Wednesday 19 January 2011

Day out in Gloucester

Today's A.R.O.S.:

A rolag of mist swaddles the valley bottom,
Suffocating trees.
As my hillside becomes an island.


Gloucester Docks - but our first port of call was the antiques centre. We resisted temptation!


Then we had a wander round the docks area.


A link to the fascinating history of Gloucester Docks and its people can be found HERE. Many of the warehouses are now apartments, and a large Designer outlet is centre-stage. We went to the antiques centre instead. There is also a large arts and crafts building we didn't have time for (next time) and an Inland Waterways Museum (ditto).

The Mariners' Chapel at Gloucester Docks.


One of the stained glass windows.

It is hard to imagine nowadays, but ships would have been queuing up to discharge their cargoes by this warehouse back in Victorian times.

This is the North Warehouse and was one of the first to be built, and became the blueprint for many of the others. More information HERE.


HERE is a link telling you a little more about the docks, generally.

This was the warehouse for G & W E Downing, a company of Maltsters and as we took a short cut across the front of this building, the carved name over the door had a date of 1901 for the building of this warehouse on Baker's Quay. Find out more about the company and buildings HERE.

Just beyond this warehouse was an oil and cake mill but my photo failed, so follow this link to see what it looked like and learn about its history.

This is the lightship "Sula", which was once moored off the mouth of the River Humber at Spurn Head. She was decommissoned in 1985 and brought to Llantony Quay at Gloucester, where she is now used for various health therapies. Here is a link showing her journey upriver to the Dock.


This is looking downstream from Gloucester Docks (just as we turned into the Sainsbury's car park). There were several houseboats and

6 comments:

  1. What an interesting day. It is good to see that they have preserved the lightship, although I wonder what the hardy old mariners who sailed in her would have thought of their ship offering various therapies!

    The Antiques Centre looks fascinating. You were good to avoid temptation! I hope you feel better for a day out. We have frost and sunshine here this morning.

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  2. I would have enjoyed a mooch round the antiques centre, it looks fascinating.

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  3. Not been to Gloucester for years. Thanks for the reminder about what a great place it is.

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  4. You do have lovely days out BB. It is thirty years since I went here - and I really enjoyed your tour.

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  5. I will surely come back to visit the links to these itneresting places. I do hope there was a tea shop after all that trekking about in what looks like a damp day.

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  6. It looked a lovely day out, especially the Antiques Centre.

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