Newnham church from Arlingham Passage

After my sister rang to say she wasn't well and couldn't come to stay as planned, Woodpeckers and I decided to go for a drive to get out of the valleys and into the wider open spaces of the Severn Vale. We headed out westwards along the old road to the site of the ancient crossing point over the tidal River Severn at Arlingham Passage. There is no longer a ferry crossing but it is a very quiet spot on the farthest point of a meander of the river just a couple of miles upstream from Slimbridge Wetlands centre.

This view is across to the town of Newnham-on-Severn on its west bank, beyond which are the hills of the Forest of Dean. There is a small working boatyard just below the outcrop of rock on which the church is perched. Most of the boat traffic now bypasses this stretch of the river because of the difficult navigation through the sandbanks and mudflats which you can see here, it being low tide. The Sharpness to Gloucester canal was built to take boats from the Bristol Channel inland to Gloucester and beyond.

The sun became progressively shaded by clouds once we had arrived, but it still felt warm despite the quite strong breeze. We stayed for nearly an hour before heading back to Arlingham village, about a mile inland, where we visited the local pub and then followed that with a short walk to the old church at the edge of the village.

I've added some other views from Arlingham to this gallery.