The Severn Bore is one of the natural wonders of the UK. During high spring tides, the sheer volume of water surging from the Irish Sea into the mouth of the Severn Estuary, and subsequently the river Severn, sends a wall of water many miles up stream. The wave can reach up to 8ft high in places, and surges relentlessly up the river towards Gloucester. Although dangerous, the wave provides an amazing spectacle, turning a tranquil river into a boiling torrent in seconds. One minute the glassy river is flowing out to sea, and the next it is flowing back upstream, headed by a wall of sea water.

There are three types of people interested in the bore. Firstly, there are those people like the EOTS team, simply fascinated by the power of nature, and keen to capture such amazing sights on camera. Then there are those who fancy a day out, simply to see something different. Lastly, as you'll see on our images, there are those who want to experience the full force of the Severn Bore, but attempting to surf along its route of many miles!

During the time around the 11th/12th/13th March, there were a number of bores, each occurring with high tide. Bores are classified in terms of their height, and are assigned a star rating. A 5* bore is the largest wave of all, whilst a 1* can often go almost unnoticed. This particular event was deemed a 4* bore, so the crowds were out in force to watch!

The morning of the 12th arrived, and it was time to get into position to watch the Bore commence. Unlike many people, our first port of call was in the Severn Estuary itself, at a place called Awre. Here, the bore resembles a fast moving tide across the mudflats.

The Severn Estuary at Awre, 7:45 in the morning. A fine morning it was too, whilst the mudflats were exposed by the low tide.

The start to the Severn bore - a nose of water moving at jogging pace starts to fill up the channels as it sprawls across the mudflats.

As well as the channels close to us, the high tide front can be seen right across the entire width of the estuary.

We took some timelapse video of the bore as it passed Awre, showing the nose of water as it rushes past. The motion is speeded up, but the actual speed was quite impressive as well. Please click the link below to see the video (size, 4.00mb)

Severn Bore timelapse video

 

Once the tide had passed, and the estuary had started to fill up with sea water, then chase was on! Our next stop was further up river, at a point on the riverbank called Newnham. Things were much busier here, with many people lining the bank to see the wave as it passed. The time between Awre and Newnham was about 50 minutes.

As people line the bank, the bore arrives in style. Here, the river is about a quarter of a mile wide, and already filled with river water moving downstream. The wave as seen here, moving upstream, is about 3-4ft in height, moving at about 10mph.

By the time the wave reached us, it had split into several smaller waves, each providing a "step-up" in the height of the water level. Notice the lone surfer to, the only one who had made it this far upstream!

It was now time for the "maddest" dash of all! 200 hundred cars were about to join the thousands of others on the road, for the crazy race to reach the best Bore viewpoint of all - Minsterworth! The tiny village on Minsterworth is about an hour or so upstream for the bore, and with so many people fighting to get there, it beats storm-chasing stress levels any day!

This is the scene at Minsterworth when we first arrived. The narrow river, flowing smoothly out to sea. People are already beginning to gather on the banks, whilst a flock of surfers await the arrival of the bore mid-channel.

The wave arrives amongst cheers from the crowds. The wave in the background here slams around the outside of the river bend, with a height of about 7ft. In this image, the wave has just reared up and is about to slam into the bank, soaking many bystanders.

Smash! The wave pounds the bank, a serious danger for any surfer who gets too close to the river's edge.

As the wave gets very close to us, it's a case of holding one's nerve, trying to get photos until the last second. Everyone else stands well-back, perhaps not as willing to get as wet as we were ;-)

We took some video of the bore as it passed Minsterworth, showing loads of bank smashing action! Please click the link below to see the video (size, 11.00mb or 2mb)

Best quality video
Lower quality video

 

Our account is continued on page 2