Fascinating bore: The Severn tsunami by bike

It was the year's only five-star Severn Bore yesterday, a remarkable natural phenomenon that's ideally visited by bike.

The bore is a tsunami-like wave caused by particularly high incoming tides being funnelled up the narrows just south of Gloucester. Like a 168 bus overtaking you too close north of the Elephant and Castle, it roars in without warning out of nowhere. It raises the river level in seconds (the two images on the right were taken about 20 seconds apart) and reverses its flow.

If you're standing on the riverbank you may well be soaked in water as the bore splashes past, like a 133 bus overtaking you too close south of Kennington Station by that enormous puddle that always collects after rain.


The BBC video of the Bore (right), shot on Monday morning, shows exactly the experience I had from the same spot, Stonebench, on Tuesday morning. Except it doesn't show my bike being drenched. A bike which now has a peppergrinder for a chain.

Four- and five-star Severn Bores (the ones big enough to be worth seeing) are a quirky and infrequent curiosity, rather like a lunar eclipse, or a driver actually waving thanks when you stop to let them go past.


There's a sense of occasion and friendly banter among the crowds of spectators, a mix of ex-military, retired-to-the-country couples, outdoorsy types, chatty locals, and cyclists - probably the only people not wearing wellies.

And by bike is the best way to see the bores - this was another chapter that almost made it into my 50 Quirky Bike Rides book - because:


• Four- and five- star bores can be predicted to the date and within a few minutes months in advance, so you can book ultra-cheap trains (eg London to Gloucester £9 one-way with bike) and accommodation (eg £19 room for two at Gloucester Travelodge, right in the centre).


• Two of the three best viewing places are best visited by bike (no car parking, congested narrow roads, no public transport). (1) Stonebench (right) is three miles or 15 minutes southwest from central Gloucester, almost all traffic-free, along the towpath of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (above right, National Cycle Route 41/45).



• (2) Over Bridge (right), a disused crossing built by Telford, is one mile or 10 minutes northwest of central Gloucester along a cycle path alongside a dual carriageway (National Cycle Route X). See OS Map (Stonebench is towards bottom left; Over Bridge is marked as 'Telford Bridge')


• You can explore Gloucester (Cathedral bottom right, or the medieval galleried New Inn) and surroundings by bike and encounter things you don't in London: deserted night-time town centres, or strangers chatting to you without asking for spare change, for instance.

The Severn Bore website and Environment Agency website have details on bore ratings, dates and times, and viewing locations. The best Severn Bore for the rest of the year is on the morning of Wed 31 Mar.

(England's other tidal bore is the Aegir, on the Trent - the EA website has details. It's less spectacular than the Severn's, but maybe worth a trip to Gainsborough and a leisurely cycle along the riverside roads. In Lincolnshire, most things are leisurely.)

Down the Hatch: a hostel you have to cycle to

Tanner’s Hatch hostel (right), in the countryside near Dorking, almost qualifies for my 50 Quirky Bike Rides book: it is only accessible on foot or by bike.

It’s a mile or so off the nearest road, which is a single-track back lane running past Boxhill and Westhumble Station. Though it’s only half a day’s ride from the centre of London, it's right away from everything, such as mobile phone access.


I don’t know if I like Dorking, because I’ve never Dorked, but Tanner’s Hatch is a delightful little retreat. The track from the road (right) is your usual bridleway – a bit bumpy but OK on a hybrid or MTB.

The building itself is a Green Bacon, or possibly Beacon, hostel – it does lots of eco things such as harvesting rainwater to flush the loos, using PV panels to generate free electricity from sunlight which often even work, and offering a cycle shed built of logs (below right) whose low roof is specially designed to test out helmets.

The hostel also has an acoustic guitar, sturdy and weighty enough to be useful in hand-to-hand combat, but less useful for music making, as it lacks a D string.


Tanner’s Hatch is great: atmospheric, friendly, secluded, and something that bit special just a short hop from the city. A pleasant way to cycle there is to do the largely parklands Wandle Trail down to Carshalton, follow roads to Epsom Racecourse (from where you have a sweeping view of the London scraperscape) and head around Box Hill.

Not far – only 20-odd miles maybe, but allow five hours, a pint and two coffee stops. And bring a bottle of wine and set of guitar strings.

Cycle and be dammed: Derbyshire reservoirs are the Peak

One of my favouritest day-trips in all the world is a reservoir circuit in the Peak District. Three hours takes you round a chain of reservoirs (Ladybower, Derwent, Howden) just north of the Hope Valley. It's day-trippable from London (to Bamford, change at Sheffield: 3hr each way; I did my return the other day, with bike, for £25). There's a map below.


The scenery is awesome, the dam engineering impressive, and the route is essentially flat. It's a mixture of tarmac (roads which are traffic-free at weekends, and quiet at other times) and gravel paths, best on a mountain bike, but doable on a hybrid or sturdy tourer. There's a cafe a third of the way up where you can refuel on pasties, and a crossing-point between sides.


Stop off at the Yorkshire Bridge pub on the way back to the station and enjoy a pint of Pale Rider; even if you've had Peaks drizzle all day, you won't be a pale rider for long.

Here's the Google map. You can go either way round; the right-hand side is mostly track, the left-hand side all tarmac, and it's gently downhill from top to bottom. If you're on a road bike, do it anticlockwise to finish off with some nice smooth downhill; on a mountain bike, do it clockwise to enjoy a more crunchy final descent. There are a few slopes but not really any hills. For a treat after your ride, take a dip in the remarkable outdoor heated pool at Hathersage (open summer only) and take the train back from there. You can swim surrounded by lovely Hope Valley peaks in this charming village, which has an encouraging 2:1 ratio of outdoor shops to estate agents. There's a curiosity nearby: the collapsed road of the old A625 round the side of Mam Tor, which looks like an earthquake zone in some remote Lonely Planet guide. (It's the other route on the map.) This was one of the chapters in my book.

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