This was a  very large, impressive looking multifaceted festival celebrating the Thames Estuary and it landscapes and cultures. It has now ended but lots of great info and images and links are on the website. Link to Programme here.

Here is a map of the festival locations. The links are not live!!

Sea Empress Tide Edition

SEA EMPRESS is a publication produced in association with the ‘Sea Empress’ Project hosted by the Reading Room in Manorbier, Pembrokeshire. This is edition one of a series including Tide, Deep Time, Animism and Memory.

This is being organised by Water City Bristol and Bristol Lovs Tides?

A celebration of the tides in Bristol – set between a low and high tide at a great location. The Lamplighers Pub, Shirehampton.

We can’t quite claim to have invented this idea because it is mentioned here.

But it is a rare and noble variation of Pooh Sticks (which we thought of too) which we think should be developed.

We played it with people of Bristol as part of

We were throwing sticks of the famous Banana Bridge over the Avon New Cut, to get people to see just how fast the tide was flowing – and which way!! Ebbing?? Flooding??

Now a variation of tidal pooh sticks we want to develop is a longer version of the game. But we have still to test this. If one picks one’s moment – using, of course, a tide timetable, one could throw a stick into the river , watch it float with the tide under the bridge as usual, but do this soon before the turn of the tide, and then maybe in a while it will float back the other way!

The day went very well – thank to all the FrANC team, Water City Bristol Team and Hugh of My Future My Choice. Pics to follow

Hi –  Water City Bristol / Hydrocitizenship project is supporting FrANC in this event on Sunday Oct 2nd

Please come along – no ticket needed

It’s dark –  as filmed at night  – its just to capture this tradition of local people gathering at high tide

Film on our film page – here

Big Guardian Feature Article on the Thames Estuary and its charms – here

Book image is link to more info.

Tides are a “mysterious physical phenomena.”

There is something “rather curious and unaddressed about our understanding of the tides.”

Quotes from this Guardian Book Interview with the author by Patrick Barkham