The Gloucester Harbour Trustees are the

competent harbour authority Competent harbour authorities (CHA) in the United Kingdom are those harbour authorities that have been given statutory powers relating to the provision of pilotage in their waters. The description was created by the Pilotage Act 1987, at which poi ...

(CHA) for the tidal part of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

from the

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

weirs (

Llanthony Llanthony (, cy, Llanddewi Nant Honddu ) is a village in the community of Crucorney on the northern edge of Monmouthshire, South East Wales, United Kingdom. Location Llanthony is located in the Vale of Ewyas, a deep and long valley with ...

and

Maisemore Maisemore is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A417 road 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Gloucester, on the west bank of the River Severn. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 488, reducing ...

) down to seaward of the

Second Severn Crossing or cy, Pont Tywysog Cymru, label=none, italic=unset , carries = M4 motorway (6 lanes) , crosses = River Severn , locale = South West England / South East Wales , maint = National Highways , architect ...

, on the Welsh side of the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...

(north of Denny Island) from the Second Severn Crossing as far as

Goldcliff Goldcliff ( cy, Allteuryn) is a village, parish and community to the south east of the city of Newport in South Wales. It lies within the Newport city boundaries in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Admi ...

, and on the

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...

up to its tidal limit ( Bigsweir).

History

Pilotage of vessels in the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary was overseen by Bristol until 1861, when Cardiff, Newport and Gloucester took concerted action because of the increase in the trades using the ports of Cardiff, Newport and Gloucester and petitioned Parliament to press for the passing of the Bristol Channel Pilotage Act 1861. This gave the ports the independence they sought. Pilotage commissioners were constituted for these ports with powers to license pilots for the non-compulsory pilotage of ships in the Bristol Channel and River Severn bound for these ports, each port having a defined area of jurisdiction. After a new dock was built in

Sharpness Sharpness ( ) is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream ( typical sp ...

in 1874 that was capable of handling larger vessels, the number of ships visiting the Gloucester docks declined and the custom house was moved to Sharpness. The Sharpness Lighthouse Authority was set up in 1888 to provide aids to navigation throughout the harbour area so that ships could enter the port both by day and night. The following year this became the Gloucester Harbour Authority which, as well as being responsible for lights in the estuary, were tasked with controlling navigation there. Gloucester Harbour Authority later evolved into the Gloucester Harbour Trustees, which later relocated to Sharpness; it is responsible for all pilotage in the estuary. The trustees also established moorings at Northwick Oaze south of

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...

and created a deeper channel so that larger vessels could reach Sharpness more easily.

Responsibilities

The trustees have responsibilities for navigational safety in that part of the estuary, and maintain a number of navigation aids (beacons, buoys and lighthouses), and a special 'Pilotwatch Radar' with portable sets for use by pilots. They also arrange the provision of

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

s which are compulsory for most commercial shipping and other vessels over 30m

LOA ( ), also called loa or loi, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerat ...

in the GHT area. The main commercial traffic within the GHT area is to the port of

, and some sand dredging. The harbour, which has one of the world's highest tidal ranges, includes both the present road crossings and two riverside nuclear sites (one at Oldbury decommissioning, one at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

decommissioning). The trustees were originally constituted in 1890 and initially comprised some 22 trustees. Today the board consists of 10 members, who are appointed in line with the principles of the ‘Guide to Good Governance’ drawn up as part of the DETR’s Review of Trust Ports and in accordance with the provisions of the Gloucester Harbour Revision (Constitution) Order 2002 (which also sets out the boundaries of the Gloucester Harbour). The Gloucester Harbour Trustees, as competent harbour authority for this part of the river, have issued safety guidance for surfers, canoeists, small craft and river bank users in relation to the Severn bore, a phenomenon of the Severn Estuary and lower parts of the river under certain tidal conditions.

The Gloucester Harbour Trustees area

The Gloucester Harbour Trustees area, especially above Sharpness, includes many areas of interest to environmentalists. These include extensive mud flats and grassland areas on which migrating and resident birds feed and include a number of

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. The estuary experiences one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world and a

Severn Barrage The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary (and Bristol Channel) have existed since the 19t ...

is often under discussion to harness the energy generated by the tide.

References

External links

GHT website
{{authority control Transport in Gloucester Competent harbour authorities Ports and harbours of Gloucestershire River Severn Organisations based in Gloucestershire