Towpath Talk

Stourport and its basins

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Stourport is the only town in Britain built solely for the canals, and was once the busiest inland port in the Midlands after Birmingham. In order to safely lift boats up from the River Severn to the canal, James Brindley built a series of locks and basins. At Stourport’s peak of activity, there were five basins in operation, with warehouses and homes for the workers built around the basins. By 1795 around 1300 people lived in the town.

A ferocious hub of developmen­t spread with brass and iron foundries, vinegar works, tan yards, worsted spinning mills, carpet manufactur­ers, boat building yards, wharfs, shops and inns.

The basins, locks and wharfs, and many of the cottages are now Grade II-listed. The former stables for the Tontine Hotel (now private apartments) house the Tontine Stable Heritage Room.

A Discovery Trail details more about the basins, their heritage and their regenerati­on. The basins have also been awarded the Transport Trust Red Wheel Plaque.

www.transportt­rust.com; www.transporth­eritage. com; www.stourportt­own.co.uk

Traveline 0871 200 2233

Roadside near the canal or public car parks (charge).

ABC Boat Hire abcboathir­e.com

Anglo Welsh Waterway Holidays, Great Haywood www.anglowelsh.co.uk

Napton Narrowboat­s, Autherley Junction www. napton-marina.co.uk

Starline Narrowboat­s, Stourport-on-Severn www. starlinena­rrowboats.co.uk

Stourport Steamer Company, Stourport-on-Severn www.riverboath­ire.co.uk

(Viking

Afloat),

Gailey www.

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