Local Places - Part 1

[smallhobbit]

Over this year I hope to do a monthly post on places of interest in my locality.  I'm beginning with very local, probably five minutes walk from our house.

The Gloucester to Sharpness Canal

 

The original plan was authorised in 1793, but for various reasons - lack of money being one of them - it wasn't completed until 1827.  The canal is a ship canal, that is it was deep enough and wide enough for sea going vessels to come up it, rather than being designed purely for barges.  Originally the ships, with their sales furled, would be towed up the canal by horses and later by barges, to Gloucester Docks.  A lot of these ships carried grain and timber, which would be stored in warehouses before being carried further inland by barges and canal boats.

 

Sharpness was chosen as the starting point of the canal since up to this point passage up the River Severn is straightforward, but from just above Sharpness the river begins to wind considerably which makes navigation much more difficult.  Therefore ships would enter the lock at Sharpness and take the canal to Gloucester instead.  This is the only lock on the canal.

 

The canal is 16 miles long, and at one time was the broadest and deepest in the world.  Nowadays it is only used for pleasure craft, although occasionally there were tall ships which have come to Gloucester for the Tall Ships Festival.

 

My photos show pictures of the canal, the first four are from the canal bank, with two taken at Hardwicke Quay, and the last four at Elmore Bridge, finally looking towards Gloucester.

 

Comments

[howsmyenglish]

Thank you for this post! I enjoyed it :)

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much. I'm delighted you enjoyed it.

[rusty_armour]

This is such an interesting post! I appreciated both the history on Sharpness Canal and your beautiful photos! I hadn't realized that the canal was so long or so deep! I had assumed that only barges travelled on it, but it makes sense that a ship canal was needed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to transport goods. It must be wonderful when tall ships use the canal to Gloucester for the Tall Ships Festival.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much. Yes, unlike the main inland canal system, which was for barges, this was used so ships could bring their cargo up the River Severn (which is navigable to Sharpness).

[moth2fic]

Interesting! Lovely photos, too. We have a lot of canals in our area. Our neighbour/friend has just set off for a month away on his narrowboat.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. Many years ago we lived in Newbury, by the Kennet & Avon canal. I'm not sure I'd want to spend a month on a narrowboat, although I imagine you could visit quite a lot of places in that time.

[margaret_r]

This is delightful! I love the canals in England, have always thought it would be great to do a trip on a narrowboat, see the countryside from that angle. The history of the canal is interesting too, it must be quite something to see the tall ships on it.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much. I'm very glad you liked it - this series is in response to your suggestion.

I like canals too and am glad they are getting a new lease of life.

[adafrog]

Neat. Thanks.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you.

[luthienberen]

Both the history and the pictures of the canal are splendid!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much!