MOST people who live in Bewdley or Stourport will know how important the river has been over the centuries for transporting various types of goods. This, and industrial activity upstream, will have taken its toll. The first ‘law’ in England was Edward the Confessor’s Edict on Rivers in 1085 which declared that navigation should be the paramount interest on the King’s Royal Rivers, including the Severn: “If mills, fisheries or any other works are constructed to their hindrance, let these works be destroyed, the waters repaired and the forfeit to the King not forgotten.
” We know that the state of our river improved enormously after the demise of heavy industry and commercial barge traffic. It filled with water weeds and all the creatures, such as spawning fish and what they eat, did very well. Until now when, apparently, all the water weed has gone! Given that other forms of life depend on it, the loss is serious.
Alongside all the other things we have to worry about, focusing on the state of our river may seem a bit of a luxury. Every time we go out, we see the water still passing under Bewdley or Stourport bridges as it has done for centuries. Have we come to take it for granted? We want to bathe, paddle and row safely in our river, catch fish and enjoy the spectacle of the swans, geese, ducks, dragonflies and sand martins as people have done for decades.
If lucky, you could see the fish, even the elusive river lamprey, a species that has suckers and a row of shar.