Cross the road at the VW garage and follow the pavement around to your left. Head under the railway bridge and use the walkway on your right to cross to the other side. Once on the other side, head right. Follow the footpath along the dual carriageway until you reach the Westgate Leisure Area. Follow the footpath around and underneath the right hand Over Causeway (road). Take the footbridge in between the two roads and then turn left, walking beneath the left-hand Over Causeway (road). Turn right and follow the A417. What follows will be a walk of about a kilometre alongside the road.

Discover more... Check out our Alney Island wildlife guide to find out what creatures you could see on the walk! Click here to launch the wildlife guide

The Over Causeway route is a raised road over the Alney Island Nature Reserve and it gives you a good view over the countryside. This whole area was a series of gravel islands that were split by the River Severn. It was the lowest practicable crossing of the river which made it of strategic value for the Romans, who wanted to use the area as a staging post for their campaigns against the Silure tribe of South Wales. There is no evidence of any battles being fought in Gloucestershire because it's believed that the local tribe, the Dobunni, were allied to the Romans.

Thomas Telford's Over Bridge

Following the busy road around to the left you should reach a road bridge over the River Severn. As you cross it you should be able to see a 19th Century stone bridge to your left - this is the famous Over Bridge build by Thomas Telford. Follow the road and take the first path on the left after the road bridge, which should lead you up on to Over Bridge.

Over Bridge was built by the engineer Thomas Telford. It was begun in 1825 and was completed three years later. The River Severn divides into two smaller branches near Gloucester which made bridging easier. Over Bridge spans the West Channel. Until the Severn Bridge at Aust was opened in 1966, this was the lowest point at which the Severn could be crossed by bridge. Its single span was based on a 1768 design by French architect Jean-Rudolphe Perronet for the bridge over the River Seine at Neuilly, near Paris.

Cross Over Bridge to the other side and you're now on Alney Island. About a mile above Gloucester the River Severn divides into two smaller channels and these unite below the city, forming the parcel of land called Alney Island.

...Now you're on Alney Island, you'll see the River Severn to your side and you're ready to embark on the next stage of the walk.