Gloucester dock to Sharpness........

Nearing the time-limit on our 48-hour visitor mooring in Gloucester dock we decided to spend a few days on the Gloucester and Sharpness ship canal.   Sixteen miles long this canal could take large sailing vessels in it's hey-day.  It still does.......with an annual 'tall-ships' gathering in Gloucester dock.  Over 100 ft wide in  places and 20 ft deep, no locks and all the bridges opened for you. This is easy cruising for a narrowboat or cruiser - a pleasure that is not to be missed after reaching Gloucester from the River Severn.

Gloucester dock from the Gloucester and Sharpness ship cana;. Llanthony bridge is in the foreground.

After an overnight at Sellar's Bridge we used the nearby water point and were delighted to see the Spanish two-master schooner 'Atyla' hove into view from the direction of Gloucester.  'Atyla' is a training ship and was heading for Liverpool from Sharpness after repairs to her top masts in Gloucester. It was a sight you certainly do not see on the Macclesfield canal !!!!!!!!

Spanish Schooner 'Atyla' passes us on the Gloucester and Sharpness ship canal.

After the unique experience of being passed by something that you imagine braving the waves of the Spanish main, the rest of the day was an anti-climax.

A day of anti-climax perhaps, but a beautiful one for all that.  An hour or so and we were passing though Saul junction which boasts a selection of interesting boats all

Boats of all sizes on the Gloucester and Sharpness ship canal.

Struggling  to use the water-point nearing Sharpness with this large vessel moored next to it.

of it's own including several large pleasure boats and a RNLI lifeboat for some reason (no reflection on the trip boats I am sure)

We had stopped at Patch bridge on our last visit a couple of years ago.  Seeing a free mooring we decided to repeat the pleasure. Patch bridge gives easy access to Slimbridge wildfowl trust
 ( about fifteen minutes walk) and the nearby 'Tudor' inn.

A couple of nights moored at the canal terminus at Sharpness allowed us to explore the arm to the old original dock that was once the entrance to the Severn Estuary and Bristol channel when the canal was first built.  Amazing to think that it was once mooring for large sea-going sailing ships before the current modern commercial docks were built.  These would have then used the Sharpness canal and off-loaded their cargo at Gloucester lock.

Old dock entrance to the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.  Severn estuary and Bristol channel are pictured in the background.

Low tide on the Severn estuary looking towards Gloucester from Sharpness.

This canal arm is now long-term moorings for a variety of fibreglass cruisers and narrowboats.  A walk to the end of the arm will supply you with superb views over the Severn estuary and Bristol channel with the Bristol suspension bridge visible on the horizon. Our previous visit a couple of years ago had seen the visitor moorings on the approach to the arm very busy and we were lucky to get the last space. This year for some reason there was hardly any boats there with plenty of room to moor.

With superb weather we decided to return to Gloucester dock without a stop.  Sixteen miles was completed in a little over four hours and by early afternoon we were moored outside the Sainsbury supermarket on the approaches to Gloucester dock. Then with food cupboards re-stocked we looked forward to another couple of days chilling out in Gloucester dock.

48-hour visitor mooring. Gloucester dock.

Gloucester dock lock........locking up from the River Severn into the dock.