Arley Ferry

There is no ferry crossing the River Severn at Arley now, just a footbridge.  All that remains of the ferry can be seen here in a cottage garden in Bewdley.

You might be interested in the history of this.  I remember going on our end of year trips when I was at Junior School when we used to do a Tour of Worcestershire.  The River Severn at Arley was always one of those places.  Happy memories.

Upper Arley Ferry
by H W Gwilliam
This is the most northerly of the Severn ferries in Worcestershire and the last in the county to operate on the Severn. The earliest references to it are in the Close Rolls of 1323 and, in 1331, when it was referred to as ‘the Ferry within the bounds of the Chase of Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of Wyre’. In 1602 there is a reference to ‘a passage called the Ferry boate’ in the possession of the Lyttletons, who were Lords of the Manor of Arley.
Formerly, the ferry boat was pulled across by means of a rope, but it was later secured by a long cable attached to another suspended from two uprights some 200 years upstream, and crossed the river without any motive power other than the current, its course being controlled by manipulation of the rudder. There was also a hand- winch in the boat which was connected with the cable. At times of high floods and strong winds, it was a dangerous crossing especially at night. Two men lost their lives crossing here one winter’s day. There used to be much business at Arley Ferry with wagons and carts being constantly ferried across. The fare for individuals used to be one half-penny per person until, in 1931, it went up to one penny. Children going to school and people going to church went free.
In the nineteenth century Earl Mountmorris owned the manor and rented the ferry out, but the Leeson family were ferrymen for years, one of whom was drowned in the river. Until 1931, the ferry remained in the possession of the Lords of the Manor but, in a conveyance dated May 2nd, 1931, the then Lord, (Mr. A. Chad Woodward - later Sir Chad Woodward), made the ferry over to the County Council.
In 1945, the ferry boat was found to be so rotten as to be unusable and two wooden army landing-craft were bolted together and used until 1952. A new ferry boat, built by Bathhurst of Tewkesbury, went into service on June 24th, 1952. By 1966, the loss of tolls caused concern, for, in the previous 13 years, revenue losses amounted to £20,000 and, in only two weeks in the year, did the ferry earn enough to pay its running costs. In 1964, it was decided to close the ferry and build a footbridge at a cost of £43,500. The bridge was opened on January 22nd, 1972 by Sir Tatton Brinton, M.P. The Arley ferry boat now (1982) lies moored alongside the north quay at Bewdley.