Gloucestershire All photos by Hetty
31st July 2017
A Gloucestershire Local History Association evening guided tour
Sharpness still has a working dock, and is 16 miles by canal to Gloucester
Monument to the ‘Vindi boys’
River Severn
The River Severn is treacherous, so the old dock and the canal were built for ships to access Gloucester; they opened in 1827
Former Harbourmaster’s house
The lock gates used to be here. The difference between low and high tide can be up to 10 metres, and the lock gates could only be opened at high tide
There is a marina at the end of the canal now
The tide was out. A wall and tow-path separates the river and canal
There used to be a railway bridge across the Severn here
There were lots of boats on the canal
Former stables
The other side of the bridge is the ‘new’ dock, built in 1874
Read about Sharpness Docks here: www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk/sharpness/docks.htm
Looking south from the picnic area by the ‘new’ dock, we could see the former power stations at Berkeley and Oldbury, and the two Severn bridges
Entrance to the ‘new’ dock
The ‘new’ dock was built in 1874 for ships that were too big to use the canal, where they could unload their goods
There used to be 4 Victorian warehouses, but there is only one left now
There are 2 rows of workers houses
As we drove home where was a rainbow and lovely sunset