Travels on the U.K canal system with Narrowboat 'San Serriffe': Sizzling Severn........towards Gloucester docks.

A trip boat on the River Severn near Stourport.

Leaving the confined space of the two staircase locks from Stourport Basin brought a sense of freedom as we joined the wide River Severn. After the restricted world of canals it is always liberating to be on a wide river with deep clear water under the boat ..........like most narrowboats 'San Serriffe' always seems to run better on rivers.

Leaving Stourport in our wake we negotiated our first River Severn lock at Lincomb............like the River Thames all the locks on the Severn are manned and gigantic compared to canal locks. Apart from taking instructions from the lock-keeper and roping to the vertical wire lines you can just relax and let the machinery do all the work.

A narrowboat dwarfed by the River Severn lock at Lincomb

Temperatures rose as we enjoyed the blue-sky sunny weather that we are enjoying in stark contrast to the truly awful 'summer' we had in 2012. This is 5 star luxury weather indeed and certainly a match for anywhere in Europe at the moment ...long may it last :)

Making a fast pace towards Worcester despite a lack of appreciable current on the river
because of the reduced rain-fall recently. During 2012 we had more rain than most rivers could cope with and this would have been a very tricky navigation with fast currents and flooding a constant threat. At the moment it is a very benign and a superb river experience.

Mid-afternoon found us on the outskirts of Worcester and lucky enough to find a mooring near the racecourse.

Moored near Worcester racecourse. River Severn

River Severn, Worcester.

Following morning came early with more blue skies and sunshine.......this weather is becoming almost predictable !!!!!!!.........fantastic :) It has now been categorized as an official 'level three' heatwave, not sure what that means apart from being b........dy hot!

Pushing the throttle forward until settling on a fast (for San Serriffe) 2000 revs' we burbled towards Upton on Severn and Tewkesbury. Spotting a marina at Upton we spent an hour or so taking on fuel and a 'pump-out' for the toilet, visiting (with some difficulty) Upton on Severn for bread, milk, etc. Upton is an absolute delight and a living 'ye olde England' film-set ( in the nicest possible way) and we would have liked to spent more time there. Unfortunately like most River locations they have very few moorings for visiting boats.
A strange phenomena when you consider the money boat crews could spend in local shops/pubs, etc.

Blue sky cruising - River Severn.

Approaching Tewkesbury we watched out for the River Avon we we hope to visit after we have been to Gloucester docks and Sharpness. I was amazed when the junction was little more than a 'gap in the hedge' with poor signage and certainly very easy to miss. Not sure what I expected , but certainly something little more obvious !!!!!

Approaching Upper Lode lock I decided to try my under-used VHF radio.......

"Upper Lode lock ....Upper lode lock San Serriffe, San Serriffe, over "
" Yes ,San Serriffe ?"
" Passing Avon junction, any chance of a lock down? over "
" No problem, lock will be ready, over"
"Many thanks for that..... San Serriffe........out"

Wow,....not used the radio since the Thames and I am always slightly amazed when somebody actually replys to my message. Not much chance to practice on the Macclesfield canal !!!!!

Sand barge powers past 'San Serriffe' on the River Severn

Mooring places between Tewkesbury and Gloucester dock are very far and few between so did not hesitate when we saw a gap big enough for 'San Serriffe' on the 'Lower Lode'
pub moorings......an idyllic pub serving excellent beer that judging from the old sepia toned photographs has not changed for many a year. We paid our mooring 'fee'
(a few beers) and sat looking out at the River Severn from the lush grass of the beer garden, bathed in the cool light of the evening sun........

"time for another one then ?" was the perhaps the most appropriate comment of the evening.


Lower Lode pub...River Severn.

Running the last fifteen miles into Gloucester dock the following morning we passed 'Upper Parting' where the River Severn is split into a West and East channel. At the previous lock the keeper had suggested we radio forward to Gloucester dock lock and they would have it ready for us. It is three miles from 'Upper Parting' and I suggested an ETA of some 40 minutes to the lock keeper. He warned me of a dredger working in the middle of the channel and he was right !!!!! We rounded a bend and found this large vessel looming over us with just a few feet either side for us to pass. Narrowboats are used to small gaps so it was no problem and off we went leaving this voracious sludge gulper to its important work

River Severn dredger.......near Gloucester docks

Sure enough as we approached Gloucester lock everything was ready for us. If this had been a spring tide it would have helped a great deal to have the lock open and waiting for you instead of mooring to the wall to avoid you being swept along in the current. On this occasion the River Severn was as benign as any canal and we burbled straight into the lock. Stern and bow ropes were secured to the vertical wires on the lock wall and the lock-keeper gently filled his lock rising us slowly into the Gloucester dock basin.

'San Serriffe' locking up into Gloucester dock.

Gloucester lock has seen it's glory days of commercial traffic long gone. Like many other local authorities Gloucester realized that with some effort you could turn crumbling warehouses and dockyard into desirable housing and offices with the added bonus of creating a major tourist asset a the same time. It is certainly well worth a visit.

Entering the basin from the River Severn lock there a pontoon visitor moorings (48 hour) on the left hand side. Our Nicholson's guide ( about five years old) was not really helpful when listing important facilities for boats ( like refuse disposal and water ) so for anybody like ourselves new to Gloucester dock who would struggle to find these here are their locations......

There are no facilities on the pontoons
Toilet and shower block ( with toilet for the disabled) is situated just past the large dry-dock before Llanthony swing bridge next to a furniture charity warehouse. It has a sign for a washing machine facility, but don,t get too excited if you have dirty washing to be done as it has been removed
( at least we could not find it)

There are two Canal and River Trust refuse locations near here ......... two skips near the dry-dock and one near the swing bridge. There is another location behind the warehouses on the same side as the Waterway museum.

CRT water point and self-pump out ( card) is located on riverside pontoons just past the swing-bridge ( you will have to go through the bridge to use these)

Llanthony swing bridge-keeper has a little office here to observe traffic entering the dock and you can obtain pump-out cards from him.

There is a Canal and River Trust office near the road entrance and opposite to a Gloucester Municipal office.
There is a push-button on the door and a eventually somebody with talk to you through the intercom and advise you on your requirements
( like where are the rubbish bins ??)

It is just a shame CRT cannot put a sign on near the pontoons explaining where all these essential bits are if only to save them answering the office inter-com every 10 minutes to explain the locations to visiting boaters. If the budget cannot stretch to a sign how about a printed sheet/map of locations in the basin handed out to visiting boats by the lock-keeper........simples.

If your food stocks are depleted there is a convenience store
located behind the warehouse on the same side as the Waterways museum. This includes a small 'Subway' outlet if you do not feel like cooking.

There is a large Sainsbury store about fifteen minute walk from the basin on the Sharpness canal side. It is just passed the 'Sula' lightship and has a limited number of moorings for boaters (2 hour).

Gloucester main shopping street is just five minutes away
but the nearest supermarket ( Co-op) at that location is a good thirty minutes walk (especially carrying bags)

Apologies if I have missed anything, I will just await a cheque in the post from the Gloucester tourist office....dream on baby......:)

Hope you find the information useful but I find information regarding facilities for boats sometimes difficult to find. I tried both the Gloucester Tourist and Canal and River Trust web-sites regarding water and refuse points and came up with ...er...... well..... nothing. Nicholson's guide might be updated now, but my older copy also also gave no locations for refuse points.

"....and I would like to thank" ........ all the Canal and River Trust lock and bridge keepers on the River Severn and Sharpness Canal, they are some of the most friendly and helpful on the system ( they told me say that ) No only joking......they really are!