'The priest climbed wearily up the large hill mound through the dim morning fog. His limp frail body hung heavy on the crook under his arm. But, the pain was a distant sensation. He was anticipating a truly magestic day, provided all the calculations agreed. The old wooden bridge was damp and slowly being engulfed by thick forest ivy. Sitting on the far side at the door to the observatory was the priest's apprentice, Cawyn. The boy had observed the bright moon through the night as it weaved its path through the celestial bodies...'
Everyone knows that the moon determines the tides, as we experience large springs around new and full moon. But, with the advent of complex computer harmonic-forcasting and tide tables, our understanding stops here. The information is given to us and there is no need to explain it.
For the bore surfer the relationship is also important as the tidal bore is a product of the tides. An understanding of how the tides vary over time results in a knowledge of when the largest bores will occur in the future. So there is the desire to delve deeper.
The more you think about the Severn Bore - of how it links with the moon, and the sun, and the rolling Atlantic, and nature that man has not yet managed to change, tame or ruin, then the more dramatic it seems.
Michael Englel of The Guardian on the Severn Bore