Droitwich Spa

“Your mother is alive and well and living in Droitwich”.

“Your mother is alive and well and living in Droitwich”.

Reflections from Droitwich Spa Marina, 10th September 2022 (Author’s Collection).

Droitwich Spa has long been on my list of UK places to travel to and to enjoy a brief amble around it’s historical town and picturesque locale. Why is a silly and simple tale of a satirical BBC television programme called BlackAdder which my lifelong friend Marc and I could recite to you at the drop of a nobleman’s hat. Starting in 1983 with the simple titular moniker of “BlackAdder”, this amusing poke in the eye of agreed history returned us to the bleakness of the Middle Ages and a shy, pompous Duke who regardless of the titles his heirs would accrue in the three subsequent series, BlackAdder (Rowan Atkinson) would always be seen as a frustrated, bemused and incredibly sarcastic servant of the Crown/Royalty. BlackAdder 2 and 3 aired for the first time on UK television in the consecutive years of 1986 and 1987 before BlackAdder Goes Forth aired for the first time in 1989. From the Middle Ages and a nominal Duke he becomes, in chronological order, a Lord in Elizabethan England, a butler to the Prince Regent in the Regency period before finally and perhaps sadly fatally, a Captain of the King’s army in the trenches of World War I. Marc and I watched and re-watched series 2 over and over again on many a rainy morning as children and no doubt marvelled at both the jokes and history we didn’t understand yet could recite with incredible ease. Thus it is to episode 1 of season 2 and an episode entitled “Bells” that we venture toward, and this nugget of an exchange between a grieving Father and his precious daughter:

“Father, I must speak. I can be silent no longer. All day long you muttered to yourself, gibbered, dribbled, moaned and bat your head against the wall, yelling “I want to die”. Now you may say I’m leaping to conclusions but you’re not *completely* happy, are you?”

“It’s mother, isn’t it?”

“No, it is not”.

“You’re brooding over her death, aren’t you?”

“Kate, for the final time, your mother is not dead. She’s run off with your uncle Henry”.

“Dear father, I know you only say such things to comfort me”.

“Your mother is alive and well and living in Droitwich”.

The above named Kate (real name Bob) flees her Father as well as his pleas for her to become a prostitute to run off to London to “disguise myself as a boy and seek my fortune!”.

Thus the town of Droitwich became a silly fixation and a town I’ve subsequently driven by on the busy M5 motorway hundreds of times since before I finally made it my actual destination today and I’m thoroughly pleased I did so.

Here’s a more official introduction to the town of Droitwich and the opening paragraph from the website linked below:

The historic town of Droitwich Spa: Surrounded by the beautiful Worcestershire countryside, it is a town of great charm offering its visitors plenty to see and enjoy.

The town has been the site of a settled community for over 2000 years. It owes its existence to the natural brine springs which emanate from subterranean beds of pure rock salt 2000ft below the ground. Dissolved by underground springs, artesian pressure forces the sale to the surface as brine. It’s density and buoyancy are only rivalled by the Dead Sea.

The Official Guide For Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire - Visit Droitwich Spa
The historic town of Droitwich Spa: Surrounded by the beautiful Worcestershire countryside, it is a town of great charm…www.visitdroitwichspa.com

So welcome to Droitwich Spa! According to the 2011 census, this historic spa town in northern Worcestershire had a population of 23,504 and lies on both the Wychavon River as well as the reconditioned and re-opened barge canal and as I hope the following images capture, a quaint and beautiful town in the beating heart of central England. The amble that follows starts at the canal and the nearby “Vines Park” before we wind our way through the small town, central church, monuments to its historic past, a pet cemetery (yes, a pet cemetery!) before we end via the town’s marina and a quick glimpse of the magnificent Hanbury Hall on the outer edge of town.

All images were captured by me on 10th September 2022 and whenever you read this or stumble through onto pastures new within The Matrix, I hope you enjoy this virtual stroll.

Welcome to Droitwich Spa and the beginning of our amble around this historic central England town.

“The Wychavon Way” and a small section of a much longer walk of many similar walks I’ve undertaken throughout this English summer.

“John Corbett, the “Salt King” of Impney was the Member of Parliament (Liberal) for Droitwich and mid Worcestershire from 1874–1892".

View from the “Max Sinclair Memorial Lock” that opens out onto the reconditioned canal full of beautifully restored “Lift Bridges” or “Swing Bridges” as can be seen as the canal snakes up and to the left.

“The Droitwich canals consist of the barge canal and the junction canal. Together, they connect to the River Severn at Hawford to the Worcestershire and Birmingham canal at Hanbury, flowing through Vines Park in Droitwich”.

With the beautiful Max Sinclair Memorial Lock as a picturesque backdrop, here’s St Richard of Droitwich. Also a Bishop of Chichester and canonized in the year 1262AD, 12 years before and “when the Brine failed, St Richard blessed the Great Upwich Pit near this spot”.

A forever pleasing image from a rather beautiful stroll.

SOUTH: Godalming in Surrey, 204 miles, 201 locks, 30 Swing/Lift bridges and 7 tunnels. NORTH: Tewitfield in Lancashire, 127 miles, 106 locks, 13 Swing/Lift bridges and 7 tunnels — Part 1.

SOUTH: Godalming in Surrey, 204 miles, 201 locks, 30 Swing/Lift bridges and 7 tunnels. NORTH: Tewitfield in Lancashire, 127 miles, 106 locks, 13 Swing/Lift bridges and 7 tunnels — Part 2.

Taken directly from the Blue Plaque above the entrance: “Priory House circa 1650. Elizabethan house with earlier solar wing restored by Droitwich Preservation Trust in 1973”.

St Andrews Church and a quintessential English post-box! The inside of the church is currently undergoing a large amount of restoration but the church opened its doors in memorial of the recent death of The Queen and for parishioners to have a quiet place to mourn should they wish.

“Salt Workers: This sculpture illustrates a family of salt workers producing salt. The father is drawing the salt from a brine boiling trough and scooping it into a wooden tub used for draining the brine to form a salt lump”.

Background? The “Lodge House” at the entrance to the town’s outdoor swimming pool and Lido. Foreground? According to the square plaque — a “Pet Cemetery”. A pet cemetery!

Four beautifully twisted reflections from Droitwich Marina — Part 1.

Four beautifully twisted reflections from Droitwich Marina — Part 2.

Four beautifully twisted reflections from Droitwich Marina — Part 3.

Four beautifully twisted reflections from Droitwich Marina — Part 4.

Just a couple of miles outside of Droitwich you’ll find the magnificent Hanbury Hall.

“Hanbury Hall is a large 18th-century stately home standing in parkland at Hanbury, Worcestershire. The main range has two storeys and is built of red brick in the Queen Anne style”.

“Hanbury Hall is also a Grade I listed building whilst the associated Orangery and Long Gallery pavilion ranges are listed as Grade II”.

Your humble narrator at beautiful Gnosall on the Shropshire Union Canal, early August 2022 (Author’s Collection).

Thanks for reading. My “Summer Project” has taken me to the waterways as well as many local historical and religious ruins as I’ve crisscrossed the border between England and Wales, and my three most recently published travel articles are linked below:

A Sunday stroll around Worcester
A canal. A river. And two almighty architectural beauties.medium.com

Kidderminster to Wolverley
Yet another amble along a canal in the sunshinemedium.com

Beautiful Bewdley on the banks of the River Severn
2nd September 2022medium.com