A brilliant opening to the season – a fantastic 31 mile journey down a flooded River Severn from the Shrewsbury Weir to Bridgnorth on a sunny, cold February day.
There was a bit of trepidation with so much water in the river – especially regarding the passage through the bridges at Atcham and the prospect of the Jackfield Rapids in the Ironbridge George. However after careful inspection of the conditions at these points a decision was made to go. After some fiddling getting the boats to the weir and the cars to Bridgnorth we set off in Yellow and Pembroke Pembroke in the mid-morning.
We made steady progress on the first leg of the journey – a few deep breaths from the coxes going through the Atcham bridges and a brief diversion from the usual course of the river were the only blemishes before we serendipitously arrived at the Riverside Pub at opening time.
A combination of the flooded river and the leafless winter trees made for a great tour of the riverside homes between Cressage and Ironbridge. The crew of Yellow took a brief tour of some of the river flat fields when one of the taller coxes lost his bearings, presumably blinded by the sunshine. The trip through the Ironbridge Gorge was spectacular and the Jackfield Rapids brilliant fun.
The crew of Pembroke Pembroke exited the Jackfield Rapids first – but having overshot the landing at the Half Moon by 20 yards – faced a stern, 5 minutes test in a brisk flow to get back to a landing point at the pub. We had a drinks and a convivial lunch before setting off for the final dash to the finish at the Bridgnorth Rowing Club in good time to get off the water in daylight hours.
A great day out!
This row seems set to become the default expedition when other plans fall by the way – but it maybe worth considering a summer trip to see how far we can get down the river in daylight hours.
Geoff
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