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There is so much to look for at this ancient church - I would recommend having look through this page for details and making your own treasure hunt! - https://www.greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/ribbesford.html#:~:text=Ribbesford%2C%20like%20Pipe%20Aston%20was,is%20now%20the%20north%20aisle.

Great place to watch the steam trains of the Severn Valley Railway.

This spot gives one of the best views of the steam trains on the Severn Valley Railway. I went here specifically to watch the Flying Scotsman make a guest appearance to re-open the line after a winter landslide closed it.

downhill tracks have gone

Very recommended. Well located for cyclist: Wyre Forest, River Severn Valley, possible start in Ironbridge/Bridgnorth direction.

Long flat path most of the way

A peaceful place to rest on a walk

The present building dates back just over 250 years (the tower was built in 1695 and the main body of the church was completed in 1748), but there are records of a church on this site over 3 centuries earlier.

Bewdley was once an important inland port, connecting Shrewsbury with the Midlands and the seaports of Gloucester and Bristol. Originally the quays were shorter and had slipways between them. In time, as more landing space was needed, the quayside walls were joined into one continuous length. The larger boats, known as Severn Trows, carried local goods such as rope and charcoal, metal goods from Birmingham and Staffordshire pottery to the south. They returned laden with woollen cloth, wine, spirits, tobacco, sugar, spices, citrus fruit and dried fish to be sold in market towns across the West Midlands and Welsh borders. This civic space was developed when the Environment Agency built the Town's new flood defences, and incorporates work by artist Elizabeth-Jane Grose. On the lower quayside you can find flowing words relating to the river and the vessels that worked on it. On the upper quayside have a look for the 'cargo-plates' recording forty of the common and less common exports and imports to the Port of Bewdley. Source: Environment Agency

Bewdley Bridge over the Severn was built in 1798 by Thomas Telford. It was erected to replace the 1483 medieval bridge that was swept away in the floods of 1795.

Victoria Bridge is a single-span cast iron bridge that crosses the River Severn. When the bridge was completed in 1862, it was the longest of its kind in Britain. These days, it’s still an impressive sight. Victoria Bridge is Grade II-listed.

The ‘Wyre Forest Line’ formed a connection between the SVR at Bewdley and the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway (S&HR) at Woofferton. The route encompassed two railways, the Tenbury Railway and the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway. Following the completion of the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway in 1864, the GWR took over the working of traffic over the Tenbury Railway section on behalf of the joint companies, with the LNWR also having running powers. As part of this process, the GWR telegraph system was extended to Woofferton; also the LNWR agreed to a turntable being installed at Tenbury to be paid for by the GWR. This turntable was moved from Bewdley and re-erected in the goods yard at Tenbury. (Some confusion has occurred in the past, as there was a small wagon turntable at Woofferton in its early days.) The completed line ran north from the GWR station at Bewdley on a single line track alongside the Severn Valley Line for a distance of about a mile before diverging to the west to cross the river Severn at Dowles Bridge (the viaduct referred to by Capt. Tyler), the remains of which are visible from trains on the SVR. The abutments where the line passed over what is now the B4194 remain in-situ. The line continued to Woofferton via Wyre Forest, Cleobury Mortimer, Neen Sollars, Newnham Bridge, Tenbury (later renamed Tenbury Wells) and Easton Court. The route acquired a number of names. A platform sign at Woofferton station referred to 'The Bewdley Branch', while passengers at Bewdley could take 'The Tenbury Branch'. Informally the route was often referred to as 'The Wyre Forest Line' or 'The Tenbury Line'. The Engineer's Line References were TBY for 'Tenbury & Bewdley' and WTW for 'Woofferton and Tenbury Wells', while the 1905 Ordnance Survey map describes it as the 'GW&L&NW Joint Railway - Woofferton & Tenbury' and the 'GWR - Tenbury & Bewdley Branch' One purpose of the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway was for freight traffic to gain access to the expanding markets of the West Midlands. However at the time of opening, this journey would require traveling to the SVR's southern terminus at Hartlebury, with a reversal to reach the West Midlands via Kidderminster. This was hampered by a lack of siding space at Hartlebury and resulted in frequent delays, leading to construction of the 'Kidderminster Loop Line' from Bewdley to Kidderminster. After the GWR built 'The Loop', the majority of services from Stourbridge and Kidderminster to Bewdley continued on the Wyre Forest Line. In January 1869, ownership of the Tenbury Railway was transferred jointly to the LNWR and GWR. It nominally remained an independent company until nationalisation in January 1948. The Tenbury & Bewdley Railway ceased to exist as a separate company when ownership was transferred to the GWR in February 1870. Both the GWR and the Tenbury Railway became part of British Railways' Western Region after nationalisation. In 1908 the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway opened. This connected with the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway at Cleobury Mortimer and ran as a spur for 12½ miles to Ditton Priors.

This is part of the Wyre Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest. This area of the forest is known as "semi-natural ancient forest". It is 'natural' as it has never been replanted, but has been worked on a coppice system for at least 400 years. In 1951, this area was about to be clear felled by the then owner so it was bought to avoid this. From the 1930s to the 1980s there was virtually no forestry activity of the sort that had been practised historically, Coppicing started up again in 1980 when the first coupe (a clear felled area leaving only larger trees) was felled, halfway along the ride from here to the top of Unellys Farm field. The general appearance is now much more like it was in the period up to about 1930 with open areas dolled around.

Forestry Commission has closed the trails

Closed by forestry commission

Closed by forestry commission

Pretty, Georgian town with lots to see and do right on the River Severn

Bewdley is a small town in the Wyre Forest region of Worcestershire. Situated on the banks of the river Severn this Georgian town has a station on the Severn Valley heritage railway.

The Victoria Bridge crosses the River Severn between Arley and Bewdley in Worcestershire, England. At the time of its construction, the 200-foot railway bridge was the longest single span cast iron bridge in Britain. The cast-iron arch bridge has four arch ribs each of nine parts bolted together. The arch elements were cast by the Coalbrookdale Company and the bridge was built by Thomas Brassey, Samuel Morton Peto and Edward Betts. Its design is almost identical to the Albert Edward Bridge which spans the Severn at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, both designed by John Fowler. Opened for traffic on 31 January 1862, the railway line was closed to traffic in 1963. The bridge survived the threat of demolition and was then used by the Severn Valley Railway. In May 1974, heritage passenger services were re-introduced between Alveley Colliery and Bewdley over the Victoria Bridge. It was restored in 2004. The bridge has appeared in several films, including the 1978 film The Thirty-Nine Steps. The Victoria Bridge was constructed to carry the Severn Valley Railway over the River Severn just south of Upper Arley.[3] The line was 40 mi (64 km) long running from Hartlebury in Worcestershire to Shrewsbury in Shropshire, passing through several towns including Stourport-on-Severn, Bridgnorth, and Ironbridge. The line was built between 1858 and 1862 and it was opened on 31 January 1862 and regular services commenced the following day. The bridge was designed by John Fowler, the chief engineer of the Severn Valley Railway. It is a single cast-iron segmental arch, considered to be quite large for the era, with a span of 200 ft (61 m) and a 20 ft (6.1 m) rise. The bridge arch has four ribs made up of nine H-section pieces bolted together; the ribs are cross-braced by tie bars with tensioning nuts and the spandrels are perforated by vertical slots. The weight of the ironwork has been estimated at about 500 t (490 long tons; 550 short tons). The ironwork was cast by the Coalbrookdale Company. The bridge abutments are made of rusticated sandstone ashlar, topped by plain parapets. Each abutment has a single 12-ring blue brick arch to provide river-side access. Along the west bank, the towpath is carried around the abutment on a walkway plinth that juts out into the river. On the east side the abutment wall drops straight to the river. The single track is carried on a ballasted timber deck even though the bridge is wide enough to accommodate double tracks. On 24 November 1859, the bridge's foundation stone was laid by Henry Orlando Bridgeman using a ceremonial silver trowel presented to him by the contractors. The contractors involved in the bridge's construction included Thomas Brassey, Samuel Morton Peto and Edward Betts. A time capsule was placed under the foundation stone. The glass jar contained silver and copper coins and a signed paper with details of the occasion. By early February 1861, the foundations were completed. The four cast iron ribs were put in place and on 10 May 1861, bridge was completed. Commemorative inscriptions were cast into the midspan of the arch ring on each face of the bridge. They read, "Victoria Bridge, 1861. John Fowler, Engineer" (central position) "Messrs. Brassey & Co., Contractors" (left position) and "Cast and erected by the Coalbrookdale Company" (right position). The Victoria Bridge was the longest single-span bridge made of cast iron in Britain when built. Its design was replicated by Fowler when he built the similar Albert Edward Bridge over the River Severn outside Coalbrookdale. In the early 1950s, the bridge deck was relaid. Rail traffic on the line diminished during this period and the planned closure of the northern end of the Severn Valley Branch including Victoria Bridge was announced in 1962, pre-dating the Beeching report. On 9 September 1963, the Severn Valley line was closed to regular passenger services and most freight traffic but the southern portion was used by coal trains up to 1969 and limited passenger services; all such use ended during 1970. On 6 July 1965, the Severn Valley Railway Society was formed to preserve and restore as much as possible of the line. The new Severn Valley Railway Company was incorporated in May 1967 and set about acquiring as much of the line as its finances would allow. In May 1974, it succeeded in re-introducing passenger services between Alveley Colliery and Bewdley which involved crossing the Victoria Bridge. Between November 1979 and April 1980, a refurbishment programme was undertaken to safeguard the bridge and its capacity to support 21-tonne axle loading for running train services. Refurbishment cost of £94,346 including the replacement of the transverse timber deck support beams with 54 steel beams. More than half of the iron platework was replaced with steel, 3,500 rivets were replaced with high tensile friction grip bolts and it was painted with 1,200 litres of paint. In March 1987, the bridge was given Grade II* listed building status. Because of its age, the bridge has required considerable investment to allow for train operations. In early 1994, about £200,000 of repairs addressed cracks in the bridge's abutments and corrosion in the cast iron girders and cross bracing. To preserve the bridge a 15 mph speed limit is imposed upon all traffic and double-headed trains are no longer permitted. In early 2004, the bridge was closed for six weeks to install steel mesh material to form a new deck and a repaint. In April 2004, at the reopening ceremony the ribbon was cut by a local woman named Victoria Bridge. Before restoration, the bridge deck made of secondhand timber sleepers was rotting away. Refurbishment cost £320,000, a large proportion of which paid for scaffolding The project was commended at the 2005 Historic Bridge and Infrastructure Awards by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

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