Hagley Historical and Field Society

When you walk through Bewdley you could be forgiven for thinking that it is purely a Georgian town as the brick frontages of the houses mainly date from this period. This was a time of great prosperity in Bewdley as an inland trading port thriving on the Industrial Revolution which blossomed around the town and up the river Severn. However, what you are seeing is the result of the 18^th century fashion of building brick frontages onto existing timber framed houses. We still do the same today by adding cladding to high rise buildings to hide ugly or unfashionable appearances. The reason for doing so is still the same. It saves the cost of demolishing a perfectly serviceable building. Fortunately, the Georgian materials have proved safer than some the modern ones.

In fact, as our speaker this month Heather Flack told us, some of the existing buildings can be dated to 1310 and the next time you walk up High Street look out for numbers 44 and 45 which date to 1419. On the Sunday afternoon following our meeting, members were given a guided walk around Bewdley by fellow member Doug Allen who pointed out many of the features illustrated during her talk.

Our next meeting at St Saviour’s Church Hall is on Tuesday 3^rd April 2018 at 8.00pm with a presentation by Tim Booth entitled “Following the Belne Brook”. Belne Brook rises in the valley between Walton and Romsley Hills and flows westward for some nine miles to join the River Stour on the south side of Kidderminster, where it is known as Hoo Brook. Visitors are most welcome at all our events – see hhfs.org.uk for details and contacts.