Cotswold People
A love affair with Sabrina ...
Above: Chris Witts. Picture by Mike Charity
Chris Witts is one of the foremost experts on the Severn which, stretching 220 miles, is Britain’s longest river. “My interest began at the age of 14,” he says. “My mum gave me a book about the Severn for my birthday. It whetted my appetite, and I decided that, when I left school, I wanted to work on the river.”
A month after he started, he was to witness the dreadful tragedy of October 1960, when five bargemen lost their lives at Sharpness. In thick fog, the barges Wastdale and the Arkendale collided and were swept by the current into the Severn Railway Bridge, part of which collapsed on top of them.
“Petrol they were carrying leaked into the river and caught fire,” says Chris. “We saw a great orange glow in the sky that was so fierce, it burnt off the fog. It was a terrible night, but it didn’t put me off the river one bit.”
Although Chris left to join the fire service, he was back on the grain barges in 1993, until they were taken out of service five years later.
Chris and his partner, Susan Jones, are Gloucester City Councillors.
Read about Chris's Cotswold life in the March issue of Cotswold Life, on sale now.
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