aids in the channel and for the provision of pilots. Pilotage up the river is compulsory (except for exemption holders) for all vessels over 30 metres length overall. Between 1939 and 1966, the demasted sailing ship Vindicatrix was moored in the Old Dock as a training hulk for the Merchant Navy. Seafarers' welfare charity Apostleship of the Sea, which provides practical and pastoral support to seafarers, has a port chaplain who covers Sharpness. Railway links The port remains connected to the main Gloucester to Bristol railway line with its junction at the site of the former Berkeley Road railway station. The line is rarely used (if ever) although a steam special visited the line in April 2007, making two journeys from Gloucester. The locomotive (The Lancashire Fusilier) ran round its train using the loop at Sharpness. From the branch line, protected by locked gates, rails remain in situ around the docks and are linked to the line from Berkeley Road, however the condition of the track makes it look unlikely that any of them are usable. In popular culture The final episode of the third series of teenage drama Skins was filmed on location in Sharpness. References External links Time-lapse videos of changing tides BBC archive film of Sharpness from 1978 Ports and harbours of Gloucestershire Villages in Gloucestershire Populated places on the River Severn Stroud District