Did you know that a whale swam up the river to Shrewsbury in 1673 and a dolphin back in 1748? Or that the stretch between Buildwas and Bewdley was the busiest part of the River Severn in the mid-18th century with the local coal? Well we know a man that does!
Clive Gwilt has just published his 25th book “The Port of Bridgnorth” which chronicles the history of the Severn from 896 up to February this year, when the river level peaked at 5.19m.
Clive told us, “A lot of locals kept asking me about the floods and lockdown gave me the ideal time to research. The highest flood in living memory was actually in 1947, when the level rose to 6.02m above normal datum level. But the more I explored the more fascinating facts I uncovered!”
You can read more about the history of our rivers in the book available for £3, email clive.gwilt@sky.com
