Beautiful Bewdley on the banks of the River Severn
2nd September 2022
Bewdley is described as a “Georgian period town” sitting beautifully on the banks of the River Severn in the Wyre Forest of Worcestershire and in the very beating heart of central England. Here’s the opening paragraph from the official visitors website which I’ll link at the bottom of my own introductory paragraph:
“This attractive Georgian town sits directly upon the River Severn, an area with a rich agricultural and industrial history and a gateway to the Wyre Forest itself and the English–Welsh borderlands known as The Marches.
Retaining its unique charm with a wealth of listed buildings, at its heart is the much acclaimed Bewdley Museum where you can see local crafts people at work, adjacent to the wonderful Jubilee Gardens and Community Orchard”.
Four days ago I returned for the first time since the first and, until Friday, only time I’d visited this beautiful riverside town, and a day cloaked in birthday celebrations as I treated my then pre-teenage son to a highly recommended journey on the Severn Valley Railway, a volunteer run steam railway between nearby Bridgnorth and the equally near by Kidderminster. Bewdley sits roughly in the middle of the route of a “hop on/hop off” service that is brilliantly maintained, staffed by volunteers and with love and care in abundance. Sadly my budget of £0 couldn’t stretch to such an indulgence today but I did have a rather pleasing peak back into a long ago century as you’ll see shortly. From the station we’ll amble beside the river, say a brief hello to the town’s central church, a UK Prime Minister (highly topical at the time of writing as our island nation has now appointed a new Headmistress for our school of trickle down fuck you’s) before we end in the town’s quaint and celebratory “Jubilee Gardens”. The only omission from the day are images from the town’s open air museum and try as I might, I couldn’t and didn’t capture the essence of a very busy working museum.
As ever, a walkthrough follows of a dozen or so images designed to roll through as though you were there. I thereby hope you enjoy the pictorial stroll that follows and should your travelling feet direct you to the heart of central England anytime, I can heartily endorse a bag of chips beside the River Severn and Bewdley as a perfect stopping off point before heading off for adventures anew.
*All images captured by me on Friday 2nd September 2022*
Thanks for reading. My “Summer Project” has taken me to the waterways and many historical castle ruins as I’ve crisscrossed the border between England and Wales and my three most recently published travel articles are linked below:
