Gloucester Sharpness Canal

Wednesday 1st August

Gloucester
We called into the docks at Gloucester on Wednesday morning to find plenty of available places, this was a relief as the moorings here can become very busy at this time of year.

Gloucester Docks

Once settled in we went off to look for the railway station and explore the town. The centre is interesting with the remains of three priories to explore, the Greyfriars, Blackfriars and Llanthony, little remains of them but there are useful information boards around.
Without doubt the town's gem is the wonderful cathedral, it is not dog friendly, unfortunately, so we had to visit in shifts.
One of the main tombs located here is that of Edward II, a king who was hated at the time and due to his "habits" was rejected in death by most of the bishops of the day, Gloucester took pity and allowed him to be buried there.

The building has a wonderful cloister and the surrounding passages are a delight with incredible stone roofs.

The town centre consists of the usual shops but the area around the docks, known as Gloucester Quays is amazing, there is a large shopping village here with many brand outlets along with pubs and restaurants along the quayside.

Gloucester Quays

Whist moored here we took the opportunity to take the train to Bristol to meet up with Vicky.  There is a frequent direct service for a very reasonable £6.20 return with our railcards. We enjoyed our day in Bristol but poor old Scruff suffered in the heat and took a few days to recover.

Friday 3rd August
We made our way down towards Slimbridge but first radioed Llanthony Bridge to request a passage through, the radio was handy here as the bridge keeper was able to inform us that the service jetty was free. The jetty lies just after the bridge tucked away in a corner and is not visible from the basin.
Leaving the services, we moved onto the moorings located right outside the huge Sainsburys store, to restock.

Our friends Pat and Ian phoned us to say that they were in the area so we arranged to meet them at Slimbridge. There are good moorings here close to the Tudor Arms pub, behind which is a large caravan and campsite. Pat and Ian are spending their summer in their camper van and were able to book a few nights on the site so we arranged to meet later in the day.

We left the store moorings and made our way down the wide and deep canal.

 All the swing bridges, over the 16.5 miles of the canal, are manned, the first few after Gloucester are high enough for a narrow boat to pass under, however all are traffic light controlled so even though you can pass through you still have to obey the lights, the bridge keepers tend to operate one way traffic through their bridges so be prepared to wait if the light remains red.

Saul Junction Basin

Busy boatyard at Saul

The lower bridges have to be swung, so again the lights must be adhered to. The keeper let's you know he has seen you by a flashing red light, this will change to green once your passage is clear. Junction Bridge at Saul has radio communication as it sits directly on the junction of the Severn Thames canal, heading down steam, the junction sits to the left just after the bridge, although this canal is under restoration the junction is still busy as there is a large marina situated close by.


When restoration has been completed this canal will form a link between the Gloucester Sharpness canal and the upper Thames at Lechlade, this will make a tremendous cruising ring and it is likely to be very popular.
There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done, including a couple of obstacles to be overcome to link the restored section through Stroud with the GS, not least of these is passing under the M5 motorway and A38 trunk road.

We called the bridge and were soon through passing the busy Saul basin before calling at the old Cadbury Wharf for diesel.

The Cadbury Wharf is currently being restored, half of the factory being a Flour Mill. Cocoa was brought up the Bristol Channel and unloaded here, before being processed into Queens Chocolate using milk from the local area. This crude form of chocolate was then loaded into narrow boats,  to be carried upto Bournville in Birmingham for finishing.
An hour or so later we arrived at Slimbridge, the moorings here are on the off side just after the bridge and are fairly extensive,  there are moorings on the towpath side here too.
Pat and Ian were waiting for us as we pulled in, and helped us tie up before coming on board to celebrate our meeting up.

Purton Hulks

The remains of a barge involved in the Lydney bridge disaster

We stayed the weekend, having a run down to Purton on Sunday to call at the Berkeley Arms and visit the Purton wrecks. We took the boat down to Sharpness before winding and returning back up to Purton. At Sharpness there were a lot of boats moored, each with strange aluminium covers, we realised that these had been used as props for some filming that had taken place that week,  rumour has it that it is a BBC production of the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.


The Berkeley Arms is unusual as when closed it is a working farm, the opening times are listed as 12 until 2pm Saturday and Sunday and 7 until 10pm each evening.
The opening times are subject to the will of the landlord so they are not guaranteed, do not be disappointed if you arrive and find it closed. Stepping into this pub is like going back in time, the inside hasn't changed much over the years, even the beer garden feels ancient with great views across the estuary. The landlady is a real character so be prepared for a bit of friendly ribbing!
Leaving the pub we made our way down to the Purton Wrecks, these are a collection of boats, beached over the decades to protect the canal from erosion of the narrow bank separating canal and river. There a are a number of unusual concrete barges along with various wooden boats. Most are now covered in sand so they have done their job.
We returned to the moorings at Slimbridge before making our ssecond visit to the Tudor Arms for dinner.

Monday 6th August
We plan to go down the Severn Estuary later in the month, this requires a pilot and they insist that the diesel tank be cleaned before making the trip as the movement of the open water can dislodge the sludge and so stop the engine. We had arranged to get this done by Peter of Diesel-bug.com.
We arrived at Saul junction just as he pulled up on the bank, he set up alongside, one point to note, if any boaters are thinking of getting this done, is that his pump system requires a 240V ac supply. The equipment he uses consists of a pump and filter system, the pump draws fuel from the tank, passes it through a centrifuge to remove any water then filters the fuel before returning it to the tank at high pressure dislodging any sludge. He ran the system for around 40 minutes. Once complete he supplies a certificate as proof of the work being done. The cost for the service is £100.

We moored up opposite the Cadbury Wharf for the night before returning to Slimbridge for the rest of the week.

Cadbury Wharf

Slimbridge is close to where Lucia's sister, Rosa, lives. She kindly picked us up from the moorings, on several occasions, so we could spend the day at her house whilst also catching up on the washing and shopping. On one occasion I chose to walk the three miles, walking up Halmore Lane, just below Rosa and Andy's house, I came across Halmore Mill.
I called in to have a closer look at the waterwheel that was running, it turned out that this was a new wheel installed in the old wheel pit of the Mill. The Mill was destroyed by fire some time ago but the current owners have restored the dwellings and since rebuilt the water wheel. The wheel powers a generator capable of delivering a useful 10KW.

Hademore Mill

I also took advantage of our time here at Slimbridge to catch up on some more painting and general maintenance.

The following Saturday Vicky and Ian joined us for another visit to the Tudor Arms and an enjoyable lunch.

Monday 13th August
We moved back up to Saul junction and spent the night there before moving into Saul Junction Marina, we left the boat there for a week whilst we called back up to Leeds. The marina is a great spot with a well stocked chandlers and all the usual facilities. We found everyone here to be very friendly and the place makes for a very pleasant spot to moor up.

Tuesday  21st August
Following a journey back on a very busy train we were met by Rosa at Stonehouse Station, some 5 miles or so from the marina, she very kindly gave us a lift back to the boat as well as bringing some useful shopping.
On returning to the boat we decided to leave the marina and moor up out on the canal once again.
The following morning we cruised the five miles or so back up to Quedgeley and the large Tesco store to restock before returning to Slimbridge for the bank holiday weekend.
I phoned the Gloucester Pilots to discuss the trip down the estuary, we have penciled in the 30th August, they will confirm the date closer to the time once the weather forecast and tide times are confirmed, I also called the Bristol pilots to discuss the trip up the tidal Avon to the Floating Harbour in Bristol. Once we get confirmation for the trip down the estuary I will contact CRT at Sharpness to book a lock down on to the river, as well booking a lock up into Portishead marina where we will overnight until the tide on the following day.
We will move closer to Sharpness after the holiday weekend in readiness for the trip.

If anyone chooses to moor at or visit  Slimbridge we recommend a visit to the Blackshed Cafe Bar immediately north of Patch swing bridge. The new owners are working very hard to establish a venue for music, a cinema and theatre, they are also providing very useful facilities for boaters, they have a pump out, Elsan and water as well as a small chandlers, they also stock useful groceries and diesel.
There is a small charge of £2 for the Elsan, very reasonable as they are using the fee to support SARA, the Sharpness life boat station, as well as raising funds for a Defibrillator to be installed at the cafe. As well as all this they also serve great food and are licensed and held several events during our time here.

Late summer fruits

Airborne visitor