Upton and the River Severn

Trade - the Rise of Horse Towing

With thanks to Simon Wilkinson for allowing the reproduction of his articles in the 'Upton News'

(Click on the pictures for a larger view)

The Eighteenth Century Trade In an often quoted passage in The Gentleman's Magazine of 1758 G. Perry of Coalbrookdale wrote that the Severn "... is of great importance on account of its trade, being navigable by vessels of large burthen, more than a hundred and sixty miles from the sea without assistance of any lock". He explained that there were vessels of two sorts: "the lesser kind are called barges and frigates, being from 40 to 60 feet in length, have a single mast, square sail and carry from 20 to 40 tons; and trows, or larger vessels, (which) are from 40 to 80 tons burthen; these have a main and top mast, about 80 feet high, with square sails, and some have mizen masts; they are generally from 16 to 20 feet wide and 60 in length, being when new and completely rigged worth about £300". The larger boats had doubled in size over the previous hundred and fifty years. When going downstream they carried goods like coal, metalware, pig and bar iron, glassware, calfskin, paper and pot clay, whilst the upstream trade was mainly in raw materials and luxury goods, many of them coming in through the port of Bristol - tobacco, wines and spirits, olive oil and fish. Perry estimated that there were about 400 such vessels on the Severn between Welshpool and Gloucester, of which 5 were based in Upton and owned by Uptonians. Those who worked on the boats were well thought of as they were "robust and resolute": the river was a valuable nursery for seamen. When going downstream the boats could often be sailed, but going upstream this was far less likely: the boats were hauled by teams of men, being pulled by a rope from the masthead (the banks were high) by sometimes as many as twenty men. T. R. Nash, writing in 1781, trusted that any attempt to change this would be unsuccessful. The Arrival of Horse Towing Nash was soon to be proved wrong. Before the end of the eighteenth century towing by horses had been introduced between Coalbrookdale and Bewdley, in 1803 an Act of Parliament extended this from Bewdley to Worcester and, in 1810 proposals were made to extend the River Severn Horse-Towing-Path from Worcester Bridge to Arlingham. The reasons appeared to be sound, horse-towed boats would be more reliable time-keepers and the damage to the land alongside the towpaths would be eliminated since the leading "Bowhaller" of a team had been forced to move inland at any bend if those behind him were not to end up in the river. Advantages to the bowhallers themselves and to the areas in which they lived were also claimed: all would "rejoice in the occasion of thus calling back to the community and better uses, all our fellow creatures now employed to drag the vessels against the Stream, WHO ARE LITERALLY DEBASED TO THE LEVEL OF BEASTS OF BURDEN". The promotors of the scheme did not pull their punches when describing the bowhallers: working "in the servile capacity of horses, they are generally Labourers and Husbandry-men, mechanics of all sorts who, from novelty or frolic, or enticed by great wages, meat and drink... will leave their common regular employment, for this of dragging barges". In 1811, the Act having been passed at considerable financial cost, and with £6,630 being raised by the sale of 390 shares at £17 each to 390 local worthies including the Coventrys, the Beauchamps, the Martins, the Dowdeswells, the Lechmeres and the Hornyolds as well as the Bishops of Worcester and Gloucester it was time to get on with the practical work. The route of the towpath (on the east bank to Upton, over the bridge, and on the west bank thereafter) was surveyed by Mr Fulljames, and then built; gates were made (some 50 to a uniform design and all for £108) and erected; bye-laws drawn up (£10 fine for altering a toll ticket, £2 for not having a ticket) and charges published (6d (2.5p) a mile up-stream - 2d for an additional beast - and 1d (0.5p) a mile downstream); then toll houses had to he built (The Rev'd Joseph Martin refused to allow the one which the Act had specifieded at the south-west corner of the Lower Ham, so Upton tolls were collected at the bridge) and toll-collecters appointed. On Monday 24th August, 1812 the towpath was opened with a good party: it cost £14/16/7 (£14.83) and included some 401b of beef at 9d (3.5p) a pound, 6 tongues, fowls, cheese, pigeon pies etc. and a drinks bill of £1/7/7 (£1.37). Troubles and Triumph... Horse towing was slow to be taken up. Bowhallers were still permitted and, after the end of the Napoleonic wars, there were many looking for work. A toll had been imposed on what had previously been a "free river" and boat owners objected to that. The dividends for the shareholders were relatively small: in 1824 5%, in 1826 8.8%, but for the next few years until 1832 it was 5.8% and, at this time too, opposition from the bowhallers was becoming violent as the advantages of horse-towing became clearer to the boats' owners. In June 1828 expenses had to be met in Upton when "a large body of men had assembled to obstruct the horses going along the towing path". 14/- (70p) was paid for the issue of summonses for the 7 Ringleaders, but 10/- (50p) was "Paid for Drink to the (other) Men on their promising to disperse and return peaceably to their houses". In January 1829 a further six "labourers" of Upton-upon-Severn were summoned to appear before the magistrate, The Rev'd George Turberville, at Hanley Castle for "wilfully and maliciously obstructing a horse in hauling a Barge up the River Severn". These were not young vandals, but, with one exception, men in their forties at the time. The problems were still continuing in 1832 (see advertisement), but thereafter horse-towing seems to have become accepted. Certainly the profits went up and up ... a dividend of 11.75% in most years, but there were those when it was much better: 23% in 1836, 1841 and 1848, 20% in 1847, over 17% in 1840 and 1849, and in 1850 36% with the shares having doubled in value. All was, however not well: an Act to "improve" the navigation with locks and weirs at Sandy Point had been passed in 1837, against the expensive (over £300 for legal fees) opposition of the Towing Company, but was abandoned thereafter. The railways and steam tugs were coming. The writing was on the wall. In 1850 the 390 shareholders in the Horse Towing Company on the Lower Severn, from Worcester to Gloucester, must have thought that their dividends would continue for ever, possibly upwards, as their shares increased in value. Wiser observers know better. Attempts at River Improvements There had been constant attempts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to "improve the navigation" of the Severn. At first this was limited to dredging away the shallowest shoals and narrowing the stream by faggoting the banks. Great opposition was always provoked whenever there was any suggestion of weirs and locks: they would mean the imposition of tolls on a "free" river, and, through changes in the water level, their effect on the surrounding land was uncertain. In this atmosphere towing by the bowhallers and then by horses flourished. It was not surprising that the Horse-towing Company spent over £300 in opposing the bill which, in 1837, would have created a weir and lock at Sandy Point. Above Diglis, however, the "improvers" started to get their way: an 1842 Act provided for four weirs between Stourport and Diglis with locks at Lincomb, Holt, Bevere and Diglis: these were built in 1844. At the same time it was considered that the required depth from Diglis to Upton could be obtained by "deepening the natural channel". This remained the prevailing opinion until 1852. A report to the Admiralty in 1849 by Cockburn Curtis, a civil engineer, concluded that "the erection of ..a weir (below Diglis) would injure the general and tidal economy of the river and its estuary and also the future interests of its trade and navigation". Meanwhile a seemingly everlasting saga of proposals for repairing and changing Upton Bridge continued. This had appeared frequently on the agenda of Quarter Sessions as the magistrates tried unsuccessfully to persuade the trustees of Halls Charity to pay for repairs, but by the 1830s and 40s it was improvements and not just repairs which were under consideration. On these agreement about practicalities and finance could not be reached beyond the statement that "the state of the foundations..(is)..such as to render it possible that any partial alteration of the bridge would be a matter of great hazard and expense". A Turning Point Everything started to go wrong for the Horse-towing Company in 1852. In that year the first steam tug appeared on the lower reaches of the Severn and, in 1854, three were reported to be working. They became increasingly popular with barge-owners, for not only did one tug pull a number of barges - in 1854 a "tugg" was reported leaving Gloucester towing four barges, but had to abandon one because the wind got up, but, since the pull was not towards the bank as it was with horses it was more efficient as we11. The Horse-towing Company started to receive letters asking for reimbursement of horse-towing tolls since barges had "come up with one of the tugs". On Friday, February 6th 1852 the bowsprit of the Blaina of Droitwich "came with great form against the bridge, sweeping about five yards of the balustrade across to the other side". Just under a week later, on the 12th, the floods finished the destruction: a large portion of the damaged arch fell into the stream and then the shore arch gave way and Berrows Journal considered that the three remaining might soon he expected to "share their fate". For two years there was no bridge over which the horses could change from one bank to another: the ferry boat which was used was hardly an adequate substitute. When the bridge was replaced and partly financed by the Severn Commissioners it was with a "drawbridge" section as the "improvers of the navigation" had long wanted. Another blow for the Horse-towing Company was the passing of the 1853 Severn Improvement Act. The Company had fought hard against this: The Rev'd Mr Lechmere had recommended to the Company Secretary, Mr W. V. Wiight, that "every M.P. we can have the least influence with should be appealed to in defence of our interests". As a result of the Act the lock was constructed at Upper Lode and opened in 1858. The Illustrated London News reported the celebrations and described the lock: 120 feet long, 32 feet wide, 32 feet deep and with a lift of 6 feet. More significantly it was reported that "the object of this arrangement is to pass a steam tug with her fleet of vessels at one locking, thus effecting a great saying of time". Decline Horse-towing did not immediately cease. The tolls were lowered, the Company was less inclined to prosecute infringers of its by-laws and accept apologies instead. The complaints about the state of the towpath increased - horses slipping into the river and drowning - the income declined - annual takings by the Upton toll house in 1844-5 were £531 but in 1860-1 were £63. It was no wonder that in 1861 a prominent shareholder wrote to the Company Secretary: "I conclude that we have not earned the half yearly dinner". In another letter he spelt out the other cause of decline. "This injury to the tolls is as much caused by the new railways as by the tugs, and will probably increase instead of diminish." It did. Dividends fell to 5.8% and investments were being sold. The Company appears to have ceased to trade in 1884. Tugs continued to tow their barges into the 1960s, it was the motorways which finished that traffic.