Lifeboat station

Aberystwyth Lifeboat station, find out more about it here.

The harbour

Many boats at Aberystwyth.

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a university town on the coast of Wales on Cardigan Bay, Ceredigion.

Atop Constitution Hill

Information
Ceremonial county:	Dyfed
County:	Ceredigion
Population:	15,935 (2011 census)

The name Aberystwyth means Mouth (Aber) of the river Ystwyth. People have lived in the area since at least the Mesolithic. A Celtic fortress was built overlooking where the town is now in about 600BCE. In 1109, a castle was built by Gilbert Fitz Richard on lands granted by King Henry I. The castle was built on the south bank of the Ystwyth to the south of the current town but it is what gave the settlement it's name.

The castle was replaced in 1277 (after it had been burnt down for the second time) by the current one at Castle Hill. Aberystwyth castle was built by King Edward I, however it was burnt down itself within a few years! The castle was repaired and became an important strategic location, serving as a royal mint during the reign of King Charles I. Cromwell's forces destroyed the castle for good in 1649.

Aberystwyth grew as a town after a building of a port in the 18th and 19th centuries. The railway reached Aberystwyth in 1864, the town becoming a popular Victorian tourist destination. A funicular railway was built up to the top of Constitution Hill, which overlooks the town, in 1896.

These days Aberystwyth continues to be a popular tourist destination, it is also a major cultural centre in Wales with the National Library of Wales in the town which was established in 1907.

Street in Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth Cliff Railway

The harbour

The promenade

The pier

The Severn

Crossing the Severn at Upper Arley.

An Englishman's home

In Arley it can be a castle.

Upper Arley

Situated on the banks of the river Severn and with a railway station on the Severn Valley Railway, Upper Arley looks like the sort of village which has been in Worcestershire since the Domesday Book. In fact the village was in Staffordshire until being transferred in 1895!

Arley Tower in the centre of the village

Information
County:	Worcestershire
District:	Wyre Forest
Population:	741 (2011 census)

The manor of Upper Arley was founded in about 996CE. Originally it belonged to the college in Wolverhampton. In 1276 it was bought by Roger de Mortimer and remained owned by his family until the mid-15th century. Later on it was owned by the Lyttleton and Woodward families.

The oldest building in the village is the Norman church dedicated to St Peter (the oldest remains date from the 14th century). Arley railway station opened in 1862. It closed 101 years later but was reopened by the Severn Valley Railway in 1974. The station has appeared in many films and TV shows including Oh, Doctor Beeching!

Arley Tower is a casellated folly built in the village, and is Grade II listed.

St Peter

Bridge over the Severn at Upper Arley

Village shop and post office

River Severn

Arley railway station

Brighton Belle

Another pub in Winsford.

Street sign

No cattle in sight.

Winsford

The town of Winsford is in the centre of the county on the river Weaver.

Winsford

Information
County:	Cheshire
District:	Cheshire West & Chester
Population:	34,100 (2021 estimate)

The name Winsford may derive from Wynne's Ford though this is still up for debate. Winsford consists of three ancient parishes, St Chads, Over and Wharton which were combined to form the town in 1894.

The three parishes have much older histories. In the early Norman period the Earls of Chester kept a hunting lodge in Over. Henry III later took over the land and handed it over to the order of Cistercians to built an abbey at Darnhall in 1274, however the site was found to be unsuitable for a large scale stone building and the monks relocated North to Vale Royal Abbey. Over was granted a market charter in 1280 by Edward I. 

The expansion of Winsford dates to 1721 when permission to make improvements to the river Weaver were granted by Parliament. This allowed sea going vessels to reach the town and, until the building of the canals, it was the closest boats carrying clay could reach the Potteries (and take back finished goods to Liverpool and beyond). Winsford was bypassed by this trade in 1780 when the Trent & Mersey Canal opened. The salt industry was also important to Winsford from the 1830s onwards.

Winsford railway station opened in 1837, it now a stop on the West Coast Main Line. In the 20th century the salt trade declined (though Winsford is one of three places in the country where rock salt is still mined) but Winsford expanded after the Second World War with people leaving Liverpool.

Sign on the Weaver Navigation

Winsford station

Weaver Navigation

Lovely art deco pub

The Beehive

Another pub in Curdworth.

Curdworth Tunnel

Canal tunnel at Curdworth.

Curdworth

Curdworth is a village just inside the Warwickshire border and just beyond the edge of Birmingham.

Timber framed building in Curdworth

Information
County:	Warwickshire
District:	North Warwickshire
Population:	1,115 (2011 census)

Curdworth has existed since the 7th century (or a little earlier) and was probably settled by the Anglians. The name of the village is probably derived from Crida's Worth or Crida's property (Crida being an early king of Mercia). The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The manor was owned by the Ardens from the 14th century. A former moated house was the Arden's home until they moved to nearby Castle Bromwich. The parish church dedicated to St Nicholas and St Peter ad Vincula dates from the mid-12th century.

The first battle of the English Civil War took place in fields to the south of Curdworth. Curdworth gained a transport link when the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal was opened in 1789. More recent transport links include the M42 motorway! Surrounding the village are farm fields and industrial sites.

White Horse pub

Birmingham & Fazeley Canal

Also on the canal, this welcome sign

The parish church

Penkridge Viaduct

Carrying the railway over the river.

Half-timbered

Half-timbered house in Penkridge

Penkridge

Penkridge is a market town in the south west of the county.

By the railway in Penkridge

Information
County:	Staffordshire
District:	South Staffordshire
Population:	8526 (2011 census)

The name Penkridge may be derived from the name the Romans gave their fort in the area, Pennocrucium or the ancient Celtic for head of the ridge, penn-crug (penkrik). By 958 the setttlement was known as Pencric. The name is not derived from river Penk which flows through the town, indeed the river's name may be derived from Penkridge!

People have been living in the area since before the Romans, who built a settlement and fort in the area. Penkridge was first mentioned in 958 in a charter, though existed for some time beforehand. It was a settlement in the kingdom of Mercia.

Penkridge's early importance was due to the church of St Michael, which was a collegiate church with a chapel royal set aside for use by the king. The town grew economically after the reign of Henry III who relaxed the restrictions on land use around Cannock Chase near the town. The town began to have a weekly market and was famous for it's horse fair.

Like many small towns Penkridge grew in size and economic importance following the arrival of new transport links. Penkridge station is a stop on the West Coast Main Line, the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal also passes nearby. In more modern times nearby motorway links have seen the town population greatly increase.

White Hart pub

Old telephone number on this sign

St Michael's church

The tower

The church tower in Highley.

Old sign

Which way do you want to go?

Highley

Highley is a village on the south eastern border of Shropshire and Worcestershire.

A street in Highley

Information
County:	Shropshire
District:	Shropshire
Population:	3605 (2011 census)

The village has Saxon origins and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Originally a farming community, Highley later became known for stone quarries and coal mining. The latter taking off on a large scale in the late 1800s. The village greatly expanded to provide homes for the coal miners. The mine closed in the 1960s and is now the site of a country park.

The parish church of St Mary's dates from the early 12th century, with major rebuilding in about 1500. The church was restored in the late 1880s and gained a vestry in the early 1900s. A cross in the churchyard also dates from the medieval period.

The Severn Valley Railway opened a station in Highley in 1862. This was closed in 1963 but re-opened as part of the Severn Valley Railway preserved line in 1974. Highley is now the home of the SVR's Engine House Museum which houses the railway's reserve fleet of locomotives.

Church House

Highley railway station

St Mary's church

Another view of St Mary's

St Helen

The parish church.

Wind power

Modern wind mill in Burton Joyce.

Burton Joyce

Burton Joyce is a village on the river Trent in the south of Nottinghamshire.

A house and vintage sign post in Burton Joyce

Information
County:	Nottinghamshire
District:	Geling
Population:	3,443 (2011 census)

here has been settlement in the area since Mesolithic, there was an Iron Age fort in the area which was later occupied by the Romans. A village grew in Saxon times, by the Domesday Book the village had a church and meadowland around it. It's name is derived from the Norman pronunciation (Burton) of bertune or hill fort. The rest of the name comes from Robert de Jorz who became Lord of the Manor in the 13th century. The village became known as Burton Jorz, later Joyce. Robert de Jorz was behind the extension of the parish church of St Helen (in those days dedicated to St Oswald).

Burton Joyce has remained a largely agricultural parish into the Modern period, even now herds of cattle graze by the river next to the village. The village gained a railway station in 1846, the railway company being forced to buy out the vicar of the church who objected to the railway being near his vicarage, the company had to built for him a new vicarage further away!

River Trent

An abandoned boat

Burton Joyce Community Church

Tractor

Farm equipment in King's Sutton.