Severn View to Frampton on Severn – 21.8 miles (286.8 total)

Planning today was a bit of a problem for me. Because of the location of potential accommodation I was faced with a choice between a long day today and a short day tomorrow or vice versa. Happier to get the longer day out of the way, I eventually chose the former option.

The walking itself was not particularly difficult, it was just the length of it. The whole day was flat walking, following the Severn Way which eventually used the towpath of the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal taking me all the way to Frampton on Severn.

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My morning route ahead leaving Severn View

The first section of today’s walk coincided with the Jubilee Way, a walk, as already noted, that I did a few years back. My next target loomed large in the distance: the nuclear power station at Oldbury. I thought it sounded quiet when I passed it, on checking afterwards I discovered it is now decommissioned. Once I’d cleared that, another industrial complex appeared on the horizon, near Berkeley. Would you believe, another decommissioned nuclear power station. You wait all walk for a nuclear power station then two come along at once.

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Decommissioned nuclear power station at Oldbury-on-Severn

At Berkeley I decided to take a shortcut, so left the Severn Way to wind its intricate path around the coastline while I did some road walking, meeting up with it again near the start of the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. This, I followed all the way to Frampton.

The rain that had been threatening all morning eventually arrived around 2pm, roughly halfway through the walk. Having to stop to make sure everything is safely waterproofed, including my rucksack, is an inconvenience but essential. I expected to see lots of people out and about today, with it being Sunday, but hardly passed or talked to a soul until late in the day. Listening to the Celtic v Rangers match on the radio helped me to forget about the miles even though it was a very one-sided affair. I now have a tenderness on the base of my left foot, here’s hoping it’s not a blister.

The many astute followers of this blog will already have realised that my mileage today takes me above that of the Pennine Way meaning that this is now my single longest continuous walk. Tomorrow I have a relatively short walk along the G&S canal to Gloucester.