Gloucester to Hereford

 Our morning started with an early walk around Gloucester, and what an unexpected treat this turned out to be.

We started at the docks just around the corner from our hotel. It is a mix of old dockside life, and modern apartments, shops and restaurants.

We arrived just in time to see a boat go through the huge lock, then under a swing bridge and out on to the river Severn.

Walking away from the docks we quickly found the stunning Cathedral.

Nestled behind the Cathedral in a square surrounded by modern houses was an imposing statue of John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester. It is in the exact same spot where he was burnt at the stake on the orders of Mary Tudor in 1555 for not recanting his religion.

In the town itself we found Baker's Clock. We didn't know anything about it and wondered if it chimed. We went back, but just after 10am didn't see or hear anything.

But reading about it now and being 40 miles away, it turns out that the bells are struck every 15 minutes. It's almost worth going back to see it.

All this adventure and we haven't even had breakfast or started our ride.

Yet again the ride was good, lots of quiet lanes and pretty countryside.

Lunch was on a sunny bench at Newent, and the bikes got a break leaning against a lovely building.

Hereford was good, but didn't really compare to Gloucester. Our hotel was right next door to Hereford football club and they were playing Merthyr Town as we arrived. They won three nil, but a quick check of the table shows that they lost the previous four matches and are in the relegation zone.

Highlights of the town was the views of the River Wye, a giant bull statue in the town centre, and a sculpture of Edward Elgar leaning against his bicycle. It does look as if Daz is trying to strangle him, but that was accidental.

Bath to Gloucester

The panniers are packed, the electric bikes are out and we are off on a journey. The first leg was from Bath to Gloucester and the sun was out.

It was Easter Sunday so the steam train at Bitton was getting ready for an outing.

Unusually for a bank holiday the sun was out, although it compensated with a cold wind that kept our coats on all day.

The shops were all shut too, but we found a little corner shop in a lovely village and sat on a sunny bench for a lunch of coconut macaroons.

Almost the whole journey was on cycle paths and quiet country lanes with beautiful scenery.

The best photo of the day competition was won by Daz with this shot of his bike resting on the Splatt Swing Bridge over the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

We were surprised to find such a huge canal so close to the Severn Estuary, so I looked it up and found out that the canal was opened in 1827.

It was one of the widest and deepest canals in the world, was 17 miles long and provided the very important docks at Gloucester with a safe passage to the Estuary, that avoided the dangerous tides and rapids in the river Severn.