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The
river Severn, Britain’s longest river, passes through some of our
most beautiful countryside, but it is the variety of scenery that makes
it so special. Beginning as a boggy spring on top of Plynlimon in mid
Wales, it falls approximately 1,500 feet in the first 12 miles. Over the
remaining 200 miles, the river descends imperceptibly to sea level. Shallow
and fast-flowing at first between mountains and hills, at Welshpool it
gets lost and begins coiling and uncoiling its slow progress out of Wales.
Escaping from Shropshire’s Ironbridge Gorge, the Severn recovers
its sense of direction and heads purposefully south towards the Bristol
Channel. Near Frampton-on-Severn, it widens dramatically, gradually surrendering
itself to the sea.
This book is the record of a journey in the opposite direction, following
the Severn from the M4 bridge over the estuary to the river’s source.
Every aspect of the changing scenery is captured in over 200 photographs.
The cathedral cities of Gloucester and Worcester, medieval Tewkesbury
and Shrewsbury, also Bridgnorth, Welshpool and Newtown are found in these
pages, together with all the smaller towns, villages and hamlets through
which the river flows. The text includes much of the local history and
a few events of national importance, as well as the author’s observations
as he progresses along this great river. |
