The Severn Bore
NOT SO BOREING!
'When the boar comes, the stream does not swell by degrees, as at other times, but rolls in with a head...foaming and roaring as though it were enraged by the opposition which it encounter' -Thomas Harrel 1824
THE Severn Bore is a large surge wave that can be seen in the estuary of the River Severn
There are 8 in the UK. The biggest bore in the World is not your office manager, it's the Ch'ient'ang'kian (Hang-chou-fe) in China. It can reach a height of up to (7.5 m) and a speed of 27 km/h. And unlike your manager it can be heard coming 22 km away.
The shape of the Severn estuary funnels the water into an increasingly narrow channel as the tide rises, thus forming the large wave.
There are a number of sites devoted to the Severn Bore and if you are thinking of going to see it you will find out all the details on them.
The Severn Bore Page
• www.severn-bore.co.uk
A very clearly laid out site. Everything you need to know about the bore is here. The webmaster, Russell Higgins, has gone to the trouble to calculate the full timetable every year using Arrowsmith's Severn Tide Tables booklet which is normally comes out in October. Accordingly all the times for this year are there together with a star rating system to tell you which are the best prospects. There are some interesting photos and even some Videos of the bore in avi and streamed realvideo.
Russell has even developed a free Windows application (See right) that you can download from his website. It displays the Severn Bore times, with accompanying map and place descriptions. A great site.
Bore Riders Club
• www.boreriders.com
Fabulous design and an interesting site. It's all about a small group of people that actually SURF the bore! An experience described thus ...
'A unique experience. There's nothing else in surfing quite like it - you're surfing in the middle of the English countryside, it's usually really quiet because the wave only breaks in the early morning or late evening, and it can be quite daunting listening to it approach - I've known people to get out of the water because it sounded so huge!' Former distance surfing record holder, Colin Wilson
Also included are bores in alaska, amazon and france.
Tom Wright is one of the main players on this site and he has some some more original severn bore info (myths and history et al) here.
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