A Cruise Along the Sharpness Canal, Gloucester

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Today I’m going to recommend a sightseeing trip down part of the Sharpness Canal from the Gloucester Waterways museum and back. The journey will be on an historic little ship, which played a very important part in evacuating the British Expeditionary Forces from the beaches of Dunkirk in France during the 2nd World War.

Looking at the pleasure boat with is seats and awning on the top deck and its saloon with tables and chairs below, is doesn’t seem possible that it was able to ply backwards and forwards across the English Channel. But, she was part of a hastily assembled flotilla of about 800 little ships called upon to rescue, in all, about 338,000 stranded British, French and Belgium soldiers from the harbour and beaches of Dunkirk between 27th May and 3rd June 1940.

Queen Boadicea II on its moorings

Called Queen Boadicea II she was built in 1936 as a river boat, operating between Greenwich and Westminster in London, then Kingswear and Dartmouth in Devon before being bought by the Waterways museum to work 74 years later here in Gloucester.

There are a variety of different cruises to take, but the one that my group and I enjoyed was one that operates at least three times daily throughout the summer until October. It’s 45 minute long and took us out of Gloucester Docks and along the Sharpness canal to a place called ‘2 mile bend’, a good turning point where we where able to see a new high level swing bridge built to take the new road, Gloucester’s South Western by pass over the canal.

The skipper told us that before the building of the Sharpness Canal small sailing ships used the River Severn to get to Gloucester but because of tides, sand banks, narrow channels and other hazards it could take 2 weeks to make the journey. A ship canal to bypass the river was started in 1793 but the company went bankrupt after 5 years with only 5 miles of canal having been built. 34 years later, with the help of the great engineer Thomas Telford, the Sharpness canal was finally completed, and when it opened it was the largest and deepest canal in the world.

The ship canal made Gloucester a very important trading centre in the 19th century and was a gateway for waterborne transport to the industrial Midlands. However, during the 20th century, more and more cargo was being transported by the railways, then later by roads and motorways. Warehouses and Industry dependant on the Sharpness canal fell into decline. Today there are big changes taking place alongside the canal and I do recommend a boat trip every now and again for an update on what is happening around Gloucester Docks.

The latest information I have on the departure times for the Queen Boadicea II is 12 0’clock, 1.30 and 2.30 in the afternoon. There are 80 seats on the boat, though it does get very full, and for £4.75 per adult and £3.50 for a child you get a very enjoyable trip as well as an interesting commentary by the Skipper.

For further information it is best to phone 01452 318200 which is the telephone number of the Gloucester Waterways museum.

A day that a replica of the historic ship
The Matthew visited Gloucester Docks

For guided walking tours of Gloucester Docks

For guided group coach tours around Gloucestershire

Contact:  anne@tourandexplore.com