Beachley
During the summer I made a couple of visits to my mother’s home near Chepstow, which enabled me to walk the banks of the Severn where it becomes an estuary. I’m very familiar with this location, from growing up a couple miles away. The car park sits directly underneath the old Severn Bridge, which rumbles as lorries cross over it between England and Wales. Beachley is on a peninsula sitting between the Wye and Severn, it is the point at which many generations have crossed the river by ferry and the old slipway to the Aust Ferry, which falls into the murky water. It is now usually frequented by fishermen rather than ferry commuters.
The bridge is still a spectacular site and the story of its construction is fascinating. The river both helped and hindered the men given this daunting task. The huge sections of the span were floated downstream before being lifted into the sky, but the formidable tide and currents claimed a number of lives during the construction. I recommend watching, Bridging the Gap: How the Severn Bridge Was Built (BBC 4).
I made this sketch, I wish I had taken my larger sketchbook, but found the setting interesting to draw. The tiny turbines on the Bristol side of the estuary combined with the Second Severn Crossing give a contrasting backdrop to the ruin.
This subject certainly requires more investigation (and more drawings...getting on the island would be great). Perhaps an illustration of what the church looked like and the hermit assisting the pilgrims visiting the island would be interesting? Or, a silent sequence showing the hermit’s daily life? The solitary, silent life of that hermit is hard to imagine, given today’s surrounding bridges and industry, but it still remains a very peaceful and meditative place.
The bridge is still a spectacular site and the story of its construction is fascinating. The river both helped and hindered the men given this daunting task. The huge sections of the span were floated downstream before being lifted into the sky, but the formidable tide and currents claimed a number of lives during the construction. I recommend watching, Bridging the Gap: How the Severn Bridge Was Built (BBC 4).
On one of my visits, I sat and did some drawing near a concrete WW2 pillbox that still stands guard looking out across the water.
I made this sketch, I wish I had taken my larger sketchbook, but found the setting interesting to draw. The tiny turbines on the Bristol side of the estuary combined with the Second Severn Crossing give a contrasting backdrop to the ruin.
This subject certainly requires more investigation (and more drawings...getting on the island would be great). Perhaps an illustration of what the church looked like and the hermit assisting the pilgrims visiting the island would be interesting? Or, a silent sequence showing the hermit’s daily life? The solitary, silent life of that hermit is hard to imagine, given today’s surrounding bridges and industry, but it still remains a very peaceful and meditative place.
