Meeting Vince at Framilode, near the river Severn

I set off mid-morning to drive to Frampton-on-Severn where I met Pip, Mary and Lizzie who had driven up from Bristol. A couple of days ago they had invited me to join them for a walk by the river, to be followed by egg sandwiches and a cup of tea from their camper van, which seemed to be an excellent idea. They were waiting for me at the rendezvous, a pub on the village green and had coffee waiting. Them we agreed the route we would take and set off by car to the start.

Helen and I had been to Arlingham a couple of weeks ago but we hadn't felt like walking far then, just going down to the river Severn to take pictures and then a wander to Arlingham Church. Today though we did a circular route of a couple of miles following the bend in the meander of the river Severn. I took a slightly shorter route back as I was cold in the breeze but then had time to potter and take pictures.

Once we met up again, we had our sandwiches and then a drink was called for. So I lead the way to the pub on the banks of the Severn at Epney, where we could sit out and gaze at the wide tidal river as it started to fill up again, covering the sandbanks and mudflats. Mary then announced that she wanted to drive somewhere to eat the treacle tart she had brought with her and to brew a cup of tea. I suggested going to another very quiet riverside spot I knew by Framilode church.

While the tea brewed Pip wanted to investigate the river and the old canal that I had been talking about earlier, so we walked a short distance away from the main river. The old canal used to be joined to the tidal river Severn at this point close to where the river Frome (hence the name Framilode) also joined the main river, having flowed all the way from the Golden Valley and through our home town of Stroud about ten miles away.

Having tried to work out how the small hamlet of Framilode was once configured next to the canal, we strolled back down the road to the church by the Severn. Pip spotted some duck and chicken eggs for sale in a box in a garden beside the road and left some money in the honesty box. I asked a man, who had said hello when we first passed him as he worked in his garden, where the chickens were kept and he pointed to the garden. He then asked us if we wanted to know about how the old canal, which was now virtually infilled, and the river Frome's drainage system worked. We were delighted with this idea and readily agreed. He then proceeded to give us a wonderful guided tour full of personal anecdotes along the river to where the old locks were, explained about the original canal basin, (now completely filled in and partly built on) and how the barges would prepare to join the main river when the tidal level was right.

It turned out that he was born in the cottage beside the canal and that his family had owned them all at one time. Even now his mother, uncle and cousin all had some of the old cottages backing onto the canal. He grew up there and it seemed like all his family were boatmen working the Severn. He told us about catching the elvers, the young eels that are a famous delicacy of these parts, and of how he went to sea aged seventeen when his mum took him to a boat in Bristol, which he then joined as a cabin boy. From there he sailed around the coasts of England, Wales and Ireland for the next fifteen years before finally returning to live permanently in Framilode and to then bring up four children.

Pip and I were delighted to hear all these stories and also about how Framilode and its residents have moved into the 21st century. He lives nearby and is doing up the house ( (in the row of white cottages behind him) where we met him today and will move back there soon, his kids having all now left home. Vince now works all over the country for a company who supply marquees for big public events as he says he only likes to work outdoors.

He was an absolute delight, being so friendly, knowledgeable and kindly to complete strangers. When we were saying goodbye, I couldn't resist asking him if I could take his picture.

I took just three pictures, chose this one with difficulty, and the others can be seen here on my Flickr gallery. I have added some other pictures from our earlier walk along the Severn to the same gallery.

Thanks Vince. It was a privilege to meet you.