Saturday Saunter

I was out doing some shopping and Mike phoned me and offered to take me for a pub lunch. As I had a half an hour spare, before we arranged to meet, I decided to take a brisk walk along the banks of the River Severn at New Passage within sight of both the Severn Bridges. It is an overcast and very windy day and visibility is not really a good enough for taking photos unless you have a really good camera, which I don't. I am trying to get used to carrying a camera 'just in case' so have posted a couple of snaps of the bridges. You can get a better view of both the Severn Bridges which take you into Wales. Before the original bridge was built you could only get there by driving around via Gloucester or the other route was a ferry across to Beachley from Aust (the site of the first bridge) I can remember doing this as a child. The original bridge was completed in 1966 a few months after Sam was born and it was a very popular walk at the time. For a short period my father, who worked for the council, operated a toll booth on the bridge, in addition to his main job. This was mainly weekends and some bank holidays.

A few facts about the river Severn that you might not know:

The Severn is Britain's longest river
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100 bridges cross the River Severn
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The Severn has the second highest rise & fall of tide in the world
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There are 10 million tonnes of mud in the Severn estuary
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The worst flood on the Severn happened in 1795
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In the 18th century 60' vessels would trade as far as Welshpool
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When opened in 1827, the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal was the widest and deepest canal in England.
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A Gloucester man surfing the Severn at Gloucester achieved the world surfing record. Dave Lawson rode the bore for 5.7 miles on the 29th August 1996
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The River Severn produces the highest bore in Europe.
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The Mariners Church was built in Gloucester Docks in 1849 as a mission to the numerous seamen who visited the port.

The Severn Bore is very popular with surfers and it is quite spectacular. My grand mother went every year to Stonebench where the river is very narrow to see the Bore on the high spring tides in March. More information and a chance to see the bore in action can be seen here.

I am not going to dwell on lunch. The 'Plough" apparently changed hands only yesterday and the new owners are still settling in so I will reserve judgement but was not impressed today. Limited menu and 'no' specials.


Mike had no complaints. He enjoys his food . A bit too much!!! I did take photos but don't want to 'bore' you with such ordinary food.





I am off to the theatre tonight to see a musical will tell you all about it tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Sam, Hope you are feeling better.