Upper Lode Lock

Many thanks to The Canal and River Trust for facilitating this camera's location and capitally funding its installation. The lock and weir were built in 1858, the lock being designed to allow the simultaneous working through of a tug and its train of barges, which might explain the strange shape of the chamber. The river is tidal up to this point, but only when the level at Sharpness is 7.8 metres or more at times of spring tides. On the River Severn, the word "lode" means a ford. See also Lower Lode, Saxon Lode, and Wainlode. Old River Severn, Upper Lode is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notifiedin 1985. It is a cross county border site between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It is on the west side of the Severn to Severn Ham, Tewkesbury SSSI. The Severn at this site is an old meander which was cut off from the main flow of the river when Upper Lode lock was built. It is a relatively quiet backwater which joins the Severn at the south end. The meander now supports a diverse range of habitats as a result of the seclusion. These in turn support a variety of plant life and there are at least six nationally rare species. The channel has silted up at the furthest part from the main river. Where spoil has been dumped historically in the channel the area has become rough grassland. Habitats are open water, marginal mud, inland saltmarsh, willow carr, neutral grassland, scrub and woodland. The main river controls the level of the water which fluctuates as the Severn is a tidal river.