Around Elmore

Today I set off on to attempt a waterside walk near Gloucester. I'd had the idea while travelling repeatedly by bus bus through the Severn Vale and over the Gloucester and Sharpness canal en route to Gloucester. On those journeys, I kept catching tantalising glimpses of lanes I longed to walk down - if only I didn't have to go to work!

The jobs in Gloucester are over now, and I'm on unpaid holiday, so today I caught the bus to just beyond Quedgeley, a satellite of Gloucester. I walked down to the canal; along to the next bridge; down to the river Severn; and then it all went a bit wrong, because I'd decided to follow a route of my own devising, based on the A-Z of Gloucester, as opposed to, say, the Ordnance Survey map! Peaceful, but basically a walk along a road, with not that much of the Severn to be seen over the hedges. Before long, I'd walked off the pages of the A-Z, but was relieved to find I had not dematerialized. My God, it was quiet - so, so quiet, only the sounds of a distant tractor or agricultural implement disturbing the silence.

I got as far as the building in the photo, before turning back. This view was shot on my return journey, having been closer, but now I can find no mention of the house on the map. I can say with complete confidence only that I was Somewhere Near Elmore.

The remainder of my walk, which took in part of the Severn way footpath and another stretch of the canal as far as Hempsted bridge, was glorious, being sunny, and wonderfully wild in places. It remains un-photographed, though, because after fiddling with the settings on my camera, I'd got it stuck on backlit images and video! This minor mishap gives me another reason to re-vist the area, and possibly, even, follow the suggested route. There are four walks in this little guide. Perhaps I can do them all while summer still shines on the corn.