An expedition along the River Severn near Tewkesbury 9th Sept 2025

An expedition along the River Severn near Tewkesbury 9th Sept 2025

This morning in my van I awoke early, just before dawn , I could hear a couple of tawny owls hooting not too far off in the woods , suddenly they were interrupted by a wood pigeon cooing , welcoming the first signs of daylight.   I was parked at the Lower Lode carpark on the edge of Tewkesbury,  Gloucestershire, UK. 

I went back to sleep for quite a while , and had a few unpleasant dreams before waking again at about 10 am . 

To cheer myself up from the dreams I meditated on some scriptures , especially thinking about how God loves me , so much that he gave his only son Jesus. 

I got up made a nice cup of tea on the camping stove , then cooked breakfast ... half a packet of minced beef with steak seasoning . I'm  currently on a carnivore diet. 

As I sat in my van looking across the river Severn I spotted a green woodpecker flying from the opposite side of the river to my side. Then later a sparrowhawk hunted quite high up, following the far Riverbank downstream hoping to disturb small birds in the willows and undergrowth. 

At about midday I decided to go for a walk downstream from the Lower Lode. First you have to pass through the grounds of Cheltenham College rowing club and then you enter into cow fields. The river is on the right side of the meadow and on the left side  is a long hillside covered in woodland . Above the woodland on higher ground is the golf course, and then further along are fields of wheat. Thankfully there were currently no cattle in the field today ... I'm a bit nervous of them, always worried they're going to stampede. 

I had with me my deckchair as I thought it would be nice to sit by the river to rest every now and then . 

As I walked along I spotted a heron sitting on an overhanging branch on the opposite bank. After spotting me It seemed to be deciding whether to fly off or stay put but in the end he decided to stay put as I was a bit far off to be a threat. 

Along the river bank on both sides were many trees and bushes , mainly willow. 

I came to two large old oaks in the meadow which no doubt the cattle sheltered under sometimes. One of the oaks was considerably larger and older than the other and had a huge girth. I put up my deckchair and sat under the oaks looking at the river. I was quite a long way from the carpark and only a few dogwalkers and people out for a stroll might come this far . It was lovely and peaceful although the wind was picking up. I watched a flock of long tailed tits flying from willow tree to willow tree gradually moving along the riverside trees in an upstream direction. 

Suddenly three mute swans appeared in the distance flying a few metres above the river, they passed me by it was a wonder to see their large wingspan and distinctive noise of the wings beating. 

I noticed a gate on the edge of the field with a track leading away from the river going up the hill and through woods near Tewkesbury golf course. 

I went through the gate and entered the long narrow strip of broadleaf woodland that follows the hillside. I followed the track uphill through the woods and came out on a large recently ploughed arable field, probably wheat . In  the centre of the field was a large dead tree , providing good  habitat im sure for insects and woodpeckers etc. 

A buzzard appeared from the direction of the golf course and soared overhead.