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| View over the floodplain from Sandhurst Hill |
After our leisurely full English cooked
breakfast at Brawn Farm on Sunday morning, we did a short circular walk up Sandhurst Hill, down through the woods on the NW side to the River
Severn, then back via Rodway Lane. Began by following the muddy
track near Brawn Farm up the west side of the hill
along a bridleway to the trig point at the top. It was cloudy but
we could see May Hill across the Severn plain. The River Severn skirted Sandhurst Hill to the west and northwest; the Cotswold escarpment to and its outliers to the east. Glimpses
through the trees of Haw Bridge northwards up the Severn. Though the winter
flooding had receded during the second half of February, there was still a
large area of the far side of valley to the NW of Sandhurst underwater.
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In the mud on Sandhurst Hill
As we walked up the hill, I contemplated all the flood-mud action my wellies have seen, nearly every weekend since I'd bought them in mid-January. The worst of the mud was as we came down through the wood on the western slope of the hill. It was very slippery here, too. A tricky bit where we had to clamber over a high fence beset with mud all round. In comparison, the path along the river wasn’t too bad, though the water level in the Severn was still high. The ground around the trees closest to the river was still submerged. In the overcast weather, an eerie scene of trees in the water and their reflections. The strandline of debris on the far side of the field showed how high the water had been during the floods, reaching on the foot of the slope of the hill. I suspected we were now seeing a tidal effect, too. Sally at the B&B said there is one. The normal tidal limit and of the Severn is just south of here at Maisemore Weir (SO 817216). However, high spring tides, such as the one this morning, can overtop it, sending the tide upriver towards Tewkesbury, albeit without the bore wave preceding it. When we first got to the riverbank, the water was surprisingly still. Given that the river was still high, I expected a definite current here, just as there’d been at Upton yesterday. All the water movement was from the light wind. Then, very very subtly at first, there was movement downstream. We must have been at the turn of the tide. We noticed, too, a wet line at the bases of some of the tree trunks where the water had been, widening from about 9” to 12” as the current gathered.
Signs of spring amid the remaining mud and flood on / around Sandhurst Hill
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The bore timetable on the severnbore.co.uk website said
09:16 for the arrival of the bore at Maisemore weir, highwater about an hour
later, presumably. http://www.thesevernbore.co.uk/timetable/4579755614
Along the Severn below Sandhurst Hill as the high spring tide turned
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We left the river about a mile down from the woods, turning left into Rodway Lane. Across the river here was Asleworth Quay and the church with spire. A line of white sandbags on the bank. Saw later in the day that the EA had a flood warning out for this area (and Minsterworth) because of the high tides at the beginning of this month. Today, they said Gloucester gauge reached 3.89m at high water Sunday morning, compared to 4.05m and 4.04m during the high spring tides / tidal surges on 3rd January and 1st February respectively.
Severn Mud Pie,
anyone?
Nature in Art
With rain forecast for Sunday afternoon - which came in a bit late - we headed over to this plethora of wildlife art housed in Wallsworth Hall two
miles north of Gloucester on the A38. Downstairs were two galleries of paintings and
sculpture in their permanent collection. In room 1 the work was generally
looser and more abstract, such as the mixed media scene in a forest painted by Jill
Confavreux in 1994. I liked the tissue paper wheel of fish near the door for the intricacy and precision
achieved here with what are very delicate materials. Spokes of the wheel formed of string. An semi-abstract oil painting of butterflies, ceramics charger bowls suggestive of fish ponds and
looking through trees. On the far wall a set of four large acrylic / gouache paintings depicting a woodland scene during each of the four seasons.
Room 2 housed the more representational, figurative work, including a painting of an elephant by David Shepherd, one of Britain’s most famous wildlife painters. The room was dominated by an impressive plaster sculpture of a Siberian tiger by Rembrandt Bugatti, overlooked by a rook on the mantelpiece. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year show in the rooms upstairs was on loan from the Natural History Museum. It was engaging because of the sheer quality and impact of the work among the prize winners and runners up from over 40,000 entries internationally. There were different categories, such as urban wildlife, creative, under 18. The notes with the pictures were useful as they explained how the photographer went about obtaining his shot and his motivation. In every case, they’d really worked at getting their photograph and planned carefully. We got round the sculpture garden just before rain set in for the afternoon. Prominent here were the golden eagle near the centre and the hind fin of a whale at the far end. There was a menagerie of birds, insects and a tortoise made from welded metal, recycled horse shoes, garden tools, bicycle bits and car parts. In the studio next to the garden, they have an artist in residence. Karen Coulson was there when we visited, working in coloured pencil. The 2014 programme, available on the NIA website, also includes, painters, printmakers and drawing. In the gallery next to the studio the Wallsworth Art Group. The centre also runs a varied programme of art and photography courses, again available on their website. Tea in the cafĂ© overlooking the sculpture garden.
Room 2 housed the more representational, figurative work, including a painting of an elephant by David Shepherd, one of Britain’s most famous wildlife painters. The room was dominated by an impressive plaster sculpture of a Siberian tiger by Rembrandt Bugatti, overlooked by a rook on the mantelpiece. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year show in the rooms upstairs was on loan from the Natural History Museum. It was engaging because of the sheer quality and impact of the work among the prize winners and runners up from over 40,000 entries internationally. There were different categories, such as urban wildlife, creative, under 18. The notes with the pictures were useful as they explained how the photographer went about obtaining his shot and his motivation. In every case, they’d really worked at getting their photograph and planned carefully. We got round the sculpture garden just before rain set in for the afternoon. Prominent here were the golden eagle near the centre and the hind fin of a whale at the far end. There was a menagerie of birds, insects and a tortoise made from welded metal, recycled horse shoes, garden tools, bicycle bits and car parts. In the studio next to the garden, they have an artist in residence. Karen Coulson was there when we visited, working in coloured pencil. The 2014 programme, available on the NIA website, also includes, painters, printmakers and drawing. In the gallery next to the studio the Wallsworth Art Group. The centre also runs a varied programme of art and photography courses, again available on their website. Tea in the cafĂ© overlooking the sculpture garden.
Nature in Art is open 10:00am – 5:00pm Tuesday to Sunday and
on Bank Holidays. If you are in the Gloucestershire area, I’d highly recommend
a visit.
Nature in Art website
http://www.nature-in-art.org.uk/index.html