By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett
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| Ironbridge |
I was asked to look after a holiday group from Kent who were having a short break holiday in the Midlands. I was delighted, as this was a great opportunity to show them some of the most interesting landmarks and developments of the Industrial Revolution in Central England.
Staying in a hotel close to the River Severn in the canal town of Stourport, we started our study of the area looking at the development of the canal system which revolutionised transport from the mid 18th century. Stourport was developed approximately 250 years ago as an inland port where the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal joined the River Severn. As such Stourport was a pioneer town of the canal age and is the only town in the country to have been built as a result of a canal.
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| Steam train on the Severn Valley Railway |
We travelled on to Kidderminster to enjoy a scenic journey on a steam hauled train along the Severn Valley Heritage Railway. Railways were to transform Britain in the 19th century. They were originally developed to move raw materials and finished goods to and from the factories in Victorian times. They greatly expanded the economy and stimulated the iron and steel industry. Railways opened up a new world of travel for everyone.
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The River Severn as seen from the
Iron Bridge |
The highlight of the group holiday was a visit to the World Heritage site of Ironbridge. We drove alongside the picturesque gorge, which, back in the 18th century the scenery would have looked very different. It would have been scarred by heavy industry; blast furnaces were producing iron, factories were involved in the manufacture of bricks, tiles and ceramics and the coal, clay and ironstone mines were lining the banks of the gorge. Forges would have been belching forth smoke and the noise of machinery would have filled the air. Now, a very different view presented itself to us, nature has reclaimed the gorge, the industrial buildings had disappeared, and the wooded banks of the river Severn looked lush and green. A visit to the Ironbridge Gorge museum was necessary to show us what it was like back in the 18th and 19th centuries. This was fascinating, a model of the gorge showed us all the industrial sites. More models, photographs, explanations and a video helped to recreate the time of Ironbridge's heyday in Victorian times.
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| Ironbridge - A World Heritage Site |
We moved on to continue our tour and went to the historic iron bridge to take photographs, walk across it and to visit the Toll House at the far end of the bridge.
This was the first iron bridge in the world, built in 1777-1779 by Abraham Darby III. It was intended to demonstrate the expertise of the ironmasters of the area and it was a spectacular success. This was cutting edge technology of its time, and artists and engineers came from all over the world to see it. Even today it's impressive.
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| A Street Scene at Blist Hill Museum |
We continued to Blist Hill Museum, where they've recreated a Victorian town and where you can experience the sites, sounds and even smells of a bygone era. We exchanged some of our money into £.s.d, and were able to shop using old money again. I bought some yeasty smelling freshly baked bread rolls from the bakers, whilst others bought traditionally cooked fish and chips for their lunch.
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| Taking a ride at Blist Hill Museum |
We experienced all sorts of activities. We travelled on the mine railway into a clay mine, we went up the incline and travelled along the streets on a horse and cart. We had a guided tour around a blast furnace.
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| A Squatters Cottage, Blist Hill Museum |
We explored various cottages and even saw and looked around a Squatter's cottage, which had to be built in a day and have a lighted fire in the hearth with smoke rising up through the chimney in order for it to be allowed to stay in situ and the Squatter and his family have permanent residence.
The group had a very enjoyable time and the holiday exceeded all expectations.
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