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The Mount and River Severn

Article by: Ron Iremonger

The Mount is closely associated with the River Severn. Many of the houses on the north side of The Mount are built on the edge of the old glacial riverbank. The River Severn, known in Wales as Afon Hafren, is one of the finest rivers in the land. Opposite Hafren Road there is a public footpath that leads to The Doctor's Fields. Carefully descending the Doctor's Field Steps you reach the south bank of the mighty River Severn. You are now standing on one of the longest way marked walking trails in Britain, the Severn Way, that traces a route along the entire Severn Valley, from source to sea, a walking distance of 210 miles (338 km). You could walk upstream to the source of the Severn on the slopes of Plynlimon or downstream to Severn Beach on the shore of the Bristol Channel.

Our section of the Severn has within its boundaries an enchanting section of flood meadow from the Doctor's Field to Upper Monks Eye. During the day, you will encounter kingfishers, sandmartins, swans and buzzards; at night, little owls, tawny owls and even a barn owl. At dusk, Daubenton bats can be seen skimming the water and Noctule bats may be spotted, hunting for insects high up in the canopy of trees on Laundry Terrace. In summertime the banks of the Severn are ablaze with the colours of flowering plants, purple loosestrife, marsh woundwort, black mustard, marsh ragwort, meadowsweet and valerian. Perhaps long ago, the Doctor's Field was once a Physic field where herbs were gathered to make various efficacious potions.

In the river, at the upstream end of the meadow adjacent to the Doctor's Field there is an intriguing collection of large sandstone blocks. We understand these blocks formed the foundations of a crude quay to which cattle were rafted and offloaded onto the meadow. Drovers lived in the small cottages at the end of the Georgian terrace and would drive the cattle up to The Mount, down through Frankwell and over the Welsh Bridge to the beast market on Smithfield Road (now the bus station).

An even stranger sight would have been witnessed along the meadows in times gone by as teams of men bow-hauled barges and trows upriver to Pool Quay near Welshpool. Frankwell Quay was constructed in 1608 to cater for the increasing river traffic. Barges and trows were pulled by horses as far as Shrewsbury but then bow-hauled by men upstream of the town.

If you take the Severn Way footpath opposite Shelton Fields and walk down to the river, just before you go through the kissing gate onto the meadows, you will see the remains of some steps on the riverbank. There was once a tearoom on the site belonging to the Boat House Inn. In Victorian times, gentlemen used to row their ladies upstream from Shrewsbury and take tea on a Sunday afternoon.

These meadows are a treasure. It is not too fanciful to suppose that flora and fauna of this stretch of the river Severn and its flood meadows played a significant part in influencing the young Charles Darwin.