Leg ten of our 206 mile collaborative walk from the estuary of the River Severn up to it’s source has been completed!
If you would like to keep up to date with the teams progress then visit here.
Leg 10 – Stourport, Treasure Island to Severn Valley Country Park
Well done to Pete, our Waterways Apprentice, for completing the 10th stretch of the team’s Severn Way walk.
Pete had a few words from his walk –
‘This leg of the Severn Way walk started in the town of Stourport. With it being a weekend and fine weather, the riverside walk was very busy with people enjoying picnics, ice-cream and doughnuts. Walking upstream on the eastern bank for the first mile or so there were many caravan and chalet parks. This is clearly a popular destination, and will no doubt be benefitting from many people being forced to take “Stay-cations” this year. As we made our way upstream towards the town of Bewdley I recognised a site where I worked a few days previous with some corporate volunteers from Severn Trent Water. This was Blackstone Riverside Park. The site was on the opposite bank, but the Severn Way took us over and through the Blackstone that the site is named after.
There was a very noticeable change in the river here. The Severn where I do most of my work with volunteers is deep with very little disturbance on the surface. As we get closer to Bewdley, the river shallowed, with a more rocky, gravelly substrate causing riffles. It made me think of the work our project is undertaking, and that the river here would be a preferred area for the twaite shad to come and spawn, once our last fish pass is complete! Once in the town of Bewdley I couldn’t resist checking out the local beer from Bewdley Brewery Ltd.
Upstream of Bewdley we reached Trimpley Reservoir. Here we found a lovely gravel beach on the riverbank where we stopped for a paddle and a break. The walk then took us through woodland to the village of Arley where we crossed the river and continued upstream on the West bank. One thing we noticed was just how many anglers there were out enjoying the river – it was the first Saturday of the fishing season. We saw possibly 10 times more anglers than we did other walkers! I spoke to one of them who said he was fishing for Barbel, but hadn’t caught anything so far. I spotted a kingfisher perched on an overhanging willow branch where we crossed Borle Brook, which enters the Severn near the village of Netherton.
As we neared our finish we arrived at another site popular for volunteering on the project – Severn Valley Country Park. I’d been here a week previously with volunteers tackling invasive weeds. It was good to be back here and was a lovely place to finish this leg of the walk. The wildflowers, and the views across the valley, were beautiful.
You can see photos below!
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