Our visitors a couple of weeks ago came to view the mighty Severn bore. We assembled with many others to watch this great local phenomenon at the Newnham Severn bore viewpoint.

At the designated time there was a ripple on the river. I thought that this was a brief preview of a greater bore to come, with canoes, body surfers and surfboards. But we were very disappointed. The river filled up very quickly, but this seemed tidal rather that bore related. We hung around for a while, thinking that this ripple was a precursor to a proper Severn bore, roaring down the river and flooding the area with canoes, body surfers and canoes. But that was it. This bore was really just that ripple. Apparently estimates of the height of the bore are just estimates, and can be affected by other environmental or meteorological influences. We apologised to our visitors that the bore was so feeble, and that there were no 3-foot waves (even though it wasn’t our fault).

The bore was very disappointing, but you can’t ask for your money back.

Richard Hayman, in his authoritative book ‘Severn’ describes some interesting features and events associated with Severn bores in the past, when the bore seems to have been much more exciting and powerful. The 18-19th bore riders seem to have had a much more interesting time than today’s surfers.

It was reckoned that the bore at Over in earlier centuries could reach 8-9 feet in height, which makes the ripple of 19th March 2025 on the Severn this year seem very feeble. In the early 19th century a horse rider was unable to keep up with the water flow, and it had been estimated that the bore was flowing at 20 miles per hour.

This stretch of the Severn was always a real challenge to bore surfers. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the railway companies would put on special trains for visitors to bore sites on both banks of the Severn. In the days of the Newnham ferry the boat capsized in view of many people in Arlingham and Newnham.

Richard Hayman makes a point when he refers to the ’Bristol Channel’ as the ‘Severn Sea’ in his extensively researched historical volume. The River Severn was the most important feature of the Severn estuary area, and was known as the Severn Sea, stretching up to the Mumbles, Lundy Island and Ilfracombe until Bristol naval traders renamed it in the 17th Century. The bore ran out of stream before it reached this part of the river estuary.