Without Lifting A Finger

The  Severn bore  is a  tidal bore  seen on the tidal reaches of the  River Severn  in south western England. It is formed when the rising tide moves into the funnel-shaped  Bristol Channel  and  Severn Estuary  and the surging water forces its way upstream in a series of waves, as far as  Gloucester  and beyond. The bore behaves differently in different stretches of the river; in the lower, wider parts it is more noticeable in the deep channels as a slight roller, while the water creeps across the sand and mudflats. In the narrower, upper reaches, the river occupies the whole area between its banks and the bore advances in a series of waves that move upstream. Near Gloucester, the advancing water overcomes two  weirs , and sometimes one in  Tewkesbury , before finally petering out. Bores are present on about 130 days in the year, concentrated on the days immediately following the  new  and  full ...

Another good "clip" from Sense of an Ending . And a mysterious night viewing of the Severn Bore. For the third time (promise it's the last): Sorry for the Kindle jumble. * I don’t want to give the impression that all I did at Bristol was work and see Veronica. But few other memories come back to me. One that does—one single, distinct event—was the night I witnessed the Severn Bore. The local paper used to print a timetable, indicating where best to catch it and when. But the first occasion I tried, the water didn’t seem to be obeying its instructions. Then, one evening at Minsterworth, a group of us waited on the riverbank until after midnight and were eventually rewarded. For an hour or two we observed the river flowing gently down to the sea as all good rivers do. The moon’s intermittent lighting was assisted by the occasional explorations of a few powerful torches. Then there was a whisper, and a craning of necks, and all thoughts of damp and cold vanished as t...