Gloucester Docks &
the Sharpness Canal

News

Another page reports current Ships for Overhaul. Request monthly Newsletter. News Archive.

Albion Cottages for Sale
The semi-detached cottages near the Southgate St entrance to the docks are on the market for £150,000 each. Agents Naylor Powell. See history of the building.

Victoria Bridge
The bridge over the entrance to the Victoria Dock was closed to boaters and pedestrians on 10 June after one of the security gates fell off its hinges. Canal & River Trust engineers soon refixed the gate and the bridge reopened later in the day. (Citizen 12 Jun 2013)

Mariners Church Alterations
A planning application has been submitted for altering interior partitions at the east end of the Mariners' Church to accommodate two new toilets and a creche/kitchenette. (App Ref. 13/00611)

Water Voles Information
An information board about water voles has been set up near Patch Bridge. This celebrates the work of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, the Canal & River Trust and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust to protect the nearby colony of water voles.

Rising Bollard
After a long period out of action, the rising bollard at the southern end of the walk-way alongside the Victoria Dock is working again. This ensures that only permit holders can park their cars around the northern end of the Dock.

Gloucester Tall Ships Festival
Huge crowds thronged the docks over the weekend 24-27 May 2013 to see five tall ships, other smaller craft and a wide range of land based entertainment. (Photos)

Awards for Gloucester Projects
Two Gloucester projects featured in the 2013 Waterways Renaissance Awards which recognise exceptional projects that are helping to care for canals and rivers across the UK. The regeneration of Gloucester Docks won the award for Area-Based Regeneration, and the Friends of the Gloucester Waterways Museum were runners up in both the Education & Learning and Historic Environment categories for their restoration of the Museum's steam dredger.

Two New Units Open
The two units at the west end of the Barge Arm apartments opened for business on 23 May. One houses the Barge Restaurant serving English food, and the other is the Silent Water gifts, jewellery and home style shop.

Fire Brigade Exercise
Gloucestershire firefighters held a large-scale exercise in the docks on 21 May to test their ability to fight fires during a water shortage. With 14 fire engines and high-volume pumps, crews pumped water through more than two miles of hose which delivered the water back to the dock. (Citizen 23 May 2013)

Preparing a New Lounge
Work has started on converting the former Llanthony Mill on the corner of Llanthony Rd and Merchants Rd to a new lounge for the Loungers chain based in Bristol. The aim is to provide a neighbourhood food-led cafe/bar with a relaxed environment.

Hoardings Painted
Following protests about plain chipboard hoardings over the empty units in the Merchants Quay building, City Council leader Paul James has persuaded the developers to paint the boards blue. (Citizen 9 May 2013)

Boat Explosion
An explosion ripped the roof off a small cabin cruiser at Sharpness Marina on 6 May and caused a woman to be thrown overboard. Fire and ambulance crews rushed to the scene, and the woman was treated for minor injuries. (Citizen 7 May 2013)

Kathleen & May Export Licence
The three-masted topsail schooner Kathleen & May, which once traded to Gloucester and has attended Gloucester Tall Ship Festivals, is due to be sold to the Middle East, although the Arts Council has delayed the export licence until June in the hope that funds can be raised to keep her in the UK. A Liverpool group is setting up a trust, but raising large sums takes time, and the South West Maritime History Society is lobbying the Arts Council to change the way such matters are handled. (ePetition)

Flowers by Llanthony Bridge
The window box on Llanthony Bridge cabin and the nearby plant box have been painted by a CRT volunteer, and they have been filled with a variety of flowering plants.

Red Wheel for Docks
A Red Wheel plaque provided by the Transport Trust was unveiled by Waterways Manager Nick Worthington on 27 April in the presence of the Mayor of Gloucester and members of the Trust. The plaque, near the entrance to the Waterways Museum, recognises that Gloucester has the best preserved 19th century inland port in the country. (Photo: Ray Wilson)

Museum Grant Approved
The Gloucester Waterways Museum has been given a Stage 1 grant of £60,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to help prepare a Stage 2 bid for a grant of almost £1 million. The project includes developing displays about the rivers and canals between the Midlands and the Bristol Channel, building a new entrance and shop in front of the existing building and refurbishing the barge Sabrina as an educational facility.

Fire-boat Restored
After a major restoration by T Nielsen & Co, the famous Thames fire-boat Massey Shaw was prepared for lifting on to a lorry on 24 April. After being launched at Sharpness, it returned to Gloucester for fitting out in the small dry dock. (Photo: Mike Wood)

New Exhibition Open
A new permanent exhibition at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum was opened by rugby star Mike Tindall on 16 April. It is dedicated to life in the modern army and features the essential 'black bag' which is issued to all soldiers going to Afghanistan. (Citizen 17 Apr 2013)

Waterways Museum Reunion
A reunion of past and present members of staff was held at the Waterways Museum on 13 April to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Museum's opening. Those attending included most of the original management team that set up the Museum in 1988.

Odd Couple in Dry Dock
On 9 April, the dry dock at Sharpness was occupied by the motor barge Wye Invader and the tall ship Pelican of London. The barge became notorious when it was taken up the Wye to Hereford over twenty years ago and the tall ship provides adventure voyages for young people. (Photo: Mike Nash)

Offices Plan
The owner of the Lock Warehouse has applied for planning permission to use the ground floor of the building for offices as he has not managed to attract any shops or restaurants to the available units. (App Ref 13/00284)

Musical Creation Afloat
Citizen reporter Mike Williamson and composer Nicholas Keyworth are using a boat moored in the Victoria Dock as a place to finalise a musical set against the backdrop of the war in Bosnia in the 1980s. Following pilot performances at the Edinburgh Festival and elsewhere which were well received, the pair are writing additional songs for a production destined for the West End. (Citizen 3 Apr 2013)

Barber in Weighbridge House
Leigh Phillips has opened a barber's shop in the former weighbridge house beside the Southgate St entrance to the docks. Leigh formerly operated from a shop on the other side of Southgate St. (Citizen 2 Apr 2013)

Tall Ships For Gloucester Festival
Ships confirmed for the Festival over the late Spring Bank Holiday weekend include the brigantine Phoenix, screw schooner Amazon, replica of John Cabot's Matthew, gaff-rigged Ruth and three-masted La Belle Angele. (Website)

Barge Elver at Work
The motorised former mud hopper Elver has started to carry construction materials for a sub-station being constructed by Western Power Distribution to the south of Cambridge Arms Bridge. The barge is expected to make about 100 trips, bringing stone to the site and taking earth away.

New Orchard
Volunteers have helped CRT to plant twenty new apple and pear trees beside the canal at Parkend. (Citizen 26 Mar 2013)

Double Divers
Two diving teams were working at Gloucester on 26 March. While one team was replacing a damaged paddle rod at the lock, a second team was clearing an obstruction preventing sealing of the large dry dock gates.

Lottery Cash for Museum
The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum has been awarded a grant of £493,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to revamp existing displays and take new learning programmes out into the community. The Museum has also been given £94,000 by the people of the South Korean city of Paju as thanks for the Glorious Glosters role in the Battle of Imjin River. (Citizen 19 Mar 2013)

Kaskelot for Overhaul
The tall ship Kaskelot, recently sold by the Square Sail Co, arrived at Sharpness on 17 March. On the following day, she passed up the canal to Gloucester to be overhauled by T Nielsen & Co in preparation for a long voyage.

Berkeley Boilers
The last two boilers from the decommissioned Berkeley Power Station have left Sharpness on a pontoon barge for Avonmouth, there to be transferred to a sea-going vessel for onward shipment to Sweden for recycling.

New Role for Transient
The huge motor barge Transient, which a few years ago was due to carry aggregate from Ryall, near Upton-on-Severn to the Cemex concrete plant at Two Mile Bend, has found a new role on the Thames. Now owned by S Walsh & Sons and renamed Thurrock, the barge mainly carries concrete and building waste materials between the Greenwich peninsular and Pitsea Wharf between Dartford and Gravesend. (IWA Waterways Spring 2013)

Personal Contact with CRT
From 4 March, CRT stopped staffing their Dock Office reception. Instead, sanitary station keys, electric or pump-out cards, long term boat licences and information about local canals can be obtained in person from the Gloucester Waterways Museum reception.

New Plans for Bakers Quay
Plans have been prepared for the multi-million pound refurbishment of the derelict buildings at the south end of Bakers Quay and the redevelopment of the surrounding land. Rokeby Developments are proposing that the former Foster Brothers Mill and Downings Malthouse extension be converted to housing by Crest Nicholson, that the Malthouse in Merchants Rd becomes an area for new food and drink outlets, that the Foster Brothers engine house becomes a Brewers Fare family restaurant and that new buildings nearby would include an 80-bed Premier Inn Hotel and a Costa Drive Thru. (Citizen 2 Mar 2013)

Drinking Fountain Inscription
Thanks to Gloucester City Council and Gloucester Civic Trust, stones have been removed from around the base of the historic drinking fountain beside the Commercial Rd entrance to the docks to reveal an inscription saying Gloucester Local Board of Health 1863. Merchants had requested a supply of water for the benefit of their workers, and it was also much used for filling ship's water casks.

Ecclesiastical Pull Out
Ecclesiastical Insurance has called off its agreement to build new headquarters on the current car park between the Victoria Dock and Southgate St. The group blamed the current economic conditions and the extremely challenging office construction market in the region. (Citizen 22 Feb 2013)

Under Secretary Visits Docks
Lord De Mauley, parliamentary under secretary at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, visited the docks on 18 February accompanied by Gloucester MP Richard Graham. They called at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum and the Furniture Recycling Centre. (Citizen 20 Feb 2013)

Sims Bridge
CRT staff started replacing the decking of Sims Bridge on 14 February. It was still possible to cross the bridge during occasional breaks in the work.

Hoarding on Bakers Quay
The Canal & River Trust has applied for planning permission to erect hoarding along the southern end of Bakers Quay to prevent access to their narrow strip of property along the canal frontage which is considered to be subject to a health & safety risk due to the poor condition of the adjoining listed buildings. (App Ref 13/00072)

Beer By Tricycle
Gloucester Brewery is using a pedalled tricycle to deliver beers around the city centre. Use of the tricycle, which can carry six casks weighing 50kg each, reduces the company's carbon footprint and improves staff fitness levels. (Citizen 1 Feb 2013)

Swallow at Gloucester
Historic tug Swallow is currently based in the Victoria Dock, having previously had a mooring near Parkend Bridge. Built in 1937 by James Pollock Sons & Co Ltd at Faversham, she worked on the River Lee, the Regents Canal and the Thames until the late 1960s. (Photo)

Regus in North Warehouse
The Regus Group opened a suite of serviced offices in the North Warehouse on 28 November. Gloucester City Council still have their council chamber and civic suite on the top floor.

Sweep Visits Docks
A narrow boat with a sweep's brush attached at the stern visited Gloucester Docks on 27 January. It belongs to certified sweep Graham Little who trades as Severnside Sweeps, tel 07415 744261. (Photo)

Fire Dowsed by Canal Water
Thousands of gallons of canal water were used to fight a major fire in an empty building in St Ann Way on 27 January. The building had been used as offices during the construction of the Gloucester Quays outlet centre. (Citizen 28 Jan 2013)

Towpath Rangers
The Canal & River Trust are looking for volunteer Towpath Rangers, based at Gloucester Docks and Saul Junction, to befriend all users of the canal and to help improve the towpath and areas around canal bridges. (More details)

Rowing Club Boost
Following the success of Team GB rowers in the Olympics, membership of Gloucester Rowing Club is up significantly on last year. The beginners course in September was flooded with applicants and there is a waiting list for the next course in April. (Citizen 16 January)

Nursery in Former Pub
The former Sir Colin Campbell pub in Llanthony Rd reopened as a children's nursery for 0-5 year olds on 14 January. Known as Into-play @ the Quays, it is an off-shoot of the established Into-play nursery in Longlevens. (Website)

Coal Boats on Canal
Narrow boats Bletchley and Argus made one of their regular visits in early January to deliver coal to customers at various locations along the canal. To order coal or diesel for a future visit, phone Peter Hawker on 07984 900613.

Painting Trip Boat
At R W Davis & Son's yard at Saul Junction, a ten-seater passenger boat is being painted in the livery of the Cotswold Canals Trust. From Easter, it is due to run trips, including private charters, along the newly-restored stretch of the Stroudwater Canal at Ebley.

Boat Fire
Two fire engines from Stroud attended a fire on the houseboat Eccles David moored at Saul late on 1 January. The owner was alerted by a smoke detector and attempted to tackle the blaze, but he was forced to evacuate and later needed treatment for smoke inhalation. (Citizen 3 Jan 2013)

New Gym
The Gym on the corner of Bakers Quay and Llanthony Road was officially opened by the Mayor of Gloucester on 19 December.

Balmoral Laid Up
The passenger ship Balmoral which usually runs occasional trips in the Bristol Channel from Sharpness will not be operating in 2013 as her owners have decided to concentrate their resources on their other ship Waverley. Instead, Balmoral will be looked after on a care and maintenance basis by volunteers in Bristol while alternative ways of utilising the ship are explored. (Website)

Dredging Trial Outcome
Following three weeks operation of the Land & Water cutter suction dredger costing £115k, a hydro-graphic survey has shown that almost 9000 cubic metres of silt were removed from the Main Basin and the canal down to Monk Meadow, leaving mid-channel depths generally in excess of four metres. As the silt was pumped directly into the river, by agreement with the Environment Agency, the operation is considered cost effective compared with other projects involving off-site disposal. (CRT)

World Cycling Record
After ten days pedalling in a marquee beside the North Warehouse at Gloucester, on 18 December Jamie McDonald beat the world record for the longest continuous cycle ride on an exercise bike, and he continued pedalling for two more days. Prior to this, Jamie had completed an amazing cycle ride from Bangkok to Gloucester to raise funds for the Pied Piper Appeal. (Facebook)

Tall Ships 2013
Gloucester City Council has confirmed that there will be a Tall Ships Festival in the docks over the late May Bank Holiday weekend. Further details will be announced in due course.

North Warehouse Sharpness
Contractors have completed repairs to the roof of the North Warehouse at Sharpness and made the building weather-proof. Work has included re-slating, new baghouses and winch housing, relining guttering, refurbishment of downpipes and shuttering of open windows. (Photo: CRT)

Sunken Boat
A boat has sunk at the northern end of the former Oil Depot Wharf to the north of Sellars Bridge. A warning notice marks the location.

Llanthony Warehouse Car Park
Terms have been agreed between Peel and the Canal & River Trust to lease the Llanthony Warehouse car park for use as a new public events space. (CCCP Update)

Waterways Museum Award
Gloucester Waterways Museum has been recognised as a "quality assured" visitor attraction by Visit England. Mystery shoppers visited the Museum at the end of October and made a number of anonymous telephone calls and emails to assess the Museum for its customer service. (ThisIsGloucestershire website 19 Nov 2012)

Gloucester Brewery Anniversary
Gloucester Brewery held an open day on 17 November to celebrate the first anniversary of their opening. To mark the occasion, they have created a new brew called Dr Foster's Puddle & Spice, said to be a warm and malty wheat beer with hints of festive spices.

Severn Rd
Following the removal of the scaffolding from around the Lock Warehouse, two-way traffic has been re-established along Severn Rd.

North Warehouse
Contractors have started work on refurbishing the interior of the North Warehouse to provide a suite of serviced offices for the Regus Group.

Docks Public Realm
The contract for managing the eastern side of the docks on behalf of Gloucester City Council and the Gloucester Docks Estate Company has been awarded to the Peel Group which owns the Gloucester Quays Shopping Centre. The new arrangement covers the cleaning, maintenance and landscaping of the public areas to ensure they are welcoming and attractive. (Punchline e-zine)

Poppies for Museum
To mark Remembrance Sunday and the associated Poppy Appeal, the Commercial Rd frontage of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum has been decorated with strings of poppies running from the roof line to the ground.

Purton Lower Bridge
Contractors May Gurney started work on upgrading the electrics of Purton Lower Bridge on 5 November.

Dredging Started
On 5 November, dredging contractor Land & Water started a trial of cutter suction dredging to remove silt from the Main Basin. It is expected that this will be more efficient than the water erosion dredging used in recent years. (Photos)

Orienteering Course
A Fixed Orienteering Course for the docks has been created by the Gloucester City Centre Community Partnership. A map of the course can be downloaded as a 2 MB pdf, or copies are available from the Waterways Museum, the Regimental Museum and the Tourist Information Centre.

Square Sail for Sale
The Square Sail company that owns three tall ships which have often visited Gloucester is for sale for around £4.4m. As well as the ships Kaskelot, Earl of Pembroke and Phoenix, the assets include Charlestown harbour and some development land. (Details)

Dredging Equipment Arrives
Dredging contractor Land & Water began setting up equipment on the West Quay on 30 October in preparation for a trial of cutter suction dredging in the Main Basin due to start in November. The footpath over the dry dock gates is diverted round Severn Rd and Llanthony Rd.

Show Apartment Open
A show apartment on the first floor of the Lock Warehouse was officially opened by Gloucester MP Richard Graham on 25 October. A quarter of the apartments have already been sold.

Partnership Vacancies
The South Wales & Severn Partnership is seeking two new members with expertise in areas like volunteering, fundraising, environment, heritage and community engagement to help shape plans for the future of local waterways. The closing date for applications is 12 Nov 2012.

Floating Surgery
Stroud MP Neil Carmichael held a surgery for his constituents on the Cotswold Canals Trust's trip boat Perseverance while cruising between Slimbridge and Hardwicke. (Citizen 10 Oct 2012)

Concrete Barge
The concrete barge that was once an exhibit at the Waterways Museum has sunk at its mooring near the old Marshfield timber pond south of Purton. Only the tiller is visible above water, and boaters are advised to be careful.

Quays Crane
A huge crane was erected on 4 October between Merchants Rd and High Orchard St to help in the construction of the new multi-screen cinema in the Gloucester Quays shopping centre. (Photo)

North Warehouse Refurbishment
Plans to refurbish the interior of the North Warehouse to provide a suite of serviced offices for the Regus Group were approved on 2 October. The top floor will be retained by the City Council, including the existing council chamber and mayor's parlour, and a new committee room will be formed in place of the sheriff's parlour and the silver display area. (App Ref 12/00764)

New Gym
On 17 September, work started on the creation of a new 24-hour budget gym on the corner of Llanthony Rd and Bakers Quay. Contractors are fitting out a unit for the Gym Group who operate a chain of gyms around the country.