I have seen several Severn Bores at Minsterworth and Stonebench, well worth the trip! To see the river change direction after the bore, and the smell of the saltwater, 30 miles from the sea, is something to behold..
I have often considered the story of the River Severn, and as Paul states its original course was North to the Dee estuary. During the Ice Age, the ice prevented the river from flowing freely. A large inland lake formed which is understood to be called Lake Lapworth. The land to the south is believed to have eroded and the present route of the Severn was formed. Just alongside the present A518 road is a a lake called Aquelate Mere. It is believed to be the remnants of Lake Lapworth and is the largest natural inland lake in the English Midlands.
As a child, under 5 years, my mother and I spent some time in Minsterworth where we lived with her sister, my aunt, and her husband. At the bottom of the garden was a bank beyond which flowed the river. I well remember watching the tidal bore. This was eighty years ago, but I have wonderful memories of the months spent in Minsterworth, the River Severn, and surrounding countryside
Another really interesting history video Paul. Shrewsbury has always been prone to flooding, but your discovery of the underwater river adds a new dimension to the reasons. I'm looking forward to see where you will be taking us next week.
I really love your storytelling, Paul! This was another lovely episode, also in the edit. (Maybe even more than, I think, last weeks.) And as you keep reminding the viewers that you are not a historian: you may not be, but you are a storyteller, and a fantastic one. You are a storyteller of history, so a history storyteller - or historyteller, if you will. :D
Those caves in Stourport are known locally as "The Red Rocks" or "Redstone Rocks", they can be accessed via a lane just off Hermitage Way, which is a road. As children, we used to climb up those rocks to sit at the highest point, called the "Devil's Chair".
Where the hermits lived makes you wonder how their dwelling looked like, as you see those holes in the walls. This was very interresting mr. Whitewick!
I saw your photo on Instagram and thought you had gone to Stockport with Martin Zero!! A very enjoyable walk you unearthed so many interesting stories. A trip to the source would be very interesting. Good luck from Spain!!
paul, as a Shrewsbury resident, i loved this, there's loads of stuff in north to mid shropshire you'd like, i think, not really somewhere often seen either, but yeah good work on this, was a nice surprise for me
I used to work for Severn Trent Water and one of the guys I used to work with (Dave) had been with the water company since the water board days. He said that they need to dredge the rivers more often like what they used to do years ago, but now the Environment Agency are restricting how often dredging can be done, and we're seeing more cases of flooding. Dave told me that the wildlife used to manage fine with the old dredging routines, in his opinion at least.
Dredging is a false economy at riparian scale, merely displacing a problem caused not by riverbank maintenance but the erosion of soils in the upper reaches reducing the retention of rainfall. Here at the Severn Vyrnwy confluence it is the commercial forestry and farming practices in upland Powys that result in the overtopping in the Llanymynech and Melverley area. Local mechanical intervention (dredging) provides instant gratification for the excavator operator, but does little more than accelerate the flow so the flooding occurs downstream.
Flooding isn't a new phenomena, and as Dan says dredging just moves the problem downstream faster. Not building on the flood plain is a very good idea, but I think we have around 1 million houses built precisely there. I lived near Shrewsbury for 2.5 years from 1980 and it flooded, mainly because the town is almost completely surrounded by the Severn.
Really enjoyed this one. I think your narrative and delivery get better as you go on. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in to publishing these videos. It really is appreciated.
@@pwhitewick i just realised, i might be able to see lights from the west country on a good clear night, but i didn't notice your two names under my nose! Llol.. (that's welsh for lol) 😉 🙂 looking forward to watching your many videos
I am from stourport on severn, the shaft in the cave is 1 of 2 they were chimneys. It was great play ground as a kid growing up on Redstone Lane. Great video.
2:39 spot the Aussie surfer on the right ;-) Lovely energetic video Paul. I've canoed from the first navigable part of the river down to Shrewsbury, and yes, there is a lot of history and geology going on along its length.
Great video Paul with very interesting information and history of the River Severn. Love that cave area. Thank you for sharing and all the best with your future content.
Great video. I've got wonderful memories of taking A-level Geography students, when I used to teach the subject at Kingston College, to various points along the River Severn, which included Atcham, just to the east of Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury itself, and also to Ironbridge Gorge.
Great to see part of Stourport's history unearthed! If you didn't know Stourport-On-Severn is one of the unique towns that only existed because of the canal - being a confluence of the River Severn and the River Stour. It's a fascinating history, thanks for showing just a small part of it Paul - the sandstone hermitage, like many other people, was part of my childhood. Keep up the good work!
I grew up near to where Duck Brook meets the River Severn in Worcester (1990s). Where the brook meets the river, the river was really shallow and we as kids/teens used to refer to this as 'the beach' and it was one of our playgrounds much to the horror of our parents! Also next to here are the foundations of 'Withybed Cottage', where they used to weave the withy/willows which grow here. A cross-country oil pipeline also crosses the Severn just south of here. You can still find the odd musket ball from the Civil War and Battle of Worcester here. A little further up is the 'sand dunes', this was a dumping site from what was dredged from the river and it really was like being in sand dunes by the sea, these are now mainly overgrown with many species only found here other than beside the coast and riddled with rabbit warrens. Just in the river is Diglis Island, I was friends with the lock keepers son and on the island is an old WW2 pillbox, as part of many of the understated war defences. This can be found on the HER. Interestingly, the area called Diglis comes from the old Norman French D'eglise (of the Church) due to its' proximity just south of Worcester Cathedral.
Really interesting, I lived at Kidderminster for a short while many years ago, and used to go fishing in the Severn. It is a deep and powerfull river, always looking brown, never very clear. I had been looking for a you tube series all about the different British rivers, tracing their course, history, and geographical features, so if you do a series like that, just like you have done in this film , I think it would certainly get many interested viewers.
Dear Paul and Rebecca, Thanks very much for the superb video as is now usual from you two. We live on the Napanee river at the East end of Lake Ontario, Canada and near the river mouth onto Lake Ontario there is periodically something similar to a tidal bore but because it on a lake rather than sea it is called a site. Maximum height is about 4"+ and it typically happens about once every couple of years when a high wind from the West end of the lake raises the water level sufficiently at this, the East end coupled with the moon and sun being in the best gravitational positions. Thanks and best wishes, Niall leslie.
Interesting stories about The Severn, thanks. The flooding can be epic and I watched it rise about 4' in 30 minutes walking along in Gloucester once. Leaves you with a healthy terror of living near or swimming in a river. Then I moved to Canada and our local river is far less terrifying
I have never seen the Severn Bore but I have seen The Trent Aegir, a similar "tidal wave" that occurs about 2 hours before high tide here in Gainsborough, providing the tide is big enough and the river level "fresh" downstream flow is low enough. The size of the Aegir is dependent on the interaction of these two variables. The largest one I ever saw, the second-largest ever at the time some 15 to 20 years ago. Which was big enough to splash water into Lidl's car park, as it hit a jutting out bit of the flood wall. More on topic, I have seen the Stourport caves but only from a distance. I was actually born in Shrewsbury, or in an old army hospital in a village called Copthorne just outside Shrewsbury. Also glad to hear you pronounce Shrewsbury the way that we "locals" do. Although apparently, the "Shrows" pronunciation is the ancient one. Incidentally, if you ever decide to do a series of videos about the Tidal Trent, I would love to meet up. 🙂
When I was a kid (60s-70s) the BBC used the “Shrowsbury” pronunciation. I’ve always said it that way. As an aside, Kegworth a small village Near East Midlands Airport was always pronounced “Keg’uth”. The “village” has been considerably developed so now everyone ways “Keg-Wurth”.
@@Dave5843-d9m Yes like I said Shrowsbury is the ancient pronunciation, but people from that Area of Shropshire always use the Shrew version, at least they did 50 years ago, oh wow, now I feel old! In fact, old-timers including my grandfather used soosbury.
I grew up near Shrewsbury and only recently moved out a few years ago. In my experience, the locals still say Shroosbury (or Shroosbry) for the most part, with southerners mainly saying the other way. My understanding of the linguistics is that both pronunciations are common shifts from the old English name, so both are correct really, but Shrohsbury always sounded odd to my ear. Copthorne is fully absorbed by Shrewsbury now, it is more of a district than a distinct village. A few fragments of the old Copthorne hospital are still in use across the road from the modern hospital, but most of it got bulldozed for housing. They were still doing some surgery in those old buildings 15 years ago! Copthorne barracks has been closed down too.
I lived for a short while on the the Severn in Gloucester when I had a pub there in 2004. We had over grown boat jetties that we couldn't even get down too. Lol
I wish there was a channel's like yours for Australia.. There's heaps of weird stuff under everyone's feet, but the old schematics are better protected than most people are even aware of..
Great video. The Elan Valley feed to Birmingham is worth a look at as it is gravity worked from Wales to Birmingham. A fascinating journey. I remember the Hampton Loade ferry working. Wish I had taken some photos.
Absolutely fascinating documentary. Thoroughly enjoyed that. You must have a memory like an encyclopaedia Paul. What a research you have done. So thank you.
Trevithick's Catch Me Who Can was built on the banks of the Severn in Bridgnorth, although I'm not sure if there's any remains of the foundry to film. Still, with its heritage steam railway, cliffside hermitage, funicular railway and abandoned railway tunnel perhaps you could catch a thing or two that Martin Zero didn't!
Especially liked the shots taken inside the caves at Stourport-on-Severn and the story about Layamon.. (I live just above them and access has been railed off for some years now) Also, your storytelling skills are excellent Paul, intriguing, interesting, and always about the subject. A very pleasant change to listening to most 'You Tube' wafflers. Thank you.
You were in my home town! I used to play in the Redstone Caves, long before they fenced it off. I could have shown you the point at Lickhill Manor where there used to be a Ford. I used to swim there as a teenager and could walk across with the water level at chest height.
Great video. Although I'm sometimes less interested in the subject matter, I'm always won-over by your very engaging style of presentation. The maps are also very helpful.
This is a great video and some really interesting stories, especially as someone who lives so close to the Severn and walks it's banks frequently. Thanks Paul
The caves featured on a BBC program of britains holiest places. That would be a good series of videos to do as there’s loads around the country but no video series…you are just the man!
Great video today can tell you really enjoy learning about the history of an area, and a change in direction. River Upper River Avon also has a lot of history to.
It was nice to see Bewdley mentioned with the Aqueduct supplying Drinking Water to Birmingham, however you forgot the Severn Valley Railway and the disused line from Bewdley towards Cleobury through the Wyre Forest where you can still see the viaduct supports and the Dowels Brook and abandoned Watermill.
I am surprised that you have not included Black Rock Hotel and Railway/Jetty/Ferry crossing on the lower Severn. It is located on both the Welsh Portskewett Gwent (Hotel on Welsh side, now a picnic site) and English side between the old and new Severn road bridges. I am enjoying your series on all the location Thank You
If you enjoy tidal bores, the daily ones in the Bay of Fundy in Canada would be a real thrill & the resulting effects on the shoreline are quite beautiful.
Brilliant Paul nice to see you in the shire.The ferry at Lower Lode just south of Tewkesbury is far as l know still operating. Yes the river Severn full of loads of interesting places too see. Living in Gloucester you go up respecting the Severn.
I live in Shrewsbury, and I hadn't heard of Poplar Island! But I was aware of the old route of the Severn which floods pretty much every time there's a flood warning on the Severn. And I didn't know there was another river underneath the town, either.
Before the weirs were built in the 1800's the Severn was tidal above Bridgnorth, maybe as far as Shrewsbury. The Diglis locks at Worcester allowed larger vessels to come up river and until around the 1960s tanker vessels carried fuel to a depot on the southern edge of the city. One foggy night two barges collided and struck and destroyed one of the rail bridges near Gloucester. There were actually two fuel depots, the larger commercial one and also a government site fed by pipeline. There were many cross river ferries, about six in/near Worcester. Some interesting notes by H W "Bill" Gwillam about the ferries can be found.
Hi Paul, You missed Cromwells Hole at Arley. The story is, a cart laden with explosives rolled down the hill into the Severn at Arley and blew up, this created a cavernous hole in the river, apparentley fishermen say is so deep that there is never enough line on thier reels to reach the bottom (most spools hold 100yds of line!!!)
I remember the Hampton Loade ferry from 2014. It was included in my satnav and part of the route it calculated coming from the south to Hampton Loade railway station and camping site on the western bank of the river. So far, so good, but it was in the evening and the ferry had closed for the day. And there would have been another problem: I was travelling with a 6 ton motor home...
If there's a tide at Upton On Severn then they're in big trouble! The Tewkesbury weir is normally the limit to any tide. Whilst fishing by the M50 overbridge, I have observed a very small wave (a foot or so) that had breached the weir but that was when the tidal section was full to overflowing. My caravan, south of Tewkesbury, was marooned on an constructed island in a massive lake!
it sounded like you may have researched one thing and found out that it was a simple aqueduct instead of something else, you weren’t able to reach it and it might be off limits but it’s still an interesting diversion
Amazing video.. Thank you! BTW there's a tidal bore on the Dee too, it runs all the way in to Chester if you're ever in the area.... "The Dee Bore may be seen at the old road bridge at Queensferry about two hours before High Water Liverpool (HWL). It arrives at the Saltney Ferry footbridge about one and a half hours before HWL and then takes a further half-hour to arrive, somewhat reduced, at Chester."
one note of interest, you could travel from Newtown in Powys and the river Severn to river Dee in North Wales at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct -Trevor, via the Montgomery canal and the Llangollen branch of the shropshire union canal. This is the industrial revolutions answer that bridged the gap and makes Wales (and some bits of England) not a Peninsula but a island!!!
Vastly better presenter than some of the faux naive and hyper types on TV - a properly good watch
I have seen several Severn Bores at Minsterworth and Stonebench, well worth the trip! To see the river change direction after the bore, and the smell of the saltwater, 30 miles from the sea, is something to behold..
A really interesting video with the many historic references. The use of OS maps on screen really adds to the tale.
I have often considered the story of the River Severn, and as Paul states its original course was North to the Dee estuary. During the Ice Age, the ice prevented the river from flowing freely. A large inland lake formed which is understood to be called Lake Lapworth. The land to the south is believed to have eroded and the present route of the Severn was formed. Just alongside the present A518 road is a a lake called Aquelate Mere. It is believed to be the remnants of Lake Lapworth and is the largest natural inland lake in the English Midlands.
Said it before, you bring history alive. Brilliant and so interesting to watch. You almost teach us to look beyond what we see in front of us.
As a child, under 5 years, my mother and I spent some time in Minsterworth where we lived with her sister, my aunt, and her husband. At the bottom of the garden was a bank beyond which flowed the river. I well remember watching the tidal bore. This was eighty years ago, but I have wonderful memories of the months spent in Minsterworth, the River Severn, and surrounding countryside
Interesting pronounciation of Malvern, Paul. ;) Worcester boy here, good to learn some history that I didn't know about the river.
Another really interesting history video Paul. Shrewsbury has always been prone to flooding, but your discovery of the underwater river adds a new dimension to the reasons. I'm looking forward to see where you will be taking us next week.
I really love your storytelling, Paul! This was another lovely episode, also in the edit. (Maybe even more than, I think, last weeks.) And as you keep reminding the viewers that you are not a historian: you may not be, but you are a storyteller, and a fantastic one. You are a storyteller of history, so a history storyteller - or historyteller, if you will. :D
Those caves in Stourport are known locally as "The Red Rocks" or "Redstone Rocks", they can be accessed via a lane just off Hermitage Way, which is a road. As children, we used to climb up those rocks to sit at the highest point, called the "Devil's Chair".
Where the hermits lived makes you wonder how their dwelling looked like, as you see those holes in the walls.
This was very interresting mr. Whitewick!
I saw your photo on Instagram and thought you had gone to Stockport with Martin Zero!! A very enjoyable walk you unearthed so many interesting stories. A trip to the source would be very interesting. Good luck from Spain!!
best bit of Sunday nights!
paul, as a Shrewsbury resident, i loved this, there's loads of stuff in north to mid shropshire you'd like, i think, not really somewhere often seen either, but yeah good work on this, was a nice surprise for me
I used to work for Severn Trent Water and one of the guys I used to work with (Dave) had been with the water company since the water board days. He said that they need to dredge the rivers more often like what they used to do years ago, but now the Environment Agency are restricting how often dredging can be done, and we're seeing more cases of flooding.
Dave told me that the wildlife used to manage fine with the old dredging routines, in his opinion at least.
Dredging is a false economy at riparian scale, merely displacing a problem caused not by riverbank maintenance but the erosion of soils in the upper reaches reducing the retention of rainfall. Here at the Severn Vyrnwy confluence it is the commercial forestry and farming practices in upland Powys that result in the overtopping in the Llanymynech and Melverley area.
Local mechanical intervention (dredging) provides instant gratification for the excavator operator, but does little more than accelerate the flow so the flooding occurs downstream.
Richard, totally agree, living near the Severn dredging will sort the flooding out and this is what flood plains are but not to be built on!
@@danwiddon3854 So says a questionable academic who has probably never got his boots dirty.
Flooding isn't a new phenomena, and as Dan says dredging just moves the problem downstream faster. Not building on the flood plain is a very good idea, but I think we have around 1 million houses built precisely there. I lived near Shrewsbury for 2.5 years from 1980 and it flooded, mainly because the town is almost completely surrounded by the Severn.
@@hairyairey i used to live on severn side south in bewdley. and live in stourport.
Brilliant as always Paul!
Hi Paul. Cracking good video with lots of tantalising tales, facts and history. Well done!
Really enjoyed this one. I think your narrative and delivery get better as you go on. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in to publishing these videos. It really is appreciated.
Thanks Tom, very kind.
thankyou so much Paul.. i live in Cardiff, can see flat holm and steep holm and the bristol channel from my bedroom.. really interesting 🙂 x
Not a bad view David!
@@pwhitewick ..sorry i didn't know there was Rebecca as well, thankyou both,
keep up the good work 🙂
@@davidevans3227 nay problem. Rebecca dips in and out and helps with quite a few bits.
@@pwhitewick i just realised, i might be able to see lights from the west country on a good clear night, but i didn't notice your two names under my nose! Llol.. (that's welsh for lol) 😉 🙂
looking forward to watching your many videos
Another interesting video. Always look forward to watching your wanderings.
I am from stourport on severn, the shaft in the cave is 1 of 2 they were chimneys. It was great play ground as a kid growing up on Redstone Lane. Great video.
2:39 spot the Aussie surfer on the right ;-) Lovely energetic video Paul. I've canoed from the first navigable part of the river down to Shrewsbury, and yes, there is a lot of history and geology going on along its length.
Great video Paul with very interesting information and history of the River Severn. Love that cave area. Thank you for sharing and all the best with your future content.
Great video. I've got wonderful memories of taking A-level Geography students, when I used to teach the subject at Kingston College, to various points along the River Severn, which included Atcham, just to the east of Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury itself, and also to Ironbridge Gorge.
Great to see part of Stourport's history unearthed!
If you didn't know Stourport-On-Severn is one of the unique towns that only existed because of the canal - being a confluence of the River Severn and the River Stour. It's a fascinating history, thanks for showing just a small part of it Paul - the sandstone hermitage, like many other people, was part of my childhood. Keep up the good work!
Great video, full of great stories and facts! Must have taken a lot of time to research!
Great to see you in Shropshire and my part of the world. Not seen the full video yet...but waiting to see if Bridgnorth gets a mention 😊
I grew up near to where Duck Brook meets the River Severn in Worcester (1990s). Where the brook meets the river, the river was really shallow and we as kids/teens used to refer to this as 'the beach' and it was one of our playgrounds much to the horror of our parents! Also next to here are the foundations of 'Withybed Cottage', where they used to weave the withy/willows which grow here. A cross-country oil pipeline also crosses the Severn just south of here. You can still find the odd musket ball from the Civil War and Battle of Worcester here.
A little further up is the 'sand dunes', this was a dumping site from what was dredged from the river and it really was like being in sand dunes by the sea, these are now mainly overgrown with many species only found here other than beside the coast and riddled with rabbit warrens.
Just in the river is Diglis Island, I was friends with the lock keepers son and on the island is an old WW2 pillbox, as part of many of the understated war defences. This can be found on the HER. Interestingly, the area called Diglis comes from the old Norman French D'eglise (of the Church) due to its' proximity just south of Worcester Cathedral.
Hi Paul this was one of your best for interest, knowing the area as a person who enjoys the SVR thank you and more on the area please
enjoy Sunday night videos please keep them coming!
I love the OS maps you refer to in these videos. They are so detailed.
Terrific content as always Paul with a lot of research going into it. I have to wonder why you guys are not on BBC2?!
Thanks Simon, very kind.
I saw a tv programme about old railways and I thought paul and his wife could do that on tv
Paul is far more entertaining than anyone on the BBC. Why lose him to those losers 🤔😁👍
You have a point there!
Probably has something to do with integrity xD
As a local, the Elan valley is a super interesting piece of engineering.
Coming Soon!!
Some interesting history along the River Severn, those caves looked a little cosy and a lovely follow on from the Severn Estuary, brilliant video.
Loved that thanks Paul. Been lots of changes. Enjoyed every second thanks so much. Please stay safe and take care
Really interesting, I lived at Kidderminster for a short while many years ago, and used to go fishing in the Severn. It is a deep and powerfull river, always looking brown, never very clear.
I had been looking for a you tube series all about the different British rivers, tracing their course, history, and geographical features, so if you do a series like that, just like you have done in this film , I think it would certainly get many interested viewers.
Working on the Thames as we speak
Dear Paul and Rebecca,
Thanks very much for the superb video as is now usual from you two.
We live on the Napanee river at the East end of Lake Ontario, Canada and near the river mouth onto Lake Ontario there is periodically something similar to a tidal bore but because it on a lake rather than sea it is called a site. Maximum height is about 4"+ and it typically happens about once every couple of years when a high wind from the West end of the lake raises the water level sufficiently at this, the East end coupled with the moon and sun being in the best gravitational positions.
Thanks and best wishes,
Niall leslie.
Fascinating! Especially that aqueduct, thanks for that, Paul
This is a fascinating video! Really enjoyed watching and I'll look forward to seeing a video on that underground canal.
Interesting stories about The Severn, thanks. The flooding can be epic and I watched it rise about 4' in 30 minutes walking along in Gloucester once. Leaves you with a healthy terror of living near or swimming in a river. Then I moved to Canada and our local river is far less terrifying
I have never seen the Severn Bore but I have seen The Trent Aegir, a similar "tidal wave" that occurs about 2 hours before high tide here in Gainsborough, providing the tide is big enough and the river level "fresh" downstream flow is low enough. The size of the Aegir is dependent on the interaction of these two variables. The largest one I ever saw, the second-largest ever at the time some 15 to 20 years ago. Which was big enough to splash water into Lidl's car park, as it hit a jutting out bit of the flood wall.
More on topic, I have seen the Stourport caves but only from a distance. I was actually born in Shrewsbury, or in an old army hospital in a village called Copthorne just outside Shrewsbury.
Also glad to hear you pronounce Shrewsbury the way that we "locals" do. Although apparently, the "Shrows" pronunciation is the ancient one.
Incidentally, if you ever decide to do a series of videos about the Tidal Trent, I would love to meet up. 🙂
When I was a kid (60s-70s) the BBC used the “Shrowsbury” pronunciation. I’ve always said it that way.
As an aside, Kegworth a small village Near East Midlands Airport was always pronounced “Keg’uth”. The “village” has been considerably developed so now everyone ways “Keg-Wurth”.
The Aegir on the River Trent is apparently named after a Viking maritime god. It is also believed in connection of King Canute and the tide.
@@TheMicksterdee Yes I've heard that too, it's a story well played on here in Gainsborough, there is even a pub called The Canute.
@@Dave5843-d9m Yes like I said Shrowsbury is the ancient pronunciation, but people from that Area of Shropshire always use the Shrew version, at least they did 50 years ago, oh wow, now I feel old! In fact, old-timers including my grandfather used soosbury.
I grew up near Shrewsbury and only recently moved out a few years ago. In my experience, the locals still say Shroosbury (or Shroosbry) for the most part, with southerners mainly saying the other way. My understanding of the linguistics is that both pronunciations are common shifts from the old English name, so both are correct really, but Shrohsbury always sounded odd to my ear.
Copthorne is fully absorbed by Shrewsbury now, it is more of a district than a distinct village. A few fragments of the old Copthorne hospital are still in use across the road from the modern hospital, but most of it got bulldozed for housing. They were still doing some surgery in those old buildings 15 years ago! Copthorne barracks has been closed down too.
It’s comforting to know I’m not alone in my interests - wish I knew you two! Superb channel discovered accidentally - subscribed.
I have a passion for history and hidden tunnels. A very interesting video. Well done.
I lived for a short while on the the Severn in Gloucester when I had a pub there in 2004. We had over grown boat jetties that we couldn't even get down too. Lol
Wonderful video , i never cease's to amaze me the wealth of subject and history you uncover.
I wish there was a channel's like yours for Australia.. There's heaps of weird stuff under everyone's feet, but the old schematics are better protected than most people are even aware of..
Go for it!
Yes really enjoyed that walk along the seven it’s amazing what’s under your feet
Your content is getting better and better.
The Severn has to be one of he most fascinating rivers in the world nice interesting content thanks for posting 👍👍
Great video. The Elan Valley feed to Birmingham is worth a look at as it is gravity worked from Wales to Birmingham. A fascinating journey. I remember the Hampton Loade ferry working. Wish I had taken some photos.
Also the Arley cable ferry which was killed off by a less attractive and romantic footbridge.
Watching from NSW Australia. Originally from Stafford Midlands and Weymouth Dorset.
Very much enjoy the digging around that you
Another excellent presentation - thank you.
Absolutely fascinating documentary. Thoroughly enjoyed that. You must have a memory like an encyclopaedia Paul. What a research you have done. So thank you.
Thanks Shirley, very kind. Easy when you enjoy it!
Trevithick's Catch Me Who Can was built on the banks of the Severn in Bridgnorth, although I'm not sure if there's any remains of the foundry to film. Still, with its heritage steam railway, cliffside hermitage, funicular railway and abandoned railway tunnel perhaps you could catch a thing or two that Martin Zero didn't!
Especially liked the shots taken inside the caves at Stourport-on-Severn and the story about Layamon..
(I live just above them and access has been railed off for some years now)
Also, your storytelling skills are excellent Paul, intriguing, interesting, and always about the subject.
A very pleasant change to listening to most 'You Tube' wafflers. Thank you.
You were in my home town! I used to play in the Redstone Caves, long before they fenced it off.
I could have shown you the point at Lickhill Manor where there used to be a Ford. I used to swim there as a teenager and could walk across with the water level at chest height.
What a great new channel I've found!
Great video. Although I'm sometimes less interested in the subject matter, I'm always won-over by your very engaging style of presentation. The maps are also very helpful.
This is a great video and some really interesting stories, especially as someone who lives so close to the Severn and walks it's banks frequently. Thanks Paul
The caves featured on a BBC program of britains holiest places. That would be a good series of videos to do as there’s loads around the country but no video series…you are just the man!
Nice video, thanks. The fish weir cut at Shrewsbury is called a Bylet, there are lots of them on the Severn
One in Bridgnorth as well
hi paul and rebecca , great video again , loved the caves , well done and thank you 😊
Great video today can tell you really enjoy learning about the history of an area, and a change in direction. River Upper River Avon also has a lot of history to.
Fascinating Paul, thank you. More please!
Thanks Paul very enjoyable video and very informative.
It was nice to see Bewdley mentioned with the Aqueduct supplying Drinking Water to Birmingham, however you forgot the Severn Valley Railway and the disused line from Bewdley towards Cleobury through the Wyre Forest where you can still see the viaduct supports and the Dowels Brook and abandoned Watermill.
There was a heck of a lot that we could have mentioned. Keep your eyes out for more videos!
Great as always Paul.
Amazing, very interesting indeed, looking forward to future bit n bobs of the Severn.
Paul. I love your videos. Just rewatching this and I came to grumble about your pronunciation of Malvern. But it appears I already did! Hahaha
Ooooops
Fascinating stuff Paul!
I am surprised that you have not included Black Rock Hotel and Railway/Jetty/Ferry crossing on the lower Severn. It is located on both the Welsh Portskewett Gwent (Hotel on Welsh side, now a picnic site) and English side between the old and new Severn road bridges. I am enjoying your series on all the location Thank You
Nicely done Paul. I know the area and as many stories. Tidy!
Exceptional... keep up the good work please...
really enjoyed that Paul , watching from Chevron Island Surfers Paradise QLD Australia ,
If you enjoy tidal bores, the daily ones in the Bay of Fundy in Canada would be a real thrill & the resulting effects on the shoreline are quite beautiful.
Brilliant Paul nice to see you in the shire.The ferry at Lower Lode just south of Tewkesbury is far as l know still operating. Yes the river Severn full of loads of interesting places too see. Living in Gloucester you go up respecting the Severn.
Enjoyed this video and the fascinating facts about the Severn. :)
We used to play in the caves in Stourport when I was a kid growing up. Was our playground!
I can see why
Love your countryside. Beautiful land right there
I live in Shrewsbury, and I hadn't heard of Poplar Island! But I was aware of the old route of the Severn which floods pretty much every time there's a flood warning on the Severn. And I didn't know there was another river underneath the town, either.
Poplar island is the fields just north of Frankwell carpark, so there isn't a lot there to see normally.
@@TheHaighus i've been there - it's a nice walk - but never noticed, but then I wasn't looking for it
Fascinating! Thanks, Paul!
Excellent mate. Much appreciated
Before the weirs were built in the 1800's the Severn was tidal above Bridgnorth, maybe as far as Shrewsbury. The Diglis locks at Worcester allowed larger vessels to come up river and until around the 1960s tanker vessels carried fuel to a depot on the southern edge of the city. One foggy night two barges collided and struck and destroyed one of the rail bridges near Gloucester. There were actually two fuel depots, the larger commercial one and also a government site fed by pipeline.
There were many cross river ferries, about six in/near Worcester. Some interesting notes by H W "Bill" Gwillam about the ferries can be found.
Yet another fascinating video
Superb social history again and very well told.
Lovely episode, thanks for the stories x
Hi Paul, You missed Cromwells Hole at Arley. The story is, a cart laden with explosives rolled down the hill into the Severn at Arley and blew up, this created a cavernous hole in the river, apparentley fishermen say is so deep that there is never enough line on thier reels to reach the bottom (most spools hold 100yds of line!!!)
No that would have definitely made the cut!
Awesome vid mate and you are literally just down the road from me
Cheeeeeers
Great video as usual, lots of interesting stuff squeezed into 20 minutes! Cant help feeling something (someone) is missing?
Someone has been taking a while to recover from Covid
@@pwhitewick wish he well, I've been seeing more and more people having extended time off work with it and my son's still not 100% after over 2 years!
@@pwhitewick Sorry to hear that I hope she is back to 100% soon.
@@pwhitewick hugs from gainsborough. hope to see Rebecca back on screen soon.
Get well soon Rebecca your cheerful partnership is missed 👍🏻
I remember the Hampton Loade ferry from 2014. It was included in my satnav and part of the route it calculated coming from the south to Hampton Loade railway station and camping site on the western bank of the river. So far, so good, but it was in the evening and the ferry had closed for the day. And there would have been another problem: I was travelling with a 6 ton motor home...
If there's a tide at Upton On Severn then they're in big trouble! The Tewkesbury weir is normally the limit to any tide. Whilst fishing by the M50 overbridge, I have observed a very small wave (a foot or so) that had breached the weir but that was when the tidal section was full to overflowing. My caravan, south of Tewkesbury, was marooned on an constructed island in a massive lake!
it sounded like you may have researched one thing and found out that it was a simple aqueduct instead of something else, you weren’t able to reach it and it might be off limits but it’s still an interesting diversion
Brilliant, thank you.
The Hermit's Caves look a great place to do some light painting.
Amazing. Many thanks. Can't believe you don't have more subs.
Thanks Dene.
Amazing video.. Thank you! BTW there's a tidal bore on the Dee too, it runs all the way in to Chester if you're ever in the area.... "The Dee Bore may be seen at the old road bridge at Queensferry about two hours before High Water Liverpool (HWL). It arrives at the Saltney Ferry footbridge about one and a half hours before HWL and then takes a further half-hour to arrive, somewhat reduced, at Chester."
We didn’t know all that! Thanks barb
Great vid, as always. Hereford and Gloucester Canal next Paul? Most skew bridge in the UK must lure you in...
Interesting great talk of the severn
Thanks Kenneth
one note of interest, you could travel from Newtown in Powys and the river Severn to river Dee in North Wales at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct -Trevor, via the Montgomery canal and the Llangollen branch of the shropshire union canal. This is the industrial revolutions answer that bridged the gap and makes Wales (and some bits of England) not a Peninsula but a island!!!