Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth photos (86 available)
Bridgnorth maps (2 available)
Map of Shropshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Personalised maps
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Bridgnorth books (2 available)
- 6 photos on Bridgnorth appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Bridgnorth
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Bridgnorth and Shropshire
Bridgnorth memories
Read and share memories of Bridgnorth and Shropshire inspired by Frith photos
My 9 Years in the Town
Where do I start? 1943 - my first job from school, aged 15, at The Radio and Gramophone Development Co (RGD) located in Hospital St. My home was in Wolverhampton and I lodged firstly in Whitburn St. Later on stayed with the Heads in Conduit Lane. What a surprise, years later, when travelling through the town, to find the factory gone and replaced with a housing estate! Bridgnorth provided my dear wife - nee June Oliver, from The Innage - married at St John's church in 1951, and we are still together, now in Christchurch, Dorset.
In 1952 I left RGD and we moved to Wolverhampton - complete with our firstborn, Peter. Happy days!
Contributed by Patrick Hannifan
Early years in Bridgnorth
I was born in Bridgnorth in 1938, we lived in the Hookfield which in the thirties and forties, was on the edge of the town and surrounded by fields. I spent the war years there often going to London for a holiday? My father worked in the local carpet factory making aircraft engines, also he was the projectionist in the cinema which on my last visit was still there and he also did some of the maintainance on the cliff railway when it was operated by water. He was also in the local homeguard. I have not been able to find any information on this although I have a photograph of the regiment labelled Shropshire light infantry.
Contributed by gerald fanthorpe
RAF
As a trainee aircrew member of the RAF I was posted to Bridgnorth in 1943. I don't recall the exact location of the ITW (Initial training wing), but there we learned radio and morse code procedures, aircraft recognition and gunnery during an eight week course before going on to active training. My most vivid memories are of the huge number of pubs, both in low town and high town - in those days filled with service man and women from all branchs of the services.
Nev Robinson
Contributed by Neville Robinson
Old Fire Station
The building on the left of the two arches is the old town Fire Station, which was replaced in the 1960's with a new station on Innage Lane. The property is now a retail outlet. If on a visit to the town you look above the shop front you will see engraved the words Fire Station.
Contributed by Peter Fell
Extracts From Bridgnorth & Shropshire books
The North Gate is the only part of the town’s defences to survive, apart from the remains of the 12th-century castle. Even in the 1580s, the castle was described by John Leland as being ‘totally to ruin’, but the Parliamentarians finally destroyed the castle in 1646 with gunpowder. Their activities left a section of the keep leaning over at an angle of 17 degrees, three times that of the leaning tower of Pisa. The North Gate itself was heavily restored during the 18th century.
An extract from from"Down the Severn Photographic Memories".
Bridgnorth and its castle sit on a cliff of very soft sandstone. Over the years dwellings were carved out within the stone and, as can be seen from the curtains in the windows, these were occupied into the 20th century. Though the roof sits heavily and the door tips drunkenly, they were doubtless dry and comfortable.
An extract from from"Times Gone By".
Bridgnorth and its castle sit on a cliff of very soft sandstone. Over the years dwellings were carved out within the stone and, as can be seen from the curtains in the windows, these were occupied into the 20th century. Though the roof sits heavily and the door tips drunkenly, they were doubtless dry and comfortable.
An extract from from"Countryside Poems".
This is a view over Low Town from about one hundred feet above the Severn. The bridge is thought to have been rebuilt by Thomas Telford, who was also responsible for designing the local church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. St Mary’s is unusual in that Telford designed it in a Mediterranean style, with Tuscan columns and a pillared tower topped off with a dome.
An extract from from"Down the Severn Photographic Memories".
Bridgnorth is really two towns, High Town at the top of a steep hill and Low Town at the bottom. On the extreme left of this picture you can see the Castle Hill Cliff Railway, built to link the towns in 1892. Though only two hundred feet long, the railway rises one hundred feet in height.
An extract from from"Down the Severn Photographic Memories".