Severn Sunset

It's the wife's day off but as it was pouring with rain she didn't want to do anything, but chill around the house. She urged me to go out and take photo's; I couldn't get out fast enough as I left her ironing.

The blip photo is one I've wanted to do for a long time. It's a view of The Severn Bridge taken from Beachley side. The building in the bottom right hand side is The Old Ferry Inn named after the ferry that was in use before the bridge was built. I remember the bridge being built and took a photo of it in construction from the ferry.

The interesting history of the ferry is:

The ferry service gained a new lease of life, however, with the growth of motor traffic, and a service was re-opened in 1926. Between 1931 and 1966, a ferry service was operated by Enoch Williams of the Old Passage Severn Ferry Company Ltd. Initially, this was only able to transport passengers with bicycles and motorbikes, but, by 1934, the Severn Queen was launched as a car ferry. It was able to carry just 17 cars. Each car had to turn sharply off the ramp onto the ferry, then be turned on a manually operated turntable before being parked. The process was reversed for unloading. The ferry timetable was notoriously affected by the huge tidal range on the Severn. It was unable to operate at low tide or at very high tides. The last ferry crossing occurred on 8 September 1966, the day before the first Severn Bridge opened.

The photo shows the Severn Bridge above the old ferry crossing and with the sun setting.