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A Tribute to Bill Gwilliam MBE

A Tribute to Bill Gwilliam, MBE

Severn and Canals Articles

The Severn, Storms,Floods and Periwinkles

The Severn, Storms,Floods and Periwinkles

The River Severn which separates St.John's from the rest of Worcester has played a crucial part in the beginning's and developments of the city. Its tidal bore enabled Worcester to flourish as an inland port and up until about 180 years ago this great waterway - once known as 'The King's high stream of Severn'- was alive with commercial traffic. Only the coming of the railway ended the city's dependency for prosperity on the river. But the Severn always has been, and always will be, a force to be reckoned with for Worcester people - to admire and enjoy, and from time to time to fear .... 


River Crossings

River Crossings

The Severn Tunnel between New Passage and Portskewett carries the railway under the estuary and forms the most direct railway route between the south of England and South Wales. The tunnel was completed  in 1886 at a cost of £2 million after many difficulties from flooding. It is the longest..........


Fisheries

Fisheries

Generally clean in quality, the Severn is a salmon river and also supports almost every kind of freshwater fish found in British rivers, including trout and barbel. The tidal waters of the river......


Navigation

Navigation

For centuries the Severn was the most important river for traffic to and from the West Midlands. It was almost certainly used by the Romans for trading purposes. An Act of Parliament in 1430 ......


Topography & Rainfall

Topography & Rainfall

The Severn Basin is irregular in shape, its topography and geology show great variety. Several geological systems are represented in the cathment area of the river..


River Severn Levels

River Severn Levels

The Severn is subject to large and rapid rises in water level. On the lower reaches of the non-tidal part of the river, the rise occasioned by flood is often of the order of 20 feet, while the maximum tidal variation at Avonmouth can be 48 feet. This is greater than that of any other river in the British Isles and is exceeded only in one other place in the world the Bay of Fundy in Canada....


The River Severn Information supplied By Severn Trent late 1980s

The River Severn Information supplied By Severn Trent late 1980s

The River Severn is a clean, fast-flowing river set in a pastoral background of picturesque countryside and rolling hills.

The name Severn is said to have been derived from Sabrina, a tragic water nymph reputed to have been drowned in its waters. In its upper reaches of Powy's, it is sometimes known as the Hafren.....

 

 

 


Tolls for Pleasure Boats through Locks 1914

Tolls for Pleasure Boats through Locks 1914

Severn Navigation Bill, 1914. Steam Launch 1s. 0d.; Sculling row boat, canoe dingy 3d. Every other kind of pleasure boat 6d.; through locks and return same day. Annual payments: Steam launch £1; row boat etc 5s.; other pleasure boats 10s.

Pleasure Steamers on the Severn

Pleasure Steamers on the Severn

'Crowquill' of the Berrow's Worcester Journal of 5 September, 1931 gave the following details of early steamers on the Severn. 'Until 50 years ago there was only one steamer at Worcester plying up and down the river. Then a second arrived, and in the closing

Time & Tides across the year at Diglis

Time & Tides across the year at Diglis

WORCESTER people generally are perhaps unaware, that the River Severn is still tidal from the Bristol Channel as far as Diglis Weir.The fact was related to Bill by waterways expert and historian Max Sinclair, of Lower Broadheath. He explains that twice daily,

Michael Grundy writes:

No-one has done more in a lifetime than H.W ("Bill") Gwilliam to chronicle the history of the City of Worcester and County of Worcestershire. Importantly too, his prolific writings on the Faithful City's past have always been in a most readable, fascinating and absorbing form, full of colour and with a liberal sprinkling of humour.

After retiring from a distinguished career in teaching, Bill researched and compiled volume after typewritten volume on the history of the city and county of Worcester, covering a myriad of subjects such as folklore, pubs, crimes, newspapers, transport. rivers and, above all, "People and Places."

Eighteen years ago, when I began producing weekly features on local history for the Worcester Evening News, I received invaluable help from Bill, and I am sure many other local history researchers down the decades will have had cause to be equally grateful for his ready assistance.

Bill has always shown abounding enthusiasm for the extremely eventful and chequered past of Worcester and the county and has been a veritable font of knowledge on his painstakingly researched subject.

Little wonder that the Queen bestowed the MBE on him for services to the public. I know that the Buckingham Palace Investiture where he received the medal from Her Majesty was probably the most memorable day of his life.

Happily, Bill's vast writings are not being allowed to languish in numerous file folders on shelves around a bedroom at his Worcester home.

Two books of his work have already been published - "Old Worcester: People and Places" and "Worcestershire's Hidden Past" and are available in bookshops, having been produced by Halfshire Books.

I understand too that the Worcestershire Record Office has copied several of his volumes for the county archives, and I heartily applaud Pam Hinks for now so patiently making Bill's researches available to an even wider audience via the Internet.

Mike Grundy, Worcestershire Evening News