If you ever wanted to see the strength of the Severn Flow as the tide turns watch this time-lapse from yesterday morning.
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That’s just after the high tide ‘slack water’. The flow is even greater about an hour after this, as the water dumped by the tide upstream of the Aust narrows runs back out, in addition to the river flow, which is quite high at this time of year. I’m old enough to remember the ferry crossing here, and that could be quite exiting at times, with the boats moving sideways as much as forwards and great skill employed to find slack water to make any sort of progress in.
Spent a fine, and flat calm, summer evening with the camera a few years ago on the M48 bridge, and would reccommend it to anyone in the area with time to spare. Easiest approach is from the Aust Services Car Park but the public footpath and cycleway can be accessed from either end of the Severn/Wye bridge section. The bridge bounces about quite a bit with heavy lorries crossing, and I’m told is unpleasantly lively on foot or by bicycle if it’s windy, and it’s usually pretty windy! I’ve certainly had some ‘interesting’ crossings by car. The views are spectacular, though!
Being old enough to remember the ferry (and the Severn Tunnel rail ferry) means I also remember the original Aust services, closed when the second crossing opened and replaced by a much more modest and utilitarian setup that is distincly bleak in poor weather; it’s still an important long-distance coach interchange hub though. The original services were far more grandiose, and featured a restaurant with a massive picture window for the view over the (then new) bridge with the Gwent hills and the Forest of Dean as a backdrop…
I suppose you could fly from the footpath on the bridge in suitable weather. The best TOAL spots are probably the middle, where the main suspension cable is at it’s lowest, or the towers; the pathway runs outside of these and there is therfore clear space on one side.
Doable by bus from Cardiff (I haven’t got a car), so I’ll keep an eye out for suitable weather and clear conditions; summer is most likely. The towers rise to 445’ above mean sea level, so it should be possible to fly higher than their tops from the pathway within the CAA’s 400’ limit. The associated cable stay Wye Bridge is worth filming as well, along with St Twrog’s chapel on it’s little island off Beachley Point. It would make a good full day out!
On the previous trip, my then girlfriend Emma, who has Aspergers and a bit of a thing for bridges, left her camera behind on the bridge. I phoned the control room for her since she was in a bit of a state about it, and they said they’d send someone out to look for it, which tbh I thought (but didn’t say) would be the last we heard of it, but no; couple days later, camera through the post ‘with our compliments and best wishes’ and a goody bag of Severn Bridge merchandising, which absolutely delighted her. So I’ve got a lot of time for the old bridge and the people running it!
But, yeah, the tidal flow is awesome.
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Thank you for the insight 
Glad you enjoyed it 