The Alney Island railway viaduct
Alney Island is an island in the River Severn near Gloucester. The Severn splits into two channels (known as East Channel and West Channel) at Upper Parting (the northernmost tip of Alney), and merges together again at Lower Parting to the south. The island is a strip of land in between the two channels, about 3.5 km long (roughly north-to-south) and 1.2 km wide at its widest (east-to-west).
Alney consists mostly of low lying farmland, and parts are sometimes subject to flooding when the Severn rises. Castle Meads electrical substation on Alney was turned off when the island was flooded during the Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods. As well as the mobile and static caravan park at Pool Meadow, there are 3 streets - Alney Terrace, Westend Parade and Westend Terrace - of houses (mostly) dating from between the 1820s and the 1890s. However, there are a handful of houses that date from the 1990's. There is also a number of historical (and now extinct) works that took place on the island. The two major ones being Lime Kilns and brick works.
Telford's historic Over Bridge links Alney to Over across the West Channel, and is now pedestrian use only. The A40 and A417 trunk roads cross the West Channel on modern road bridges onto Alney before crossing the East Channel to join Gloucester at the end of Westgate Street. Alney is also crossed by a railway line travelling west from Gloucester