedral
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.
Well that puts it all in perspective
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.
As we’d reached the last day of our 14 night ANT licence, we only had one night in Tewkesbury. Of course I made straight for the Abbey to enjoy one of my favourite sculptures in the country. It’s called Touching Souls and depicts 4 children sitting in a circle with their feet touching. Their soles and their souls reaching out. It was created as a copy its Romanian artist Mico Kauffman, who sculpted the original for the United Methodist Church in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. The entire high street and town centre is interesting to walk down, with a merry mix of independent shops in olde world buildings which encourage you to look beyond the modern day window displays. And even after we first stopped here in 2017, I still rate the Gloucester Old Spot sausage, from Halfords butchers the best, and we’ve done a lot of research. I also like this gate to the garden of the Tudor House Hotel on the high street.
Where antiquity walks hand in hand with time and still retains its dignity, there is peace.
Whilst I was out exploring (and buying sausage for tea) Eric was prepping the boat ready for our trip down the big River Severn
We didn’t think our mud weights would cut it if we got into trouble on the Severn
We left the Avon at its confluence with the River Severn,
Scary and exciting adventure ahead
and as the river is now subject to a tidal flow, from now on all the locks are manned. Not only is the river big, but so are the locks.
Albert is a proper sea worthy barge, who was planning to continue onto the Severn Estuary
The scale of our surroundings certainly reminded us what a small cog we are in the grand scheme of things
You could build a marina inside Upper Lode Lock
We say this over and over again, we love the variety of waterways that we can cruise on, from some rather grotty backwaters of neglected canals, to picturesque rivers like the Avon and onto super highways like the Severn.
Poor Firecrest, we usually travel about 2.8 miles an hour today we reached 6, and could have gone faster
Going with the flow helped our journey time down to Gloucester. We made the 13 miles to Gloucester dock in about 4 hours.
A nice manageable sized lock to see us into the Historic Gloucester dock
By mid morning our batteries were fully charged, (we don’t charge overnight) After a chat with Matt the lockie, to pay our dues, we were escorted by a swan towards Lechlade. It wouldn’t be a long trip, we could see the spire of St Lawrence church under a mile away.
Leaving St John’s for the final leg into Lechlade
Although we were a bit worried as we approached Lechlade, the swans were getting dangerously large.
Beware, of the wildlife in Lechlade
Lechlade is known to boaters for its offside mooring, which is shared by a herd of cattle. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a steak dinner, but I don’t particularly fancy becoming the steak’s dinner. And there’s many tales of the cows chewing ropes and licking paintwork and occasionally even stepping onto the deck. This herd isn’t aggressive, just inquisitive, but the canny boaters come armed with an electric fence to give a bit of space. However we saw a space at the bottom of The New Inn’s pub garden, and preferring a pint of beer to a pint of milk, we opted to moor as patrons, and enjoy the antics of the cows from a safe distance.
Perhaps its not just the cows we need to watch out for
We were well rewarded with antics when one of the cows got too close to the edge and had fallen in. The combination of the current and the steep bank meant that the cow was struggling to climb out. Some well meaning walkers called the firebrigade who dutifully turned up to assess the situation only to discover that she had climbed out unaided further downstream. They didn’t seem to mind, there wasn’t a lot else going on on a chilly grey bank holiday.
Thats a lot of cows
We left them to it and went to explore the village, stopping at the Fish and Chip shop
The fish and chips were worth stopping for
It had been a goal to reach Lechlade for some years now, as it holds fond childhood memories. I think I was about 7 when I helped my dad build a Canadian canoe. We then drove from our home in Liverpool to Trewsbury Mead, near Cirencester to see the spring which is hailed to be the source of this great River, in those days Old Father Thame’s statue still marked the spot until he was moved to St Johns lock in 1974. Its actually one of several springs in the area, but its unusual to see water flowing from it.
We continued our homage in our VW combi, following the growing river for about 15 miles through pretty Cotswold villages until we reached Lechlade, the first navigable section, where we set off as a family of four, mum, dad me and my younger brother paddling our way down to Windsor, pitching our tent to camp along the way. (We’d actually launched, ie tested it was water tight, the canoe in the Leeds and Liverpool canal at Lydiate.) Such a pity I don’t have any photos of this transformative holiday. However I do have some lovely memories. Eric and I walked up to the Round House which marks the joining point of the Thames and Severn canal with the river, which is probably the spot where we launched our canoe.
The roundhouse (former lock keepers cottage) at Lechlade
Sadly the weather, and being on patrons only mooring didn’t motivate us to stay more than one night in Lechlade, and depending upon how our Thames adventure pans out we might well come back to explore this pretty place.
Looking down from the bridge to us moored at the New Inn
