The Beastly Bore

The Severn Bore what a beauty,  the wave was massive. During the highest tides rising water is funneled up the estuary into a wave that travels upstream against the river current at a speed of 8 to 13 miles per hour.The largest bores occur in spring but smaller ones can be seen throughout the year. I even got a chance to ride it... Pics included. 

The Severn Estuary or, Môr Hafren in Welsh. Its high tidal range means it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.The tidal range results in the estuary having one of the most extensive wildlife habitats in the UK, comprising mudflats, sandflats, rocky platforms and islands. These form a basis for plant and animal communities typical of extreme physical conditions.

*The tidal range is the vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide  

In the future I see the Estuary becoming the main testing ground for our new methods tidal energy collection. The down side to this is if the animals living in the  Estuary rely on the tide, what would happen to them? You would need to put in safety precautions to prevent the death of this unique wildlife. 

The concludes my Blog.....

Btw.... This was a School Project, Thank-you Mrs Davies for allowing me to present my work in this format.... Level 8 here I come :P 

Dan 

 

I made it

I finally made it to the mouth, Its completely different to every other part of the river. Its all industrial down here, I kinda miss the fresh country air.  One of the locals tells me the Severn bore, a giant tidal wave, is going to be forming in the estuary in a few days; I've agreed to stay in Gloucester and try riding it, wish me luck!  I will talk about my Estuary and the 'Bore', in my next post.

Bye for now

Dan  
  

Cheddar

Hey,

Cheddar Gorge was amazing. I spent all the day exploring the caves. :)

If I was here during the start of the industrial revolution, the waterways around Cheddar would have been chockablock with barges, full to the brim with Iron ore, Limestone and other precious matter; kick starting the industrial revolution.. Cheddar gorge was formed millions of years ago; it was originally a tropical reef, we know this because of the fossilised fish's skeletons' and other debris. Slowly over time this built up and after the ice age, Cheddar gorges' cave systems were formed; the water has now dried up.


Dan

(pics in next post)  

Meander

The middle

Hey,

Today I canoed down as much of the middle course as I could.  I saw loads:  I saw meanders in varying states, the last one had formed a lake know as an ox-bow lake; I saw lots of sheep farms.  Apparently the wool from around here is top quality; the waterways were key to its success, being able to export the product to anywhere in the world.  I seem to be seeing many more towns; this is slightly upsetting I really wanted to see more of the nature obscured by these concrete jungles, if there is any left because of these mindless constructions.  As I’m going down the river, I seem to be seeing more and more cases of animals having to leave their natural habitats because of our demand.  On a lighter note I will be taking a look around cheddar gorge.

Bye for Now

Dan    

Beauty that be

Hey,

I'm so tired; I thought it would be best to jot down my ideas before I hit the hay. The one thing that struck me while I was in the Coracle was, how shallow it was. It was really grassy as well,don't think Iv'e seen so many different types of grass. Nor did I realise how much sediment was in the upper course, there's tonnes of it. I think this will change as we enter the middle and lower courses.  From the air, the upper course looks tiny, I didn't even realise we were following it at some points, while we were flying, the pilot told me a few interesting things, like the coracle has been used since the bronze age, he also pointed out some of the spiritual 'hideaways' used my monks and devout followers of their chosen religion; some are still in use today.  Sadly as beautiful as the Severn is, I think we maybe exploiting its resources a little to much. The fertile land of the upper course is great for farming; sadly to create this farm land we have to deforest large areas of land. Once these trees have been destroyed, the Eco systems within the river can become unbalanced, meaning some fish may not be able to survive in the rivers waters meaning they migrate to other areas, in turn meaning algae and bacteria can spread and further pollute the river.

On that slightly depressing note, I'm off to to bed.

Night

Dan

By Air, Sea and Road

Hey,

I'm sat in a feild on the outskirts of  Plynlimon, 2001ft above sea level, waiting for take off, thats right! I'm flying in a Icon A5 sports plane. My plan is to follow the river in the plane until Foel, Powys, Wales. From Foel  will use a corricale until I reach Shrewsbury, where I will stay the night. Over the next few days I  will canoe 84NM to near the end of the middle course; then I will hike to the mouth of the Severn for  day or two.The whole journey will take me about a week or so  Ok the plane is preping for take-off so gotta log off, Ill post again when I reach Shrewsbury.

Dan