Walking beside the River Severn

I wandered down towards the River Severn prior to my shopping expedition to Gloucester this afternoon. I had been prompted to do so by yesterday's views across the Severn Vale, when we walked up Painswick Beacon. (I have added a links below, to my blipfolio).

It had been quite foggy today, especially in the Stroud valleys so I hadn't expected the better light and the layers of different clouds, some quite low lying and misty. I stopped a few times to gauge the views from the winding road, which links the small hamlets and farms near to the River Severn. It is quite an isolated spot as the Sharpness Canal cuts this area off from the rest of the Vale. As I drove, I decided to walk to the river bank and parked at a spot I had noticed long ago, where Woodpeckers and I had walked along the bank in high summer.

It was quite warm, but the wind picked up as I crossed the fields and neared the river, with extremely wet conditions under foot. I climbed up onto the high man-made embankment, which is designed to prevent flooding of the low lying fields adjacent to the river, and I walked along it for a few hundred yards. In this picture the river lies just to the left of my point of view, and I would have preferred to have included it in my shot, but I couldn't retreat far enough back. The river meanders massively so that it curves to the right in front of the small wood which is on the far river bank. I wanted to include the clump of trees you can see in the distance that grow inside the ramparts of an Iron Age encampment at the top of May Hill, on the edge of the Forest of Dean.

The seagulls took off in a bunch to fly across to the sandbanks which the retreating tide was slowly revealing. I wondered whether the flooded fields were caused by the river having overflowed but I think it is caused by the rain which can't now naturally flow downhill into the water because of the river banks.

When I turned around at the end of my walk I noticed a man with six dogs walking slowly towards the river, carrying a long stick and a coil of plastic rope. I had noticed that a lot of drift wood, which included quite large segments of tree trunks and large branches, had been tied to stays on the bank, to secure them, whilst smaller logs were heaped in piles as awaiting collection. I think he might have been using it as a source of firewood.

We got into conversation and I learnt a lot about the life on the river bank from him. He obviously has lived locally all his quite long life and he told me of fishing on the far side of the river for salmon, thwaite, grey mullet and even trigger fish which he says are of tropical origin. They must have been washed there by the Gulf Stream. He'd also fished for elvers in other places which are a local delicacy. The light was nearly gone by then so I had to leave him. Another day I would have liked to walk along with him and his dogs chatting about farming, shoots, fishing and life by a great river. I might even have asked him for a portrait, but I think I would have needed to persuade him. I will be back, as I really enjoyed the peace and tranquility of my walk.


Here is yesterday's view of May Hill