Gloucester

Gloucester, like Wells, is also a cathedral city and equidistant from Bristol, so, a prime candidate for another day out. What attracted us to it is that it's also a historic port. Looking at its location on the map, you'd never think a port of any consequence was possible, particularly when access is by the very tidal Severn Estuary (second only in tidal height to the Bay of Fundy) and Severn River.

However, when the Gloucester and Sharpness canal opened in 1827 it enabled the largest sailing ships of the time access to the docks and warehouses far inland at Gloucester. The canal was once the broadest and deepest in the world. 26.5 km (15.6 miles) long, 86 1/2 feet wide, 18 feet (5.5 m) deep and could take craft of up to 600 tons. The port still houses the most inland RNLI lifeboat in the United Kingdom.

Today the canal can be used by boats up to 64m in length, 9.6m in beam and 32m in height. On arrival, we weren't aware of these facts and in addition to the expected narrowboats, we were surprised at the size and variety of ships to be seen at the docks, including the tall-masted Sceptre, an America's Cup boat from 1958 (she didn't win).

The historic dock precinct is surrounded by old grain warehouses converted to apartments and other uses. It has been renovated and is now a popular entertainment area with many restaurants and museums surrounding the mooring basins.It looked like there are also a number of workshops doing traditional boat joinery.

The locks are still active, although only used by narrowboats these days.

There were also a few sailboats moored, not as many as we would have expected. Gloucester is probably one of those 'inside knowledge' destinations. It looked like a very well-protected place to overwinter. There were the usual narrowboats moored-up, this one with a sunbather on its roof.

We walked for a distance down the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.

This lightship looked in good condition (currently operated as some kind of Buddhist centre) and was for sale! Any prospective B&B owners out there? We thought it would make a great, colourful addition to the Bristol waterfront, where a barge is already being used as a floating hotel.

Uptown from the Docks area, the town of Gloucester still has a number of surviving medieval and Tudor period gabled and half-timbered houses although most of the rest of the town wasn't much to speak of.

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Wells, Somerset

We were inspired by the recent warm spring weather to plan a day's outing. When the chosen day arrived, however, it was cold, wet and grey. That didn't prevent our enjoying, very much, a trip to the nearby cathedral city of  Wells, Somerset. Although classed as a city, it's a small place and incredibly historic. It's named for a number of natural wells that bubble up from the ground around the Bishop's Palace and Wells Cathedral. We were lucky to arrive on market day. The arch behind the flower stall is the market square well, which continually flows and runs beneath the shops and down each side of the high street.

The Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace are just a few steps from the market square. Both are walled and the Palace, founded in 1206, is surrounded by a moat complete with bell-ringing swans and a drawbridge.

The gardens were very lush in their spring greenery and colour and you could see the wells bubbling up in natural pools.

Water seemed to be flowing everywhere through various channels although it has to be carefully managed to avoid flooding of the town.

An excellent rear view of the Cathedral was provided from the Palace gardens.

By now, you might be thinking "not another cathedral" as, to be honest, that's what we were thinking as we no longer go out of our way to visit them as there seem to be so many alike. Wells Cathedral, however, was different with a number of unique and interesting things to see. There was incredible sculpture on the outside of the building, one of the largest galleries of medieval sculpture in the world. From the bottom up, it starts with biblical scenes, rising through kings, bishops, apostles and angels with Christ at the top.

It was the interior, though, that really caught our eye. This massive "scissor arch", built to prevent the building from sinking, was not only functional, but, exceedingly beautiful as well.

Wells Cathedral is also home to the second oldest surviving clock in England (Salisbury's is older). It's an astronomical clock from around 1325. It still has the original medieval face. We settled in to wait for the quarter hour when the jousting knights above the clock face would circle past each other. The quarter-jack was beside the clock and much higher up. On the quarter hour it strikes two bells with its hands and two with its heels setting the knights in motion.

On the outer wall is a second clock face of the same clock, driven by the same mechanism. This second clock face has two quarter jacks in the form of knights in armour.

After all this magnificence we weren't finished yet. Just steps away from this clock we found Vicar's Close, which according to wiki, "is claimed to be the oldest purely residential street with original buildings surviving intact in Europe. The Vicar's Hall was completed in 1348 and included a communal dining room, administrative offices and treasury of the Vicars Choral. The houses on either side of the close were built in the 14th and early 15th centuries" as lodgings for the men of the choir. Today, some of the houses are still used by choristers from the Wells Cathedral School.

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A special evening aboard SS Great Britain

I've already posted a few photos of the SS Great Britain, the biggest passenger ship in the world when she was built in 1845, the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic and currently the #1 tourist attraction here in Bristol. We hadn't yet gone aboard as we were waiting until a very special evening that we attended recently. We belong to the OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) and the 2018 annual general meeting and awards ceremony were to be held in the first class dining room of the ship. It promised to be special and it was.

During the day we attended various informative seminars and the AGM. We then had a few hours to ourselves, before the evening's scheduled activities, to view the excellent museums adjacent to the ship.

One of the museums had only been open three weeks and is dedicated solely to the life and accomplishments of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The 'Being Brunel' museum was excellent, providing access to many personal possessions, documents and artefacts.

We boarded the ship around 18:00 and were given a lively, private introduction and tour of the ship by one of the stewards.

After the introduction, we were able to roam the ship at will. It was available only to club members for the evening. By today's cruise ship standards, the ship was very basic, but, fascinating. All the displays were very well done.

The largest passenger area in the ship was the first class promenade.

The first class cabins, with windows and privacy, were all adjacent to the promenade.

However, the first class cabins didn't look much better than the bunks in steerage.

The galley was very realistic with images and sounds of rats scurrying in the backs of cupboards.

The opportunity to meet other members was inspiring. Everybody had very interesting stories, but, there were a few members and award recipients in attendance who are true sailing legends.

We were very interested to meet James Wharram, now 90 and his partner Hanneke Boon.

The captain of the Queen Mary II,  Christopher Wells, was present to receive a special award for coordinating the rescue of an OCC member and Ostar competitor, in mid-Atlantic, when his boat began taking on water.

David Scott Cowper was also present to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. David is legendary not only for his multiple solo circumnavigations, but, to North West Passage sailors he's a superstar, currently holding many world firsts for transits in the area. We also met Jane Maufe, Cowper's crew and partner for his 2012/2013 NWP transits.  Jane is the four-greats niece of Sir John Franklin (she was named after Franklin's wife, Lady Jane Franklin). She has just published a book of these voyages: The Frozen Frontier: Polar Bound, through the Northwest Passage. In her own words, "[the book is not] a monologue of dreary course alterations, wind directions, sail changes, reefing points and compass bearings...it is a personal account of our experiences voyaging together...in the hope that we and our hull would still be intact when we came out the other end". I haven't finished the book yet, but, have found it so far to be charming, revealing and quite entertaining as Jane has a rather droll sense of humour.

Here is David receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award, from Anne Hammick, Commodore of the OCC.

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