LadyEllen
Posts: 10931
Joined: 6/30/2006
From: Stourport-England
Status: offline
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History? Lots of it in the area I live, taking in the three towns that being less than a mile apart now, should really be a city but for the folks in Worcester who wouldnt like it because then we'd be bigger than them in their precious city!
Bewdley (from French beau lieu) was a large town for its size in the earliest times, and famous for making hats apparently. Situated at a fording point on the River Severn (largest river in Great Britain) that was also the old border between England and Wales, it received one of Telford's famous bridges in the 18th century and was an inland port for centuries, handling goods coming to/from Bristol and to/from central Wales. On the old English side (the Welsh border is now 30 miles further west) is Catchems End, a small area of the town which was formerly where the "catchems" apparently used to wait for English criminals fleeing to freedom in Wales across the river. Once out of England, they were free from justice, so the catchems (soldiers and mobs basically) would try to catch them before they did, in return for bounty. Bewdley was held for the King in the civil war but didnt see a lot of action aside from skirmishes with Parliament troops from nearby Kidderminster, in response to which a chain was strung up across the main street to stop cavalry and they also blockaded the river and ford. To the west of Bewdley and just bordering the town is the Wyre Forest, which holds the largest remaining stand of original English oak woodlands.
Kidderminster (Anglo Saxon Cydela's Monastre - Cydela apparently being the founder of a long lost monastry) was a small village when Bewdley was in its heyday, but now the situation is reversed with Kidderminster (having grown enormously from the industrial revolution through to the middle of the 20th century on the carpet industry) being the largest, and Bewdley (being bypassed as a port due to the Severn becoming unnavigable and the building of the canal through Kidderminster to Stourport), being now the smallest of the three towns. Famous sons of Kidderminster include Richard Baxter - a prominent cleric in the civil war, now buried in London, and Roland Hill, the founder of the penny post, the world's first proper postal service. Kidderminster also has the largest parish church of any town in England - not quite a cathedral, but its big! During the first civil war, Kidderminster had a small garrison of Parliament troops though not much happened there until the last battle of the civil war (the battle of Worcester 1651) when fleeing Royalist troops streamed back north through Kidderminster and being mostly Scots and not realising its sentiments on the matter, were promptly beaten and captured in droves. The first carpet factories were established in the late 18th century, corresponding with the start of the industrial revolution and the building of the canal network which linked Kidderminster to Birmingham and the rest of the country and which ran to meet the River Severn at Stourport, from where the river remained navigable to Bristol and so linked Kidderminster to the world. The town grew enormously, with more and more carpet factories opening, benefitting from the ideal waters of the River Stour which runs through the town, until 9 out of 10 inhabitants worked in them - a situation which endured until the 70s when decline set into the industry as it did to all manufacturing in England. Still though, Kidderminster is famed for carpet production even now and the first company established here (Brintons) provides carpet worldwide - many US hotels are fitted with carpet from here! Kidderminster last hit the headlines when we elected an independent as our member of parliament in the last two elections, support for him having been galvanised by the closure of the area's hospital in favour of one for Worcester.
Stourport is the youngest of the three towns, having been founded as a town out of the small villages that had stood there when the canal from Birmingham was joined to the River Severn there. It was a thriving port for a long time, handling goods to/from Bristol and the world and the manufactured goods coming from Birmingham and Kidderminster. The growth of the railways slowed things, but Stourport was still important until the second world war as an inland port. Since then however, the barges that operated on the canal and into the river have disappeared as commercial vessels. By the 70s, the canal was a forgotten relic and Stouport in decline, but then the holiday industry moved in. Stourport is now a terminus for barging holidays and has a thriving leisure marina and also coincidentally developed at the same time as an inland seaside resort for daytrippers from the Birmingham area - its a little like a tiny version of Blackpool in the middle of the countryside!
Our area also boasts the longest steam railway in England, running from the modern railway station at Kidderminster all the way up the valley of the Severn to Bridgnorth. The cuts to the railway network in the 50s and 60s had left this branch line redundant (and many more besides) until in the 70s it was restored by volunteer enthusiasts (including my granddad and uncle) along with engines and rolling stock and it now provides a major tourist attraction. We also have the West Midlands Safari Park, situated between Kidderminster and Bewdley, which has wildlife from all over the world running free within compounds rather than in cages. And just outside Kidderminster, a relic from the Tudor religious persecutions is Harvington Hall, which has more priest holes (hiding places for catholic priests) than any other house in England.
Now you know how great this area is...... please dont come in droves!? Its bad enough on public holidays already!
E
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In a test against the leading brand, 9 out of 10 participants couldnt tell the difference. Dumbasses.
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RE: What history do you know of the town or the city wh... - 
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