How was your Bank Holiday weekend?

Mine was fantastic, and it even spilled over into Tuesday evening.

One of the nicest things about the weekend was standing at the edge of the river Severn at Elmore watching the river in the half light, that perfect time just after the sun has set and just before darkness has descended. In the soporific light, the stillness of the air and strong smells of summer, it is easy to see why our ancestors created stories about Fairies, Nymphs and other spiritual phenomena to explain the world around them.

I was just stood waiting, looking down stream, straining my eyes....waiting for the arrival of a curious act of nature. It was late by my watch and then after about 15 minutes and several cliches about how "time and tide wait for no man" from my guide, the very amazing "Severn Bore" arrived.

The solitary wave or bore affects the lower tidal reaches of the the Severn estuary. At certain tide/weather combinations, the rising water is funneled up the estuary into a wave that travels rapidly upstream against the natural dowstream flow of the river. The bore starts near Awre and ends near Gloucester, about 25 miles.

I was lucky enough to share the experience with one of the Severns' most renowned custodians, Natasha - she invited me to partake in the local custom of 'Bore Chasing'. This remarkable activity reminded me of that classic '80's show, Treasure Hunt where Anneka Rice along with her wobbly bottom, choppered around the UK looking for clues to find treasure. We were also against the clock tearing down the lanes of the Gloucester countryside, trying to catch a glimpse of the single wave as it made its way up river. In all, we saw the Bore 5 times from Arlingham up to Elmore (I am told this is a pretty good number!) and it was very nearly dark when we finished.

The Bore is ranked for its height, a 1 Star (which we witnessed) is about a 2 ft or so and a 5 star can go up to 9ft, this of course brings out the nutters or more politely the Severn Bore enthusiasts, who attempt to surf along the wave. I believe the longest ever surf record is held by a local Gloucester man who rode the wave in 2006 for 1hr and 17 minutes! (Times article here). There were 4 or 5 surfers trying to catch the wave while we watched but as it was only a grade 1, they didn't last for long.

I think it is great to know that we can find serenity, excitement, wonder and enlightenment (insert other flowery adjectives here at will!) in the most unusual and often simplest of places. Nature most often extends us these moments and we can usually find all these things at once and for free. You could pay a fortune in therapies to help you achieve these feelings, but on that balmy early summers evening on the river bank they were in abundance.

I like good myth or a legend, and I spent much of last year travelling through Nordic countries that are steeped in Sagas and ancient profound folklore and found that each story provided a real richness to the local environment. Whilst watching the bore, I remembered a story my Father told me 25 years or so ago - the name Severn (English) or Hafron (Welsh) is derived from the name Sabrina (Latin) and this is the name of the girl who was drowned in Celtic times in the river by the jealous daughter of the King of Cornwall, she is now etched in history as the Nymph of the Severn.

There was a moment just before the bore arrived at Elmore, a precognition that something unusual was about to happen, a chill ran down my spine - you knew this place, this experience, this Bore was unique - you could imagine how a thousand years ago the locals would have treated the wonder with reverence and believed that the Bore was Sabrina speaking to them.

I wonder if the politicians lobbying for the Severn Barage have ever seen the Bore or understand what the tide means for so much of the ecology in this area. The barrage I'm sure would spell the end of the Bore.