Woolly says – We had arrived in the wrong carpark in a city that we had never been to before with our ears ringing from the amount of barking coming out of the mutt who was convinced it was time to get out of the car. Jo clearly thought it was time to get him out as well although given the look on her face I don’t think he was in the good books. Spotting a small sign that looked hopeful we headed towards Gloucester’s dock area.
The docks are located at the northern junction of the River Severn with the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and are Britain’s most inland port. They were also very impressive on first sight with lines of Victorian warehouses which would have once rung with the sounds of unloading cargo and shouts of the workers as loads were craned onto the many ships that would have come through.
Now it was a peaceful place with the old buildings now converted to apartments and shops and a much smaller number of floating vessels including a rather nice example of an old sailing ship and a large iron crane that sat quietly along the dockside where it would have once hauled huge loads.
Small basins led off the main waterway and having spotted a large blue object I hurried over to take a better look. Known as the snail the disused centrifugal water pump had started work in 1964 pumping thousands of gallons a day to keep the ships moving through the dockyards. Next to it was a dry dock where yacht was receiving a makeover, it was odd to see the hull on full display and made you realise how deep they actually are.
The bright modern building of the city’s college stood in sharp contrast to the brick-built warehouses but what a lovely view for the students to have. Having crossed over one of the huge lock gates we arrived at the National Waterways Museum. The museum opened in 1988 in the Llanthony Warehouse which had been built in 1873 for storing corn ready for transportation.
It wasn’t the biggest of museums but it was interesting none the less and gave lots of useful information including the fact that the Romans had settled there as it was the lowest point at which the River Severn could be crossed. A range of exhibits included a ships head and a number of pumps, Alfie the Dog was finding it fascinating but given the number of rat traps dotted around I think it was more about their scent that the items on display.
Upstairs was focussed more towards life on the water with canal ware and all manner of items that would have once been housed on the boats.
Outside I set about investigating the steam crane which looked like a professor’s mad invention, built in 1880 it was designed to lift up to a tonne in weight. Even more impressive was SND No 4, a dredger that would have cleared silt from the bed of the river and canal in the 1920’s, its large buckets being filled every few minutes.
I had spotted what looked like a Seamans mission which was conveniently placed next door to a small café selling cakes.
Woolly says – Did she say cake! I hurried past more basins some with a range of narrow boats and into the chapel, simple in design with some lovely stained glass windows it would have provided help and comfort for the sailors of the time during their many stops here to unload and reload their wares.
With coffee and cake consumed we started to retrace our steps when I spotted a rather unusual vessel in red. As we got closer and closer it was defiantly a ship but with a lighthouse on it! Did things like this actually exist? LV14 SULA is a nationally registered historic Lightvessel commissioned by the Humber Conservancy Board in 1959. Originally named SPURN; she was stationed on the Humber Estuary to protect mariners for 26 years, until being decommissioned in 1985 and replaced by a navigational buoy. Over the past 12 years, LV14 has become a defining landmark at Gloucester Docks. The vessel continues to undergo an incredible transformation by her new owners, which included bringing the Fresnel lens back to life in November 2020 illuminating the sky for the first time in 20 years. It was a wonderful site and just as I thought things couldn’t get better Jo prodded me in the back and pointed behind us.
How could we not see a Priory but then we had been rather focussed on the lightvessel find, we turned and entered the area that had once been the centre of the Llanthony Secunda Priory.
Woolly says – Although not much remains of the actual Priory we headed into the 15th century Tithe barn which also acted as the entrance to the college which would explain the high number of young people around it. It’s thick walls and strategically placed windows would have kept wheat and corn dry and well ventilated but it was hard to imagine how much grain it would have once held.
The old farmhouse with its timbered exterior looked wonderful on the outside but sadly little remained of the 1500’s on the interior except for the window frames, even the fireplace had been replaced.
Next to it stood a Victorian farmhouse along with the former stable block which looked out onto a lovely courtyard garden which had been recreated as it would have looked in medieval times when it was used for medicinal herbs. It made a pleasant place to rest my weary paws and as the Barking Boy had his last few sniffs around, I considered the day a success, all we had to do now was find the car which might take a while.