1. The tow path of the old Stroudwater canal is the start point, going left as you pass through a gate onto it from the pub car park. Follow this path for the first section of the walk, first crossing the quiet lane back to Saul, and continuing all the way to a ‘crossroads’ in the canal network, at Saul Junction.
2. This is the only crossroads of two independent canals in the country, with the old Stroudwater canal intersecting the Sharpness & Gloucester Ship Canal. It gave local farmers and traders access to markets in Gloucester, as well as Stroud.
3. At the junction, continue straight ahead over a footbridge past Junction Bridge House in front of you to follow the Stroudwater Canal for the next short section, to Walk Bridge. Note the volume of narrowboats in the marina to your right as you progress.
4. Turn right at the Bridge to join a lane in the direction of Frampton. These lanes were quiet when I visited, but not entirely traffic free, so take care.
5. As the road bends around to the left, a footpath sign on your right takes you into a field and guides you to the other side to a gate between the houses of Frampton.
6. Emerge from the field, and cross the road in the housing estate, slightly right, to follow Ann Wicks Road. On the left-hand pavement, carry on until number 47! There’s a lane to the side just past it, into a parking area, and then to the right a footpath gate takes you into Frampton United FC’s ground.
7. Ahead of you is the longest village green in England, with The Bell pub/hotel on the right. Continue past The Bell, the cricket pitch, village shop, past Top Shop House, and on until a footpath to the right-hand side of Manor Farm (note the magnificently restored 15^th Century wool storage barn in the farmyward).
8. This path leads over a short bridge before the path opens out. Your target is the field diagonally over to the right. The path through the field, shared with some disinterested horses, follows the brook until emerging onto the towpath of the Sharpness & Gloucester Canal.
9. Turn right towards the bridge. Cross over the bridge and stay left on the Arlingham/Fretherne Road. Just past a cottage a footpath signpost takes you left up a stony drive. This is the Severn Way.
10. You’re heading towards the River Severn now. I found this section to be characterised by poorly maintained stiles, and some route diversions, so take care. It’s a bit boggy under foot too, I imagine following particularly high tides on the Severn.
11. Emerge from a short section of woodland over the worst of the stiles to follow a fence/hedge line. There’s a sewerage works on the other side. I left the Severn Way to rise up to the river embankment on the left, a much better route to the boggy ground I was on. The online version of the OS Map suggests a deviation too.
12. Eventually coming to a drain, Hock Ditch, drop down to the right, before rejoining the embankment on the other side of the Ditch. Continue on the embankment until, after passing through a hedge, you turn immediately right along a field boundary; to emerge back onto Arlingham Road (we’re now further along the road from where we started, after the bridge. You could skip that River Severn section if I haven’t sold it to you in #10, #11 & #12!).
13. At the road, turn right until St Mary the Virgin Church. Cross over to follow the lane past the hamlet of Fretherne. Continue to pass houses and farms, passing what looks like an old schoolhouse, and as the road bends to the right, just past a tumbledown cottage hidden in the overgrown hedge, take the footpath into the field.
14. You’re heading in more or less a straight line from here back to the banks of the River Severn again. Follow the path through the first field to a gate into the next field. You’ll see a wooden fence and kiss gate on the other side of this second field, that’s your target.
15. The footpath shares access with some cottages here. Walk through their wonderful willow arch to emerge onto the lane in front of the Severn.
16. The route follows this lane to the right, and soon bends to the right, with a left-hand turn running off it. Take the left-hand turn.
17. This lane passes houses either side and eventually leads up to a driveway into a lovely looking old house. The footpath is to the left of the gate, through a beech hedge. Once through this, you’ll soon be presented with multiple path options, at a stile/gate combination. Go left through the gate.
18. Nearly there now. Back along the banks of the River Severn, follow until you pass St Peter’s Church. Continue to follow the lane past Forest View Cottage where it bears right onto Canal Row. Look for the canal towpath on the right-hand side.
19. The Stroudwater Canal is overgrown here and blocked off now from the River Severn. Follow the towpath back to The Ship. I heard Willow Warblers, Cetti’s Warblers and Greenfinches here.

Notes

In the late 18th century, canals were the superhighways of their day, transforming how goods moved around Britain during the Industrial Revolution.

Opened in 1779, the Stroudwater Canal was built to connect the thriving woollen mills of Stroud with the River Severn. This link allowed locally produced cloth — including the area’s famous scarlet fabric — to reach wider national and international markets. In return, raw materials such as coal, timber and grain could be brought inland to support both industry and daily life.

Upper Framilode sat at a crucial junction where canal met tidal river.

Framilode Lock & Basin

The entrance to the Stroudwater Canal from the River Severn at Framilode was located near the mouth of the River Frome, which had long been a haven for trading vessels. 

Initially, there was just a lock that could be used by vessels around the time of high tide on most days. The Basin was added later.

To the east of the basin was a warehouse to the north and a house for the lock-keeper near the bridge. Near the river was a row of three cottages owned by the Stroudwater Company.

Framilode Lock

Vessels passed in and out of the lock around the time of high tide when the level of the river was high enough and there was no strong current in the river.

The lock keeper was expected to be on duty at those times to help the vessels in and out. When there were particularly low neap tides, loaded vessels could not pass, but someone still needed to be on duty in case of an emergency in the river.

The lock is now derelict at the end of a private garden.

Framilode Basin

The basin was built in the 1790s, partly paid for by the Thames & Severn Canal Co, to provide space for vessels bringing Newport coal to transship into local barges that could carry up to Brimscombe and beyond. Additionally, a warehouse was constructed beside the basin for storing dry cargo, although it appears that little such traffic developed.

The image shows the barge Irene waiting for the lock keeper to open the gates when the tide in the river reached the right level. She appears to be carrying a cargo of grain loaded at Sharpness for delivery to the mill at Lower Framilode, half a mile downriver.

Since 1954, this basin has been filled in, and the area has been converted into a private garden.

Before the arrival of the railways, waterways like the Stroudwater Navigation offered a reliable, efficient way to transport heavy cargo across long distances.

Source: Stroudwater History

The best pub walks are meant to be shared.

If you’ve followed this route, found a better path, got lost, uncovered a standout pint somewhere else, or simply have a story to tell, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

This site is as much about shared discoveries as it is about the walks themselves.