Sharpness, Gloucestershire

Sharpness docks began as a basin giving access to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. There were no port facilities at Sharpness itself and all traffic proceeded up the canal to Gloucester. The original Old Dock opened, with the canal, in 1827. The dock was separated from the Severn by a lock gate. The level of the basin varied for the hour or two for which the gate was open and so it was isolated from the canal by a lock with two gates. This lock was improved over time, expanding to be a ship lock of 163 ft length and 38 ft breadth and a smaller lock for trows of 81 ft and 19 ft. This had several advantages over the Old Dock: its entrance was now through a tidal basin and a large lock. This gave a constant water level within the dock, matching that of the canal, and so no locks were needed between dock and canal, encouraging traffic. The lock was 320 ft long and 57 ft wide. For ships longer than this, the basin itself could also be used as a lock. Although this line left Sharpness to the south, it joined the main line facing North. The northerly route across the bridge opened on 17 October 1879. After the New Dock was opened, the Old Dock and its cumbersome lock access to the canal was used less and less. From 1908 the old entrance was abandoned and the Old Dock became used for ship repair. After age, storm and tide damage led to the gates being removed and sealed permanently in the 1990s, Seafarers' welfare charity Apostleship of the Sea, which provides practical and pastoral support to seafarers, has a port chaplain who covers Sharpness. == Railway links ==

The port remains connected to the main Gloucester to Bristol railway line with its junction at the site of the former Berkeley Road railway station. The line is rarely used (if ever) although a steam special visited the line in April 2007, making two journeys from Gloucester. The locomotive (The Lancashire Fusilier) ran round its train using the loop at Sharpness. From the branch line, protected by locked gates, rails remain in situ around the docks and are linked to the line from Berkeley Road, however the condition of the track makes it look unlikely that any of them are usable. This is due to change as the Vale of Berkeley Railway, a charitable trust, has begun restoration work on the sidings and has plans to eventually run trains again between Sharpness and Berkeley Road, where the line joins the main Bristol–Gloucester line. == In popular culture ==

The final episode of the third series of teenage drama Skins was filmed on location in Sharpness. == References ==