150 miles down only 60 to go!
I was up early as I had agreed to meet Gill at lunchtime in Tewksbury and it was a seven mile walk, of course I arrived an hour early, I could have an extra hour in bed.
It was quite a pleasant walk along the banks of the river and I arrived at the impressive Mythe Bridge designed by Thomas Telford which leads into the town. It is cast iron with a 170-foot span, the bridge opened to traffic in 1826, picture above.
Tewksbury floods, it always has done and the surrounding flood plain has meant the town has remained compact, it also has a great many alleys which help access during times of flooding. It is where the river Avon joins the Severn which is why it has always been an important town. It has a Norman Abbey church which has the highest Norman tower in England, perhaps to keep the monks feet out of the water. It celebrated it’s 900th birthday in 2021. There are over 350 listed buildings in the town which, because of its compact size makes it a very attractive town.
Gill and I spent the afternoon walking round the abbey and two museums. We particularly liked the John Moore museum, he was an author whose books, written in the 30’s and 40’s were based on life around Tewksbury. He was a keen naturalist and was at the forefront of the movement to replace hedgerows although the displays rightly pointed out that before the enclosure acts of 1773 and 1801 there were very few and people at the time complained about them being grown.
The museum is housed in a row of buildings (pictured at the bottom of the page) dated 1410 which were constructed in a similar fashion to the Porch House as a flat pack kit of parts which were made in the forest where the trees were felled. In this case the trees came from Shropshire so they assume the frames were then brought down the river. They were built by the monks of Tewksbury as an investment, the guide pointed out that whilst they were small and aimed at lower middle class tenants they were unusually well made.
Tewkesbury’s place in the history books was secured in 1471 with the Battle of the Roses. The fighting in fields south of the town saw the House of York secure victory over the Lancastrians and the second museum had a big display about the battle.
In 1483 another uprising was initiated by the Duke of Buckingham, he gathered his forces together in October and it is thought he was going to march on Gloucester and then onto London but the river was in flood, his army became spread out and eventually disbanded and the Duke fled. He was captured and beheaded for treason. So it could be said that Tewksbury was the centre of the action in the late 15th century.
There were two big flour mills in the town, (the picture shows the smaller and prettier of the two). The water of course provided the power and barges on the river were used to ship in the grain, the larger mill closed in 2006 and is currently looking a bit sad.
A day of rest for me tomorrow, we are staying in the town for two nights so no need to carry my rucksack tomorrow which will make a change.