Sharpness

Sharpness (/ʃɑːrpˈnɛs/ sharp-NESS) is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West England region. It is on the River Severn at grid reference SO669027, at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream (14 metres (46 ft) typical spring tide), is still large (10 metres (33 ft) typical spring).

There is a small community of approximately 100 residents directly adjacent to the port, in addition to the subvillage of Newtown approximately 0.5 miles to the south-east. Four miles to the south lies the small town of Berkeley.

Docks

Sharpness docks began as a

In typical fashion for the competing pre-Grouping railway companies, there were not only two railway lines into Sharpness, but there were even two separate bridges across the dock: the Midland Railway's low level bridge from the south east to Berkeley, and the Great Western's high level bridge from the north and across the Severn.^[1] The line to the south was the Sharpness branch of the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, by this time part of the Midland, and opened on 2 August 1875.^[4] Although this line left Sharpness to the south, it joined the main line facing North. The northerly route across the bridge opened on 17 October 1879.^[4] An important development was on 19 March 1908 when a short Great Western line to the south of the previous junction formed the Berkeley triangle, giving a direct route to the Great Western main lines, and thus Bristol, through the Westerleigh Loop.^{[5][note 1]}

After the New Dock was opened, the Old Dock and its cumbersome lock access to the canal was used less and less. From 1908 the old entrance was abandoned and the Old Dock became used for ship repair. After age, storm and tide damage led to the gates being removed and sealed permanently in the 1990s,^[2] the dock water level was raised to that of the canal and the locks could also be abandoned.

Just north of Sharpness the river and canal were crossed by the Severn Railway Bridge, until it was damaged beyond repair by a barge collision in 1960. The bridge was locally convenient, schoolchildren crossing the river to go to school, but it was soon superseded for long-distance travel by the double tracked Severn Tunnel on the faster and more direct route between Bristol or London and Cardiff.

Proposals to reinstate a river-crossing at this point are frequently made especially by the local authorities in Lydney, which lies almost opposite Sharpness.

The Port Authority for the impounded dock is Canal & River Trust, but the quayside activities are run by Sharpness Dock Limited. The competent (statutory) harbour authority for the river from the Severn Road Bridges up to Sharpness and on to Gloucester is Gloucester Harbour Trustees - they are responsible for navigation aids in the channel and for the provision of pilots. Pilotage up the river is compulsory (except for exemption holders) for all vessels over 30 metres length overall.

Between 1939 and 1966, the demasted sailing ship

Seafarers' welfare charity

seafarers, has a port chaplain

who covers Sharpness.

Railway links

v t e Sharpness branch line
For canal icons used below, please refer to waterways legend instead.
Legend
Dean Forest Railway (To Parkend) Severn Bridge Newport to Gloucester ) Severn Railway Bridge over River Severn (Dismantled 1970) Swing bridge over Gloucester and Sharpness Canal Sharpness Old Port Sharpness (closed 1964) Sharpness Docks New Docks Branch Sharpness New Port Berkeley (closed 1964) Cross Country Route (To Gloucester) Berkeley Road (closed 1965) Berkeley Loop Cross Country Route (To Bristol)

The port remains connected to the main Gloucester to Bristol railway line with its junction at the site of the former

The line

is rarely used (if ever) although a steam special visited the line in April 2007, making two journeys from Gloucester. The locomotive (The Lancashire Fusilier) ran round its train using the loop at Sharpness. From the branch line, protected by locked gates, rails remain in situ around the docks and are linked to the line from Berkeley Road, however the condition of the track makes it look unlikely that any of them are usable. This is due to change as the Vale Of Berkeley Railway, a charitable trust, has begun restoration work on the sidings and has plans to eventually run trains again between Sharpness and Berkeley Road, where the line joins the main Bristol-Gloucester line.

In popular culture

The final episode of the third series of teenage drama

Skins

was filmed on location in Sharpness.

References

1. ^ Westerleigh Loop, and the opportunity it gave the Great Western for a route between Bristol and Birmingham, would be a cause of legal contention between the GWR and the Midland for some years. See Westerleigh Junction.^[5]

1. ^ ^{a b} Hugh Conway-Jones. "Sharpness Docks". www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Hugh Conway-Jones. "Sharpness Old Dock". www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Hugh Conway-Jones. "Sharpness New Docks". www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk.
4. ^
   ISBN 0-85361-435-0
   .
5. ^ ^{a b} Maggs 1992, pp. 33, 35
6. ^ Hugh Conway-Jones. "Training Ship Vindicatrix". www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sharpness, Gloucestershire.

• [1] [2] [3] Time-lapse videos of changing tides
• BBC archive film of Sharpness from 1978