Saul Junction to Sharpness

We took a walk along the course of the Stroudwater Canal to Framilode to see this magnificent view of the River Severn.

A surprise to see Toggenberg moored at the junction.  This boat was moored  in Glasson Basin on the Lancaster

Canal for a number of years and did once make it up to Tewitfield.  Trev has always thought it a nice looking boat.

This boat is owned by The Willow Trust - a charity who regularly give trips to the disabled and wheelchair bound.

So its goodbye to Saul Junction and time to move on to Shepherd's Patch and the home of Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

At Fretherne Bridge we pass a sizable canal side flour mill which, in a previous existence, belonged to Cadburys.  Waterborne trade between here and their premises at Blackpole and Bournville was once intense;the last cargo being in 1961

The beauty continues....

and we get our first glimpse of the estuary.

Patch bridge and it's time for a stroll around Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre - sister site to Martin Mere in Burscough.

Slimbridge is derived from 'slyme bridge', a reference to the once marshy nature of the surrounding landscape.  The New Grounds are exactly that, land reclaimed from the river's tidal grasp during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1946 Sir Peter Scott established the wildfowl trust with the preservation of the duck and wildfowl population of the area in mind.

Views from the observation tower....

Nowadays its otters......

and a tropical house.
It was good to see Slimbridge, now I know where my daughter Lucy comes to with work!!!

Ready to move on to Sharpness

Grand designs afloat????

The canal curves round to Purton

and on to Purton Upper Bridge which is remotely operated

from Purton Lower Bridge.

To our left are the old timber ponds used to store timber afloat.

Approaching the remains of the Severn Railway Bridge where we moor beyond.

The wall edged towpath is all that separates us from the
Severn estuary.