Gloucester

Close to the Welsh border and founded in 67AD by the Romans, Gloucester has proven to be more interesting than we had expected. The city is the inland terminus of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal which was completed in 1827.  Like many canals, lack of funding was a problem. 

Apparently, at the time of its completion Gloucester was the furthest inland port in England.  The basin at Gloucester Docks were surrounded by numerous warehouses but by the 1970s the area had almost become derelict.  A major rejuvenation took place in the 1980’s and the area now looks very attractive.  I would describe it as a mini version of Liverpool Docks.

Gloucester Dock allows boats transit between the upper River Severn and the Gloucester & Sharpeness Canal. It used to be two separate locks but was rebuilt and enlarged.  We noticed the same with Upper Lode Lock.

 

Once in the basin we found plenty of vacant floating finger mooring to the left of the upper lock gates.

That’s us moored down in the corner.

I went for a local orientation walk and came upon two dry docks.  Fortunately we won’t need to pay to hire a dock this big.

I was told the boatyard in the basin specializes in old wooden boats.

Some of the dock warehouses have interesting names reflecting the Victorian era (Alexandra, Albert).

Despite some reservations about the patrons from the bar adjacent to our mooring, it proved to be a relatively quiet night.