Trainspotting has never interested me (why collect lists of numbers?) and I find bird spotting too competitive. On a short break based in Gloucester, I took up the hobby of waterway spotting.
Waterways – canals and navigable rivers – are features of the landscape we tend to take for granted. They are quiet and peaceful, attract a variety of wildlife and it’s fun finding reminders of “olden days”. They take us from the humdrum to hidden corners, often on our doorstep. Hardly any equipment is required. You don’t even need a boat, just a comfortable pair of boots and a map. A curious nature helps, too.
It was impossible to miss Gloucester’s biggest water feature: its inland docks. I was told they’re the farthest inland in Britain. Where the River Severn meets the city, 15 huge Victorian warehouses rise above the water. These stately monuments to the era of sail and horsepower were once full of produce being traded around Europe. In one of them, the Llanthony Warehouse, the National Waterway Museum (0303 040 4040, canalrivertrust.org.uk) brings this romantic age to life. When I first visited in the 1970s, the docks had an air of dereliction and decay but now – what a contrast. A variety of bars, cafes and restaurants have sprung up, providing ample people-watching opportunities as well as sustenance.
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Best of British.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Best of British.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
"A Personal Stab of Shock and Horror"
Chris Hallam looks back on the British reaction to President Kennedy's assassination
A BUILDING BONANZA
Claire Saul samples some of the entries in a new publication from the National Trust
ON TARGET
Russell Cook browses through 50 years of a publishing phenomenon
The Rise and Fall of Poole Pottery
Steve Annandale charts the history of what was, by the 1990s, Dorset's most significant tourist attraction
DOCTOR HO-HO!
Robert Ross takes a swift spin through some of the comedy stars who have stumbled into the Tardis
The Three Ronnies
Martin Handley celebrates the talents of a trio of composers
A RARE OLD SCRAMBLE
Colin Allan has fond memories of tuning in to Grandstand to watch scrambling on winter afternoons in the sport's golden age of the 1960s
THE ULTIMATE RESPONSE
Roger Harvey nominates a sculpture in his native Newcastle as the most poignant and powerful memorial to duty and heroism
POSTCARD FROM CHESHIRE
Bob Barton finds out about subsidence, timber-framed buildings, boat lifts, waterways and Lewis Carroll, taking it all with a pinch of salt
OVER HERE
Michael Foley looks back at how the people of East Anglia reacted to the American \"invasion\" during World War Two that saw the building of dozens of airfields