A Gloucester dock derelict warehouse

I had a far too early start this morning, although many would think that setting off at 8am is normal. I'd promised to drive Helena to Gloucester so that she could get to a training course with ease.

The road from Stroud to Gloucester takes you up the Painswick valley and then across the Cotswold escarpment to drop down onto the Severn Vale. As we crested the ridge Helena noticed the far side of the valley towards the Forest of Dean was bathed in sunlight, unlike every where else which was relentlessly grey.

After dropping her off, I went to stock up on tofu at our oriental food supplier near to the docks in Gloucester. I parked at a recent shopping centre built on a previously industrial zone close to the docks, and by the Sharpness canal, which allows seagoing vessels to reach this old inland port by-passing the shallow tidal stretches of the River Severn.

I walked over a big modern bridge which lifts to allow large boats to leave the docks and enter the canal. I wandered along the tow path and found that the sunlight we'd seen earlier was now bathing this area and became rather excited by the number of interesting subjects available. I will definitely come back here again and choose a time when the light is as good as it was this morning.

Beside the bridge on the city side of the docks there are many rather elegant disused warehouses aligned along the quayside, three of which had their first floors supported by a variety of pillars. In the distance there is a distinguished Georgian office on the far side of the dock. Behind these buildings, the short spires on top of the Cathedral tower stand above the rooftops. Seagulls are everywhere too, in fact they are a bit of a local nuisance. But I liked their antics as the soared and screeched above the roofs, sometimes settling gently on the wind down onto high perches.

There is a gull high up in this picture which is my favourite of the day. It is the building closest to the bridge, starkly contrasted against the new shopping centre on the other side of the bridge. I hope these old buildings can be preserved, as they are treasures of our industrial past, which add so much to the atmosphere of the district, compared to the modern warehouses in which the local cinemas and malls are now housed in such ugly designs.