Lydney

 Monday 7th September 2020

Lydney Harbour

Day three on holiday and I'm looking for local history. Nearby in Lydney the map shows an ancient monument, Lydney Harbour which as well as a harbour has a canal and disused railway. Out into the wet and windy morning I went.

Lydney Harbour tidal basin

The harbour at Lydney wasn't quite what I'd imagine a harbour to look like (if I hadn't already checked the map) being long and narrow and looking more like a lock.

It lies at the end of a 1 mile canal and gives access to the tidal River Severn. The gates of the tidal basin shown here appear to be stuck open so that it is filling up with silt from the river. They're spending a couple of million on the site to upgrade the tourist facilities (hence the digger and wire fencing) so hopefully that will include fixing the gates. Parking is currently free though after the refurbishment who knows.

Between the tidal basin and the canal is a lock and the canal serves as a marina for small craft.

A bit of history: The canal opened in 1813 and the outer harbour was completed in 1821. Coal and iron ore from the Forest of Dean was shipped out, brought down by a tramway which was in 1868 converted to a broad gauge railway although in 1872 that was converted to standard gauge. 

As can be seen from the early 20th century map below there were extensive sidings serving the harbour.

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Lydney Harbour former railway

Parts of the track bed can be seen and walked along and there are markers pointing out wrecks on the river shore and "sighting stones" core drilled through pointing at distant landmarks.

Also a circle of standing stones, not ancient but dating from the refurbishment of the harbour around 2006 - apparently it works as a compass, something I failed to notice at the time.

I walked along the track bed on the west side of the

Lydney Harbour marina

inner harbour then crossed the swing bridge and back up the east side to the lock and harbour entrance.

There are a lot of boats moored here, I'm not sure if they can get out onto the Severn until the tide gate is repaired? The Environment Agency page doesn't mention it.

The last coal was shipped from the harbour in 1960 but imported wood was still being brought in by barge from Avonmouth. In 1977 the harbour closed and began to fall into disrepair, scheduled as an ancient monument in the 1980s with the swing bridge Grade II listed the harbour re-opened after a two-year project of restoration and enhancement in 2005.

Lydney Harbour lock

There are still a few old buildings around the lock and harbour and if you look closely on the west side the remains of the coal tip shown on the above map where coal was offloaded from the trains to the barges.

The old mortuary building was inaccessible due to the ongoing building works - I gather it's going to be made into public toilets which will be dead convenient. Sorry.

Crossing back over via the lock gates I went out to the rather windy harbour entrance where I could see up and down the Severn. 

Severn Bridges

On a clear day you'd get a really good view of the Severn road bridges downstream, this wasn't a clear day and with occasional showers as well but the bridges were just about visible anyway. The view of the Berkeley Nuclear Power Station on the far side of the river was much clearer.

A short but heavier shower sent me from my perch on a bollard on the harbour wall back to the car.

So Lydney Harbour was interesting with quite a bit to look out for, let's hope they don't spoil it.

Lydney Junction

I parked in the railway station car park so that I could walk into Lydney town centre, between the two

lies Lydney Junction station, the southern terminus of the Dean Forest Railway. Crossing over the tracks at the level crossing this very shiny Brush Type 2 diesel locomotive was hard to miss. Newly overhauled I think.

I'd have liked to take a ride on the DFR but when I tried to book for the Wednesday trip discovered that it was not possible to book only one ticket. No doubt trying to maximise their income under COVID-19 restrictions which I can sort of understand during the busy summer period but mid week after the schools had (finally) returned? I doubt that the train was going to be full. I note that this restriction remains in place even now in mid October. Alienating potential customers could be a policy that comes back to bite them in the arse.

Lydney Town

I can tell you that the walk from Lydney railway station to the town centre isn't very interesting, apart from trying to get across the A48 without being mown down by traffic at the roundabout. That the River Lyd near the boating lake smells quite unpleasant, although that might be the treatment works, and that on this particular post-lockdown Monday a lot of Lydney was still shut. At least it was some exercise.

Monmouth

 Sunday 6th September 2020

First full day of my Forest of Dean based holiday, weather forecast "uncertain" - well it is on the Welsh border - and  I needed to get provisions. I took the scenic route from Blakeney through the forest which reminded me just how hilly the area is and eventually as the border was now open ended up at Monmouth.

Parked up in the Cattle Market Car Park next to the River Monnow and after eventually finding a ticket machine that "spoke" English went for a walk around the historic county town of Monmouthshire.

Starting with the ancient and hard to miss Monnow Bridge. The medieval stone bridge with it's incorporated gatehouse is the only one left in Britain. Now only open to cyclists and pedestrians of which there were plenty on a Sunday lunchtime some of them even attempting to maintain social distancing.

Because the pavements are narrow in this old town a temporary road closure was in place in Monnow

Street to give more space to pedestrians in much the same way as has been done in parts of London. Theoretically there was a one way system to walk uphill on the left side and down. Like that was going to happen. There weren't that many shops open although there was quite a lot of people about and though I'd have quite liked a coffee all the (reduced) seating in the cafes was full.

In normal times Monmouth is a nice place to wander around in a touristy fashion and I have been here before and done so back in the 1990s in what feels like another life. From what I remember it hasn't changed a lot. 

I walked up to the castle, tucked away up a side street. there's a small ruined bit remaining in the

corner of the grounds of Great Castle House, HQ and museum of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers whose history is depicted in a series of panels on the wall in the street leading to the castle. 

King Henry V of England was born is the castle in 1386 though I'm not sure he'd recognise it now, it having been knocked about a bit in the English Civil War (or Wars of the Three Kingdoms or whatever we're supposed to call them now) and after partially collapsing in 1647 was built over by the house mentioned above. The military museum was on covid-reduced opening hours and this wasn't one of them so after taking some pictures I headed back down the hill (keeping left) and got

some lunch from Waitrose and then was lucky enough to secure a bench next to the River Monnow to sit and eat it.

It had turned warm if not actually sunny (Wales remember) and made a nice place to watch the world go by, or at least a small part of it, before joining an inexplicable traffic jam to cross back over the River Wye and back to England and the Forest of Dean.

Monmouth's nice still.

Escape to the Forest

 5th to 12th September 2020

It's been a month since I went on holiday, I should get around to writing about it.

Having spent most of my leave this year "staycationing" as the modern parlance has it, or more accurately sitting at home doing SFA because of you-know-what, I really wanted to get away for a week. Hotels seemed like too much faff so I decided to a holiday cottage, at least if everything went tits up and the lock-down returned I could do SFA with different scenery. Where to go in September? Hadn't been to the Forest of Dean in a long time. Ooh look, a converted water mill, that looks nice, clickety-click.

DAY ONE: Estimated journey time 2h 20m. Actual journey time 4h 30m. 

Just my luck to travel on the Saturday that the M4 was shut between J12 and J14. At least the cottage was

easy to find.

It was also comfortable and nicely equipped, far enough away from the main A48 through the village to not suffer from traffic noise but close enough to walk to the village shop (had I needed to), the pub (had I desired to), and the chippy (which I did).

Blakeney (the one in Gloucestershire not the one in Norfolk) is on the edge of the Forest of Dean and close to the Severn estuary. It has no railway station (not any more and when it did it was goods only) although the nearby town of Lydney does which is a short drive away. It's a good place from which to explore the border country which is why I came.

An evening walk towards the Severn along the lane and along footpaths that were in places not exactly made obvious across the fields.

Far reaching views across the Severn from Purton on the west bank to the other Purton on the east bank.

Down through the woods passing only a farmer walking in the fields (I assume - she looked like a farmer anyway), almost to the water's edge. 

Except not quite. For along the riverbank runs the Gloucester to Swansea railway line.

At least this driver sounded his horn with enough time for me to whip the phone out and get a photo as the train passed by next to the footpath. No, I don't write down the numbers.

From the waterside at Gatcombe up through the woods and along narrow lanes then a path cutting across the fields in the last of the daylight, startling a woman walking three dogs who didn't expect to see anyone else here, or so she said.

Then a choice, footpath around the water treatment works or along the unofficial but clearly well trodden disused railway back to the lane a mere hundred yards from the cottage.

A win for the former Forest of Dean Central Railway track bed. And to another bed.

to be continued...