Gloucester to Sharpness

Hi, how are you?

When we needed to go for our pump-out the other day it was blowing a hooly, which made turning the boat round with moored boats on both sides of the canal a bit awkward. I suggested that we tie alongside David's boat as he was already pointing in the right direction and he could power us through the swing bridge to the pump-out point.  We've done this sort of thing a few times before, in fact we've even done it through wide locks, so it wasn't a problem. It did turn a few heads though as we passed other boats and it made the bridge keeper scratch his head till he realised what we were doing.

After the pump-out we headed back to Gloucester Docks as the other two boats who are coming with us down the Bristol Channel had just arrived.

We had the compulsory "planning meeting" over dinner in the Tall Ships pub. It was their once a month Urban Menu - 3 courses for £9. Superb value, excellent service and I'm told the beer was on form too.  In fact it was so good that Roger, David and I went back for lunch on Friday to sample the seafood that the pub's famous for.  I haven't had a decent seafood platter in this country for donkey's years, nobody seems to do them anymore.  This was the exception and I'm really sad that we couldn't stay longer so I could go back and try one of their many crab dishes.

All four boats left Gloucester yesterday.  It's a great place and the only down-side is the gulls. They're a damn nuisance, either flying overhead and splattering the boats or sitting on the roof leaving their calling cards everywhere.   As we pulled out of the moorings David had a hitch hiker.

It had made an awful mess all over his cratch cover and bow and wasn't at all bothered by the boat moving.  It stayed there so long that he had to come alongside us so that I could waft it away with the fly swatter.  Cheeky thing!

A much nicer bird is the swan, and there are plenty of them and their little ones about at the moment.

As we pulled into Saul Marina to fill up with diesel today we passed this lifeboat.  Given our cruising plans over the next few days I really hope this is the closest we ever come to one of them!

We stopped off at Purton this afternoon to go and check out the Purton Hulks.  Full information about this boat graveyard can be found HERE

These are just a few of the boat remains that were visible, several have been totally covered by the dunes.

After seeing the wrecks, we carried on and moored at Sharpness for the night.  Our Big Summer Adventure is still on schedule for Monday so we walked down to the sea lock to check out where we would be going.  We have to be assembled in this lock by 7.30 on Monday morning and we then have a 2 hour wait for the tide to be right so they can let us down and out into the estuary.  Scary stuff!!!!

That's all for now, see you soon

Killing time till the Big Summer Adventure

Hello again,

We're just killing time at the moment, waiting for the other 2 boats in our party to catch up ready for our Big Summer Adventure which could happen as early as next weekend but is purely dependent on the weather.  This year we're doing the Severn Crossing, going out at Sharpness with a pilot or two and in at Portishead followed by another hop the next day into Bristol. I can't wait!

In the meantime we've moved down the canal a couple of miles to Patch Bridge. There are some lovely big boats about and I've got to say I'm quite green with envy at all the big Dutch barges that keep going past us.  Dreams of moving to France have surfaced again. Having built Fizzical Attraction ourselves we're finding it very hard to contemplate selling up and buy something someone else has built to their ideas rather than designed around how we actually live and use our boat.
If only I could wave a magic wand and transform Fizzy into a bigger version of herself........... for now I'll just keep dreaming and maybe I'll buy an extra lottery ticket "just in case"

For me killing time means more time for crochet.  David is a real "tea belly" and loves sitting out on the bank for his breakfast with a large pot of tea.  A few months ago I saw a crocheted tea cosy in John Lewis for the outrageous sum of £60. I took a sneaky photograph for my ideas file and forgot about it.  Trolling through the file the other day and coming across the photo gave me the inspiration for this.  I "borrowed" his tea pot and took the measurements and this morning I hooked my version. What do you think?  Judging by his smile when I gave it to him today I think he was rather chuffed with it!

After our 6 mile walk yesterday afternoon Chico went straight to bed and refused to get out again last night when I suggested "walkies" but he was OK again this morning.  The three of us were all a bit stiff and creaky though so we just had a short wander around the area this afternoon.  There's not a great deal here, unless you want to go to the bird sanctuary at Slimbridge that is, but at over a tenner each we didn't bother.

Wandering down one of the lanes we came across these beautiful flowers outside Sunset Cottage.  Their back garden was lovely too, with a veg patch to die for.

After dropping Chico off back at the boat we headed for the one and only pub.  The Tudor Arms was doing a roaring trade, especially with people who had been to Slimbridge.

Their cream teas are heavenly

I wonder if Chico would sit in a bike trailer like these two little dogs? I can just picture him wearing a seat belt and crash helmet.

Tomorrow we're heading back towards Gloucester to meet up with our other two cruising partners but first we'll be stopping for a cheap pump-out.

We used this one the last time we were on the G&S and it's possibly the best one we've come across anywhere. Unfortunately we're having real problems with our toilet tank at the moment.  It STINKS!!!!!   We don't usually have problems, apart from the odd wiff when it's almost full, so I reckon this smell is the result of me having just had a course of extra strong antibiotics for a tooth abscess. I think the antibiotics have also killed off the good bacteria in the tank which is why it's so smelly.  Hopefully a really good flushing out (pardon the pun) will sort it out.

Bye for now, take care and see you soon

Walkies

Hi, it's been the hottest day of the year so far here so I hope you're enjoying similar weather wherever you are.

It seems quite surreal to me to be on a canal in this country and to see more of these sailing boats and large "gin palaces" than narrowboats.

Yesterday we moved to Saul Junction passing this sunken barge on the way. It's being made good use of by this swan who has built herself a huge nest right in the middle.

There was no sign of any eggs yet though.

We moored on the 48hr visitor moorings opposite the pirate boat

and this morning were invaded and surrounded, literally, by sailing yachts.

They'd come from Cardiff, sailing up the River Severn into Gloucester and were the reason we'd had to vacate the moorings which had been reserved for the weekend. The visitor moorings are quite short and we're used to having David breast up with us, but we've never had a yacht breast up before.  The crews of all 4 boats made a bee-line for the shower block as soon as they'd got moored up and then carried on their journey after lunch, with their towels and laundry blowing in the breeze hanging from the rigging!

After lunch we took Chico for a walk along the route of the old canal which used to join the Gloucester & Sharpness canal to the River Severn.  There's not much of it left in water but this section has been cleared, presumably by the residents of the canal-side cottages or maybe by the pub.

When we saw the Ship Inn we thought we'd stop for a little liquid refreshment but it's closed down so we carried on towards the river instead.

This was our first glimpse of the tidal River Severn. It's not suitable for narrowboats due to the strong currents and sand banks.

Following the Severn Way footpath we came to this vantage point which is signed as being a good spot to watch the Severn Bore come up river.  There was an assortment of small abandoned/damaged rowing boats and canoes which I can only assume had been used to "ride the bore".

Leaving the Severn Way we headed back inland, walking down some really pretty narrow roads lined with wild flowers.

Fields of buttercups were everywhere too.

We had a lovely walk, calling in for a drink at the Bell Inn in Frampton on Severn on the way home.

By the time we got back to the boats we were all a bit foot sore and Roger went on Google Earth to measure how far we'd actually walked.  6 miles !

It was the Monaco Grand Prix today and as we were going walkies I'd set the box to record it.  The boys are now sipping mojitos and watching the race highlights while I make the Sunday roast. Pampered pair!

Our 48 hrs will be up tomorrow so we're moving off again but we're not sure where to just yet.

Come back soon and find out.................

Bye for now

Gloucester & Sharpness Canal

We'd planned to stay in Gloucester and explore the city, but the weather was so nice we decided to pop down the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal and see what was at the end.  It was a good decision as it's a beautiful canal. Unfortunately we could only stay one night but there's so much to see and do that we've already decided we'll have to pay a return visit next year and maybe stay for a few weeks.

There are 13 swing/lift bridges on the canal, all of which are operated for you by very pleasant C&RT staff.

The canal was originally built to take large ships, bringing cargo from the port at Sharpness in the Bristol Channel to Gloucester Docks.  Because their passage was dependant on accessing the tidal lock at Sharpness the bridges had to be manned day and night and the bridge-keepers lived in these small cottages beside the bridges.  They're unique to the G & S canal and all feature classical facades with fluted Doric columns. These days they're all privately owned and almost half of them were for sale.

We moored at the end of the canal, with good views over the Severn estuary towards the Forest of Dean.

The River Severn has the second biggest tidal range in the world and it certainly comes in quickly.  We went for a wander around and in the space of half an hour the sand banks were covered.  The currents are fierce and there were lots of whirlpools too.

This is the old tidal lock at the end of the canal which is no longer used.

I saw my ideal boat in Gloucester Docks and Roger found his while we were walking round Sharpness Docks.  It even has it's own heli pad but we couldn't decide if it was still being fitted out or was in the process of being dismantled. Either way it looked like it needed a lot of T.L.C.

Just up from our mooring was the remains of an old railway bridge which used to cross the River Severn.

The tower on the left was the pivot for the section of railway over the canal which had to be moved to let large ships past.

 Yesterday we headed back to Gloucester but stopped at The Tudor Arms pub for a pint at lunchtime.  This pub has been awarded CAMRA's Gloucester Country Pub of the Year award for the 6th year running so we just had to stop and see why. The beer was excellent, the menu fairly basic but the food looked good and they had a poster in the bar that made me smile.

We set off again, stopping twice en-route.  The first time was to get a pump-out at the day-boat hire/cafe just through Patch Swing Bridge.  It was only £10 (BW charge £14.75) with use of the pump for as long as you need and a good rinse out too.

The second stop was at the oil depot between Fretherne Bridge and Sandfield Bridge.  They sell red diesel at 85p/l domestic rate with any split, direct from the depot. In winter they also sell solid fuel.

We just made it back to Gloucester Docks with 5 minutes to spare before Llanthony Bridge closed for the night.  The docks were very quiet with only 3 other narrowboats on the moorings.  We left at 12.00 today, having been advised by the lock keeper to wait for the low tide on the River Severn to make it easier getting out of the lock. The River Severn is quite boring really, although going up-stream there seems to be a bit more of a view than going down-stream. It's definitely just a transit river, I wouldn't want to spend any time here.

At Upper Lode Lock we shared with a huge crane. They were repairing one of the paddles in the lock but had had to abandon work for the day due to high water levels. The weir beside the lock was almost level but we didn't really notice much of an increase in current.

We're now moored back in Upton on Severn, double breasted up on the floating pontoon.  We didn't fancy mooring on the steps under The Plough pub as the water level is rising quite rapidly at the moment, I suppose that's due to all the rain they've been having in Wales for the past few days.  I just hope it doesn't go up too much overnight as we really need to carry on again tomorrow. We have to get back to Birmingham by next Thursday.