To the end of the world

It was time to head onto the River Severn - or Afon Hafren if you're Welsh! We were a bit nervous, to be honest, perhaps due to it being Britain's longest river - as well as having the most voluminous flow. We went down Avon Lock and took the Old Avon for a short way (think watery sliproad!) until we joined the Severn. It was very wide and quite daunting at

first but before too long we came to Upper Lode Lock. There was a red light so we pulled onto the pontoon until it flashed to show the lock-keeper was getting it ready. Then the

massive gates opened and in we went. It was enormous! Apparently at one time during a Severn Bore - the large wave which comes up the river - 30 vessels had sheltered in there!

Moorings are limited on the Severn and, having passed the first ones, we decided to stop at the next ones we came to. These were at the Yew Tree Pub which turned out to be closed, but the landlady, who appeared at an upstairs window when I went to ask, said it was fine for us to moor up and we could even go in and have a drink later when they were having a medium there (we decided not!). We tied up to the floating pontoon (which allows it to rise or lower depending on the level of the river - eek!) and had a cup of tea on the back deck watching some small yachts tacking up and down. We moved on the following day and moored at The Haw, beside a lovely boater with amazing lizard tattoos all over his head!

The next day our plan was to head to Gloucester but we awoke to wind, rain and waves on the water... Being the hardy souls we are we decided to brave it anyway and to be fair it wasn't as bad once we were underway. The entrance to Gloucester Lock is along a narrow channel

after it splits in two at Upper Parting. We rang ahead as requested and were told that the Edward Elgar (a large hotel boat) was just going up into the lock and a couple of narrowboats were coming down, so to take our time. This is easier said than done when the flow of the river is sweeping you along and we arrived just as the gates were opening. Wary of getting sucked over the weir we managed to grab hold of one of the 'wires' along the wharf wall until it was time for us to go in - phew!

We ascended off the river and into Gloucester Dock and , having heard tales of people getting grounded on the pontoons, we decided to moor against the dock wall. It involved a bit of a climb to get off the boat but it did have a lovely view of the old warehouses opposite. Actually we did try to move but it was so windy Jasmine was having none of it!

Anyway, keen to explore the city we set off and wandered around the old dry docks, saw Sula the lightship (featured in an episode of Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing!), skirted around Victoria Dock and headed towards the cathedral, popping in to the House of the Taylor of Gloucester en route with it's lovely Beatrix Potter exhibition. Rob headed off to Birmingham the next day to watch an Everton match while I cheered on the Lionesses in the World Cup Final before exploring Llanthony Priory, Blackfriars, the ruins of St Oswald's and the remains of the Eastgate.

The Gloucester & Sharpness canal was beckoning. At one time the broadest and deepest canal in the world, it was created to avoid a treacherous stretch of the Severn. It starts through uninspiring industrial outskirts but changes after

going under a few bridges and we found a mooring in a lovely rural spot for a week,

with just a slight hum from the M5 and the occasional fisherman for company. I caught up on work, enjoyed a few morning runs, discovered a secret orchard and made some sloe gin, while Rob sanded down and treated the back hatch ready for painting. We also did a lovely (if slightly overambitious) walk, ending up at the Severn and back along the canal. It also seemed to be spider mating time and we experienced a major influx!

We passed through Saul Junction, where the Stroudwater canal, currently being restored by the Cotswold Canal Trust, crosses. We got some screws and (very handy) fender hooks from the marina chandlers, filled up with water and saw a shag trying to eat an eel (the eel won!) before moving on to Fretherne Bridge, from where we could walk into Frampton-upon-Severn and see the longest village green in England. There's a handy little shop so we topped up on supplies and then treated ourselves to a pint outside The Bell, one of two pubs in the village.

Heading on we passed through a few swing-bridges operated by friendly bridge-keepers and moored up in Purton. We'd heard from several people about the 'ship graveyard' and were keen to see it for ourselves. Between 1909 and the 1970s a number of boats were deliberately abandoned here to help shore up the bank between the river and the canal following a breach and it really is an amazing and eerie sight, particularly on an overcast day. There are over 80 vessels here, some concrete and some wooden, although many have been lost under the grass and silt. Small plaques provide the name and information on the remains - all researched courtesy of the Friends of Purton - do click on the link for more information, it really is fascinating.

We'd heard there was going to be a 4* bore that evening so we went and sat by the river as

the tide came in. Unfortunately we were too far south to see it but we did enjoy a beautiful sunset! The speed of the water as the tide came in was pretty spectacular too. Whilst walking around the village the following day I heard organ music coming from the church. I went inside and met a lovely local lady in her 90s called Margaret who helps out with the organ playing for services. She was a wealth of information on the lovely stained glass in the church as well as the local area and the canal, as her late husband worked on the waterway for many years.

Now, as you know if you've been reading our blogs for a while, we've had various water ingress issues. It's been a bit quiet on this front for a while so it was probably about time for a new discovery! I spotted a damp patch on the carpet below the step to the bow doors. We were pretty sure we hadn't spilled anything and after a bit of sleuthing discovered the water pump (under said step) was leaking... Rob did a bit of tightening and all now seems to be well. Keep your fingers crossed!

But enough of boring boat jobs - we had the last mile of the canal to explore, so off we set, with wonderful views across the Severn and passing what little remains of the Severn Railway bridge, built in the 1870s. It must have been quite a sight during it's day, with 22 spans across the wide stretch of river, but on the 25th October 1960 two tanker barges, the Wastdale

H and the Arkendale H, collided in heavy fog and smashed into one of the bridge's pillars, which then collapsed. One of the tankers caught fire and exploded which then ignited the other, which was carrying black oil, and five men sadly died. The wrecks can still be sighted at low tide. The bridge was finally demolished in 1967 and all that remains are the towers for the swing bridge over the canal.

We set off to explore Sharpness, a strange place of industrial remains, a row of terraced cottages and the docks. We'd been told that the Dockers Club was a good place to go, so we went and had a beer, enjoying watching a campervan convention on the field below and, later on, people arriving in dayglo and various other retro gear for an 80s night! We got chatting to some lovely people, including a chap who had travelled to school as a boy on the old railway. When the bridge collapsed he thought he'd have time off school, but no! - they put on trains to take all the schoolchildren round via Gloucester!

We'd reached the end of the line, but we wouldn't be leaving the G&S just yet!

Sunset at Purton