Woodpeckers alongside the river

We both pottered about this morning and when I was ready to go shopping in Gloucester, Woodpeckers said she wanted to come along to go to a particular shop, to buy some storage gear. I have been very impressed with her mammoth sorting and organising that started before our Scottish trip and continued with added vigour on our return. I may even have to follow suit.

So we set off early on a bright and warm afternoon and managed to get the buying over without too much stress. I wanted to go to the river afterwards and Helena agreed that a riverside walk would be good. She suggested a place I didn't know well that she had walked around before when she used to work at Hempsted on the south side of Gloucester. Driving there entailed finding a way to approach the River Severn, via the Sharpness canal, at the area where the suburbs of Gloucester revert to countryside.

It was a very sudden transition when it happened, just after crossing a swing bridge over the canal, which allows large boats to navigate up from the Severn estuary all the way to Gloucester docks. From that point the landscape seems to return to a nearly medieval feel, probably because when the canal was built it cut off the land between it and the River Severn, so that only farming remained possible. Access is difficult over the few bridges and the huge meanders of the river create large areas which are difficult to traverse. Ancient fields and woods abound.

We headed off towards the old hamlet of Elmore and I enjoyed driving down the narrow lanes until we saw a sign that appeared to take us to the river bank. What we found was a cul-de-sac at the end of a narrow track with a few old houses dotted about. The River Severn is renowned for flooding, as at this point in its journey to the sea it has created a very wide flood plain. The banks have been raised very high to try and prevent the farmland being inundated and big drains were built into the banks. The river is tidal here, rising and falling many yards, twice a day.

Crossing a stile, we walked westwards along the eastern bank of the Severn even though the river was actually flowing out to sea in the south. There was a well established path along the river bank, which sometimes was narrow but at other times spread out to include old fruit tree orchards. Fields came up close to the new embankment, with hedges, small woodlands and even a lake at one point adjacent to it. The abandoned fruit trees had grown very tall and were rather decrepit not having been tended for a very long time. Nevertheless they were laden with pears, apples, sloes and even plums, all suggesting a bumper harvest in a few weeks time.

We walked and took photos at our own pace, sometimes together, sometimes apart. As blippers we have wholly different interests and always manage to get different views even when we shoot the same scenes. We walked on as far as this small building, which had intrigued me when seen from a distance. It is sited within the protective bank beside the river and I wondered whether it had been a worker's cottage used by someone in the local fishing industry of the past that was quite famous on the River Severn, both for the salmon, as well as the springtime elvers, and probably other fish at differing times.

I was very surprised to find that it was well maintained with very strong padlocks on the windows and doorways, as well as a warning sign for trespassers to keep away. The grass around it had been cut fairly recently and I think someone might still use it as an occasional cottage by the river. We both loved the quiet of this place, with only an occasional small airplane giving a hint of modern times. A glorious spot.

When we started back the way we had come, I turned round and liked this scene of Woodpeckers strolling towards me in this quiet place close to the old building, with the Severn flowing slowly past us away to the sea.