Wednesday 5th
June 2019
Harvey was taken for a long walk because we, again, wanted to try and
visit the Cathedral. Leaving the boat, we first called at the CRT office to pay
for overstaying on the dockside moorings. The moorings are free for the first
48 hours but after that a fine of £25 per day is incurred. However, you can
overstay if CRT are advised for a fee of £10 per night.
We went to the Waterway’s Museum which is located in one of the
dockside warehouses. The site is a lot smaller than its sister site in
Ellesmere Port, but interesting nonetheless. There are many artefacts inside
but one of the most interesting items is an aerial photograph of Gloucester and
the docks, taken from a hot air balloon in the 1920’s or 30’s. There are no
fewer than 88 Severn Trow barges in the docks and the scene is very busy.
Another interesting item was a set of “Lewis Keys”. These consist of three
“keys” that slot into a hole cut into a heavy stone and, once manipulated into
place, are then used to lift the stone, the hole then being filled with lead. I
had often wondered what these lead filled holes in coping stones were.
Na
Natioanl
A set of Lewis Keys and the slots in a
stone they would have fitted into
We then went directly to the Cathedral but both felt awkward after
yesterday’s experience and I started to feel angry. We left suitable comments
in the visitor’s book for all the good it will do.
Back at the boat we collected the dog and crossed over the dock for a
toastie at one of the cafes, really tasty, followed by a walk around the dock
complex.
The River Severn has always been one of the principal navigations in
England. However, the shifting sandbanks and shoals around Gloucester were
seriously affecting trade on the river as a whole. In order for the river to
survive as a viable trade route, drastic improvements had to be made. In 1793
an Act of Parliament was passed authorising a canal to be built from Berkeley Point
to Gloucester. Work began on Gloucester Docks in 1794 but, due to money
shortages, the canal was not completed until 1827 when the route was extended to
Sharpness.
The docks are extensive and well preserved. They consist of two basins,
a few arms and a historic dry dock. There are numerous 7-storied warehouses all
now converted into bars, restaurants and apartments. Where the original
warehouses have been lost, they have been replaced by sympathetic new builds.
With the Gloucester Quays retail outlet, the whole area is popular and busy.
We unexpectedly came across LLanthony Secunda Priory, a restored
former Augustine Priory founded in 1135. It is amazing that what remains has
survived at all. This whole area was within the dock railway marshalling yards.
Today the site consists of two sections of what originally would have been a
rectangle of buildings and the remains of a large Tithe Barn.
Llanthony Secunda Priory and Tithe
Barn
Weather: a pleasant day.
Comments
Post a Comment