Unlocking the Severn – Travelling Exhibition Ironbridge

At our Travelling Exhibition visitors are introduced to the rare and endangered shad fish and learn about the epic story of their River Severn migration.

We reveal the River Severn as a wild, watery highway for fish and nature. And we invite you to glimpse into the underwater world hidden beneath the river’s surface.

Suitable for families and accessible for disabled visitors, Unlocking the Severn hope that Ironbridge Museums visitors will swim past Fusion, adjacent to the Jackfield Tile Museum to dive in and discover about the shad and our conservation and river engagement project.

If you have an interest in nature and wildlife, fish, or the River Severn more generally, this is an opportunity to stop and think about the wildlife under the water.

Alongside beautiful graphic panels telling the shad’s story there are two commissioned short films to watch – including a new animation about the journey the shad make up the River Severn in search of their freshwater spawning grounds.

The exhibition is a quick and impactful way to immerse yourself beneath the surface of the watery world of the River Severn. The design is COVID secure with no need to touch any displays, but it retains an interactive feeling through the floor map which guides visitors around the displays and even teaches them how to do the “shad spawning dance!”

Alex Ball, Senior Project Manager comments: “We hope this exhibition will provide a chance to change people’s perspective, viewing this powerful river through the eyes of a small fish, swimming up from the sea, trying to get past large weirs to reach good spawning habitats. We also visitors will be inspired to plan a visit to the new underwater viewing window at Worcester’s Diglis fish pass when it opens.”

The exhibition also provides a prompt for us all to reflect on how the local river environment can play a role in our own lives, as a place to exercise and naturally boost our wellbeing.  Visitors will be encouraged to consider how they help care for the river and its wildlife both through their individual action, and perhaps taking part in collective volunteering efforts.

The Unlocking the Severn Exhibition will be open in The Footprint Gallery, at Fusion, next to Jackfield Tile Museum

Please check the Ironbridge Gorge Museums website HERE for any updates about opening times and COVID measures.