Chepstowe River - The Other Side
Greetings roadies!
Recently we took a trip out to Portland to search for the "Chepstowe River". The Spanish River (more popularly know as Chepstowe because of its location) runs through the community of Chepstow(e), Portland. This was an interesting journey and we actually made quite a few stops on the day.
Our journey began entering Portland and getting to Buff Bay, taking a turn on the Spring Garden main road. Our first stop of the day was in a small community called 'Skibo'. It was very interesting to note that driving through Spring Garden and up to Skibo, you will clearly notice that the water level in the (Spanish) river is very low. It's crazy to think that this once roaring river has been reduced to mostly a river bed. The portion of the Spanish River than ran through Skibo was no different; the water levels were almost non-existent except for one pool of water that didn't look so inviting.
Moving on, we made our way to the Chepstowe community. Crazy story, there was this lady we met at a shop who asked us where we were going. When we told her we were going to the river, I will never forget, she said "don't go in the river because the spirits don't like strangers." Now personally, I believe spirits & "otherwordly beings" so when I heard that I got a little nervous. Apparently this river is a place where people have drowned, so I was very cautious that day. We made our way through the community and we were told by locals that our marker was the Chepstowe Basic School. There was a makeshift parking close by, so we parked and took a 10 minute hike up to the top of the river.
It's interesting to note that there is another fall in Chepstowe (which is more popular online) that is called Big Dun Falls (Check it out on ->> naturessweetescapes.com). We swore this is where we were going, but we were pleasantly surprised by what we found at the spot we went to.
The water/riverbed at Chepstowe is extremely clear! You can literally see every grain of stone and every pebble. I'm not sure what causes this, but that in addition to the temperature and depth of the water makes it the perfect place for friends to hang out. We splished and splashed for about 2 or 3 hours, completely alone. There was nobody else in the area we went to, which was a plus (and no deep water to worry about, thank the Lord).
By the time we left, it was around 2PM, so we took a drive out to the community of Swift River to a spot that's called 'Chelsea'. This spot is veryyyy deep, so we didn't do much there. It was another fun day of downdiroad journeys, and these community rivers were all free. If you are heading out to any of them, please ensure you have fun, be safe, and keep it clean! Don't forget to stop and support your local jelly man!
Until the next time. Bless up!
- Duane
Chepstowe Photo Gallery
