TTL, generally speaking , with high fresh water levels the lower river works well and with low fresh water levels the upper reaches work well. with medium fresh levels the whole river can work very well. none of this is guaranteed........

The way I like to think of it is this:
Some breaks work at a particular stage of the tide, right?
 
So..ok, to equate it to the way things work on the coast, try this.
The level of freshwater = state of the tide at a regular break
The bore = incoming swell.
 
Now if you look at all those big sandbanks in the lower, wider areas, clearly it would be ideal for them to be covered by just the right amount of water BEFORE our swell arivves, so that they can act like a nice little bank a short way offshore, forcing the swell up....
 
and so on.

Another big drop in the river overnight,and it's back to a fairly normal level, which is not what I expected, because there are still large pools of standing water in some fields near the river.

Best I can say on that one is that it always makes sense in hindsight.

Looked much lower at Hempstedt yesterday than last tides - some prominent sand banks along the side

Well, going from what I saw on the last set, I reckon the Mile will work even if the river is at the same level. It so nearly did the good thing on the peak tide, and this one is bigger, with (currently) more favourable river conditions. If you look closely at the river topography around Sharpness, the relatively small-seeming increase in tide from last set to this actually represents a heck of a lot more water..20 cm extra depth is a lot wider, as well as deeper.
 
Could be the stuff of legend.
 
Here's hoping.

Heavy sleet here, with lots of water on the roads. The river has risen a little just in the last couple of hours!
But it's still early days.

Quote from kidderlidder on Feb 22^nd, 2010, 9:34am:

 
Now that is really decisive!