LISTEN TO THE LYON – WESTBURY-ON-SEVERN OPENS UP

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March 2020

I was a bit disappointed at the lack of new Forest of Dean entries in the new GBG; a man who is scared of Cinderford is a man who’s actually been there.

Westbury-on-Severn is close, but it still feels like a dormitory village for Gloucester.

Westbury
All the colours on display

The floods hitting the northerly Severn towns seem to have spared Westbury, though it was too muddy to walk the half mile down to the Severn to measure the height of the river for you.

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Not the actual Pope’s garden
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Too muddy even for me

Not a lot to say about a village of 1,792, but the Dutch water garden at Westbury Court is a gem, based on my view through the fence.

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What is it with the Dutch and water ?
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One day I’ll find a National Trust property open

Oddly the church steeple has escaped from the church.

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You don’t get this level of commentary on ecclesiastical architecture in BRAPA

Dutch garden, church steeple, pub. All villages should have all of those. And a Chinese takeaway.

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Rare blue pub
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“Boris of Westbury”

The dining room on the left is covered in fresh daffodils, and I commend the Landlady for making the Lyon so welcoming.

The beer range is tight too, but I have to squint through the San Miguel to see the weird blue one is Wye Valley Hop, which I feel compelled to go for as it’s not Cotswolds homebrew, which we know all about, don’t we ?

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Gleaming pumps

There’s a couple of gentlefolk noshing pie on one table, four serious looking ladies discussing “livestock” and “proxy measures” on the other, and the obligatory “bloke at the bar“, so I grab the table where I can see them all.

The Landlady apologies for serving mash instead of chips and says she’ll cook some chips especially.

“Oh no, don’t worry, no problem, I’m fine“.

Hope she doesn’t complain about the chips on TripAdvisor.

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Good effort on the lacings

The Hop is hoppy and cool (NBSS 3), there’s a sense of village business being contracted, whether farming or car washing, and the early daffs signal the start of Spring.

But how much longer will we able to enjoy these simple pleasures ?

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

11 thoughts on “LISTEN TO THE LYON – WESTBURY-ON-SEVERN OPENS UP”

  3. One effect of the swollen rivers Severn, Wye, Taff etc. has been to wash huge amounts of woodland driftwood downriver and into the Bristol Channel. The recent storms have beached this, and today Mrs. E and I were agape, at the mountains of this piled up along the shoreline as we went for our walk – it really was a spectacle – never seen anything quite like it here before.

    What happens if a ship gets a metre thick sycamore tree trunk stuck in its screw, I wonder?

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