Jane’s Walk 2024 – Day 1
As Tom is now over eighty and I am reaching that age rapidly, we needed, once again, to find a walk that was reasonably flat with not too many hills to contend. with. Our driver Richard, born in Shropshire, suggested looking at the Severn Way. The Severn is the longest river in Britain, 215 miles long, and although a large part of it is in Wales and therefore hilly and thus out of the question, further south into Shropshire, it becomes a wide meandering waterway. We started our 2024 walk at Upper Arley, on the border of Shropshire and Worcestershire.
Upper Arley, like many of the towns in Shropshire, originated due to the mining for coal and stone quarrying since the Middle Ages. Much of the stone used for the building of Worcester Cathedral was transported down the river from here.
We start our walk by crossing the river on a metal pedestrian bridge, which replaced a 19th-century bridge in 2009. I am intrigued by thousands of padlocks attached to the latticed sides of the bridge all with personal love messages on them. Apparently, these are called “Love Locks” and are very popular. I have never come across them before. Very strange!
We travel along the east side of the river on a good path through the woodland at the end of the ancient Wyre Forest, thought to have been a vast forested area stretching back to Roman times and used as a royal hunting ground. We cross under the Victoria railway bridge built in 1861 and at that moment we had the thrill of seeing a beautifully restored steam passenger train cross the bridge with the iconic smell and sound of steam travel which brought back memories of childhood. The line is now used by the Severn Valley Steam Railway. The bridge was built by John Fowler, who designed much of the London Underground and his name is emblazoned on its side.
The river here is wide and slow-moving but can be subjected to flooding, and the path’s erosion in places is evidence of this. We chat to a charming man in his tiny cottage, which is off-grid. He pays £100 rent a year for the privilege and seems extremely happy with his lot.
We stop for lunch along the waterfront in the beautiful town of Bewdley, bustling with people on this bank holiday Monday. In the 18th century, Bewdley became an important trading centre for the Midlands, with cargo coming up from Bristol. Fine Georgian houses are found along the narrow medieval streets of the old town.
Another pleasant walk to Stourport past the local reservoir and a large park hosting a funfair for the bank holiday weekend. Stourport is another significant town built solely due to the construction of the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal, where it meets the Severn River. The town then became the busiest inland port in the Midlands apart from Birmingham. By 1780 it had rapidly expanded into a thriving manufacturing hub
