Wednesday 22^nd May 2019

Today we had another walk exploring Droitwich. Of all the towns we have visited Droitwich has to be up there with places we would most like to live. Apparently there is a section of the town that does not have a good reputation, but it is also supposed to be one of the safest places in the UK. Certainly the place has a lovely feel to it and all the people we have encountered, apart from the guy in the Post Office, have been friendly and enthusiastic about their town.

Droitwich has always been a salt town. The salt is produced from naturally occurring brine springs of an exceptionally high concentration, 2½lbs of salt in each gallon of brine. The salt concentration of the brine is ten times that of the Mediterranean Sea, second only to the Dead Sea which is thirteen times more concentrated.

Salt has been produced for millennia with evidence of Stone Age salt producing activity. The Romans built upon this and there are many Roman roads leading from Droitwich in all directions. Salt production only ended in the 1922 when a local salt baron, John Corbett, realised the potential of Droitwch as a Spa town and transformed it into such, and so moved production to nearby Stoke. The last of the original brine baths closed in 1975 but there are plans to reopen them.

Vines Park, in effect, lies on an island bounded by the canal and the River Salwarpe. There is a replica Medieval salt pan within the park and there are several brine springs that still flow into the river and canal.

We climbed the hill to visit St. Augustines Church. The church was locked but the location gives a commanding view over the town. It was from here that the Parliamentarian artillery bombarded the town in the Civil War. The church is built of limestone but is heavily blackened from the many years of smoke pollution from boiling the salt pans. The building also bears witness to subsidence from the salt extraction, there are numerous tie-rods that hold the structure together.

Returning down the footpath from the church we encountered a slow worm on the path and crossed the quite busy railway line on foot. Although the trains are very frequent, we had noticed they pass slowly along the embankment.

In the town we walked up the High Street. The High Street used to be level but nowadays, both ends are more or less on the same level but in between the road dips alarmingly due to subsidence from salt workings. There is not a straight building in the street.

       

                                                                 Droitwich High Street

We called into the butchers and bought some lovely meat, including some well-aged, almost black, fillet steaks and had a wonderful chat with the 73-year-old, still working, owner. Amongst other things, he told us of the Bullock Buildings across the street, reputedly one of the oldest buildings in the town. It has fallen into disrepair and the council spent £5 million renovating it, only to sell it for £150,000 which did much to anger the locals.    

Just off the High Street, up an alleyway, is the Tower Hill Brine Pump. This building houses the remains of an old brine pump but is also the site of the last commercial salt producing enterprise in Droitwich. Brine naturally rises to the surface where it is collected by a local farmer who dries out the salt and sells it in small bags.

No 31 High Street is a medieval property in the middle of a restoration programme. The workmanship was amazing. It must be such a privilege to work on such a project.

         

                                                                                      Tower Hill Brine Pump

                                                                                                  

                               

                                                                                     31 High Street                                                                                                                 

We went into the parish church of St. Andrews. The tower had been removed in 1928, due to worries over subsidence, and the church bells removed. The interior was in the middle of a long restoration programme and there was a lot of scaffolding in place. You certainly wouldn’t want to sing too loud, or have the organ played to its maximum, for fear of literally bringing the roof down. The building didn’t feel completely safe to be in, there was not a vertical walls or a flat floor in the place.

     

Unfortunately, Droitwich town centre is much let down by the empty Raven Inn complex. This large building looks very forlorn and as though it has been empty for a good while with no signs of any activity concerning it. Hopefully it will be renovated, otherwise it will become more of an eyesore than it is.

                                                                                The Raven Inn
After another walk around the town we called into the Old Cock Inn again. The landlord had offered to show us around the upstairs function room that has apparently changed little since Judge Jeffries held court there. Unfortunately, he was not there and the lady serving at the bar was too busy to ask.

We returned to the boat and sat in the cratch before having a really good steak dinner. We thought we had cause to celebrate as it has been one year since we moved onto Bridge Street and she became our home. Only to discover we had both got the dates mixed up and it was actually 12 months ago yesterday.

Weather: lovely, sunny and hot.