Distance: 7.5 miles

Difficulty of the terrain: medium

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

Walk along the River Severn in northern Worcestershire and southern Shropshire from the 18th Century inland port of Bewdley to Alveley a pit-village that was the site of Shropshire’s final rural coal mine shut in 1969.

The Story

The Walk

Getting Back

Shropshire’s Last Rural Colliery

By the 19th Century small quantities of coal had been mined in Shropshire, south Staffordshire and northern Worcestershire for hundreds of years.

Much of this mining activity was concentrated around Dudley, Halesowen and other areas which now comprise the Black Country. An industry which rapidly expanded in the 18th Century as demand for coal began to soar. However, there was also a now largely forgotten history of coal mining in and around the River Severn valley.

One place where coal mining was especially prominent was in the far south east of what is now Shropshire at the two large villages of Highley and Alveley.

The traditional small scale coal and sandstone workings in this part of Shropshire’s River Severn valley were amalgamated into vast subsurface mines and quarries in the 1860s and 1870s following the construction of the Severn Valley Railway between Kidderminster and Shrewsbury near the valley floor.

Sinking the colliery shafts and extracting the coal brought hundreds of workers and their families into the area swelling the populations of Highley and Alveley. Ferry routes and miners’ ropewalks crisscrossed the gorge and large piles of slag and other mining waste piled up on the slopes, with the Severn Valley Railway transporting coal to industrial users and major urban areas for sale.

Immediately prior to the Second World War a major expansion of mining in the area was initiated. In 1935 work began to prepare and sink a big new colliery at Alveley on the eastern bank of the River Severn. It began production in 1937 with new sidings to accommodate more coal trains opening on the Severn Valley Railway on the western Highley side of the River in early 1939.

By the 1950s the collieries on the western bank of the River Severn around Highley had been operational for around 80 to 90 years and were coming to the end of their operational life. This left Alveley whose workforce had swelled to 1,000 by the late 1950s as the sole colliery operating in Shropshire.

This boom in the immediate post-war period did not last. The UK was producing more coal than it could burn or sell, so despite being a relatively modern colliery, Alveley’s isolated location and relatively low grade coal (though this was contested by the mine’s workforce at the time who alleged, credibly, that the mine was being deliberately rundown) made it a target for closure at a time when the National Coal Board’s policy was to focus upon a smaller number of larger pits in tight clusters across the country. Something that was exacerbated by the Severn Valley Railway’s closure in 1963. After that date the railway remained in use south of Alveley towards Kidderminster solely for the transport of coal, however, this was an expensive use of resources at a time when British Railways policy was one of retrenchment and concentration on a smaller network of lines serving major urban areas and key holiday destinations.

Alveley Colliery shut on the 31st January 1969, leaving a sharp spike in unemployment in Highley and Alevely as well as a shattered landscape behind it. Alveley was Shropshire’s penultimate colliery and the final one outside a major urban area. Granville Colliery on the outskirts of Telford shut in 1979 bringing commercial coal mining in Shropshire to an end.

Little was done to remedy the environmental legacy of around 100 years of intensive coal extraction at Highley and Alveley until 1986. In that year concern that loose slag heaps were going to tumble into the River Severn prompted the area’s then local government Shropshire County Council and Bridgnorth District Council to commence a clean up and stabilisation of the former colliery site’s landscape.

Once the immediate issues around contamination and the potential for landslips were resolved, the Severn Valley Country Park, a green space and heritage park was created. Today it is popular with local people and visitors from further afield who visit to see the wildlife, find out about the area’s mining heritage and to see the Severn Valley Railway which was restored by enthusiasts in the 1970s and 1980s and now sees steam and heritage diesel trains run between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.

Today Highley and Alveley are sleepy south Shropshire villages popular with commuters and retirees. Though if you know what you are looking for traces of their mining past and elements of their identity as pit villages remain evident. Many – now elderly – former miners remain in the area and a sense of the history is maintained by Alveley Mining Heritage Project as well as the local history society.

The Walk

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

I create the Walk Midlands routes via Ordnance Survey Maps Explorer enabling me to take them on my phone. Subscribe yourself via the banner above.

To commence this walk from Bewdley to Alveley take a bus from Kidderminster where there is a mainline railway station to Bewdley High Street. There are several routes to choose from, as well as less frequent buses which serve the town from as far afield as Ludlow.

Once at Bewdley High Street walk towards the bridge across the River Severn. This stands on Bewdley incredibly well preserved Georgian riverfront, which dates back to the town’s heyday as a major inland river port. Nowadays it is a popular daytripping destination.

Just before you reach the road bridge across the Severn turn left onto the promenade beside the river.

Once on it, turn left again and walk along the line of cafes, bars and restaurants fronting out onto the riverside walkway.

At the far end of the promenade round a bush.

On the other side, you approach a car park then follow a path to the right.

Then head through a park where the path curves to the right keeping close, but still some way from the River Severn.

Keep walking steadily as you head past the outskirts of Bewdley. Here houses on both sides of the Severn give way to weekend and holiday parks of static vans. This stretch of the Severn truly lives up to the Midland’s form for making every conceivable body of water into a kind of seaside.

After some way you come to a metal gate with farmland on the other side. This marks the edge of Bewdley and the start of the more rural section of the walk.

On the far side you walk through open land quite close to the Severn heading in the direction of the remains of a distinctly gothic looking, still stately former railway bridge across the water, evidently abandoned for many decades, its decking long gone.

Known as the Dowles Bridge it opened in 1864 and for just over 100 years until closure in 1965 carried traffic on the Wyre Forest branch line as far as Cleobury Mortimer and Tenbury Wells.

Passing the ruined bridge the edge of the Wyre Forest is visible to your left across a long narrow field.

Soon you come to a metal gate where you take a slight right turn to continue along the river side path.

Continue along the path for some distance as it winds through pretty sparsely populated, wooded countryside.

Presently on the edge of the little village of Hawkbatch you take a slight right turn and pass beneath an impressive stone and metal bridge carrying a pipeline across the valley.

Beyond the pipeline bridge you continue a short way, nearing Severn Trent’s Trimpley Reservoir which stands on the far side of the river.

You take a slight right turning at a sharp bend near the corner of the reservoir to follow the path down a slight slope nearer the river.

Carrying on the path twists to the left following the line of the river bank.

Here you head up a slight bank towards thick woodland.

Then pass through a gateway.

On the other side of the gate you walk through a wooded section for some distance. Here and there you can see the bank of the reservoir on the far bank of the Severn and its massive inflows and outlets.

Presently you come to a wooden bridge and a gate, leaving the woodland, steadily moving north of the Wyre Forest.

Out of the trees you walk near the river bank, soon you catch a glimpse of the Severn Valley Railway’s famous Victoria Bridge.

After passing through a river side thicket, you approach the Victoria Bridge along well marked paths beside fields.

Upon reaching the bridge there is a pathway slightly to the left which leads to a tunnel.

On the other side of the bridge follow the path through a tree lined hollow to a large open meadow.

Here you are nearing the River Severn side village of Upper Arley.

Cross the meadow and follow the path slightly to the right through a gateway in a thicket.

On the far side there is another meadow, which you also cross.

This leads to a smaller field adjacent to a car park, both for Upper Arley and the Severn Valley Railway Station which stands to its west beside the Harbour Inn pub.

Having crossed the car park field you come to a public road.

Here if you turn left and walk a short way uphill you come to the Arley Severn Valley Railway Station. To continue the walk right away head right walking towards the river.

To cross the river there is a trestle pedestrian bridge spanning the waters.

This was erected in 1972 replacing the ferry which had plied the waters here for centuries beforehand.

Despite having stood for half a century the footbridge has a vaguely makeshift, military campaign air to it. Something which alongside the heritage railway has made the village attractive to 1940s reenactors as a venue for their hobby.

On the far side of the bridge turn left and walk up a ramp onto the main road along the village waterfront.

Keep heading left along this road.

Presently having headed steadily downhill past a smattering of shops and houses in the centre of the village you come to a wharf of sorts, with the road running across an embankment beside it.

Crossing here you come to a t-junction.

Here take the left arm and follow the road running beside the River Severn past a few more houses.

Soon you come to another car park.

Keep walking all the way down the length of the car park until you come to a gate into the field beyond.

For the first half of the walk up to Arley you have followed the route of the official Severn Way footpath. For the second section you branch off to follow other public footpaths running along the bank of the river. It is possible to walk to Alveley along the official River Severn path on the far bank, which is pretty easy to follow, but that is not the route that this walk takes.

Once in the field follow the outline of the path – which is faint but clear – along near the river bank.

There are a series of small bridges across ditches, as well as gates here and there. It is hard to get lost following the path as it broadly follows the outline of the river bank, but these serve as handy waymarks.

Approaching the county boundary between Worcestershire and Shropshire you walk very close to the river through a section of open countryside.

Presently you come to a stile and a fairly dense patch of woodland set in a sandstone bank. This is the point at which you cross from Worcestershire into Shropshire.

Continue along the path through the woodland. It still runs pretty close to the river bank.

Soon you pass through a gate and cross a wooden bridge, continuing through the trees on the other side.

Then the path emerges into open fields beside the Severn, continuing straight ahead crossing them.

On the far side of the river the Severn Valley Railway station at Highley can be seen. This is where coal sidings once stood. It is a sign that you are nearing the end of the walk.

Continue walking across the fields in front of you. All of the main gates between them were open when I walked the route, with cattle roaming freely. But there are stiles for occasions when they are closed.

After the fields you enter more woodland.

Soon coming to a stile and a bridge crossing into the Severn Valley Country Park on the site of the old Alveley Colliery.

Follow the path straight ahead as it runs through the woodland.

Presently you come to a wooden bridge on your right. Cross here.

On the far side of the bridge turn left and walk along the path you have just joined.

Above you rise the slag heaps. They are populated with distinctive post-industrial grasses and hardy species of tree like ash which are often found growing at such sights. The ground is covered with flakes of coal.

Continuing on your way you soon reach a patch of woodland.

Here take a path marked as a cycle track to your right running uphill.

Follow it up a fairly steep path for some distance.

You come out near a summit of sorts. Here on your left stands the Severn Valley Country Park Visitor Centre. It has a cafe and a museum, with a short history of mining and quarrying in the area, as well as exhibitions about the species of animal and plant – past and present – which make the area its home.

Passing the visitor centre you come to the Country Parks main car park.

Taking care to be alert to moving vehicles, head to the right across the car park, following the road as if to exit.

After a short distance a bridleway runs uphill to the left.

Climb the hill using this bridleway.

There is a great view from the top.

At the top of the hill beyond the bridleway runs a country lane.

Once out on the country lane turn left.

Walk a short way along the lane in the direction of a metal gate.

To the left of the metal gate there is a footpath which runs along the top of the hill, looking out across the Severn gorge deep into Shropshire.

Turn onto this path then head to the right.

Soon the path curves sharply to the right. You then approach a dispersed cluster of houses on the edge of Alveley.

Passing a bungalow you head through a metal gateway and straight along a well worn footpath between two hedges.

At the top of the footpath you emerge near the centre of Alveley.

Turn left here and walk a short distance along the road towards the village church.

On your right there is a bus stop which is where buses to Kidderminster and Bridgnorth run from.

Getting Back

Alveley has a fairly good bus service on weekdays (at the time of writing in August 2022). The village has a roughly hourly, or two hourly service to both Kidderminster and Bridgnorth from early morning until early evening. The service is reduced on Saturdays and does not run on Sundays. Bridgnorth has bus connections to Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Telford and western Shropshire. Kidderminster has good connections to all parts of north and central Worcestershire by bus and train, as well as to all parts of the West Midlands conurbation, and onward connections from there.