Navigating the Upper Severn

Historical Profiles: NarrowBoat, Autumn 2024

Andy Tidy

Andy Tidy looks at how trade on Britain’s longest river once continued from Stourport up to Shrewsbury

I always feel that Spry is an underappreciated exhibit and, from its raised viewing platform, you can examine it in great detail, getting a feel for how these river craft used to look. It is frustrating that we have so few photographs of these distinctive river craft and this is an issue of timing. The commercial traffic above Stourport concluded in the late 1800s when photography was still in its infancy, and the few images that have survived tend to capture water craft as incidental features in wider landscapes. However, we do have a handful of images taken during the dying years of trade, plus a few close-ups of trow hulls converted for use as river ferries, and a selection of etchings and engravings which predate photography. The problem with these etchings is that it is unclear exactly how much artistic licence has been employed, but, taken as a whole, they probably offer a reasonable insight into how the various upriver wharfs and boats looked. These days the Severn above Stou…