Date: 14.08.2018 Ground: 39 Match: 6 (63) Venue: Crown Meadow Teams: AFC Bridgnorth V Haughmond Competition: West Midlands Regional League Premier Division Admission: £5 Final Score: 0-1 ( H/T 0-0) Referee: Not Known Attendance: 83 ( Head Count ) Mileage to venue and return: 24.2 Miles Programme: Free Information and History on the Town of Bridgnorth Bridgnorth has a population of 12,079 and is in the County of Shropshire, 13 miles from Telford and 21 miles from the County Town of Shrewsbury. The Town is split into two by The Severn Valley, one area known as High Town and the other as Low Town. Bridgnorth is named after a bridge over the River Severn, the bridge in question was built further North than a previous bridge, constructed at the nearby village of Quatford, to the South of the Town. Some of the earliest names to refer to what is now Bridgnorth, include Brigge, Brug and Bruges. The earliest piece of evidence that refers to the Town is from the year 895, there are records showing that ‘The Danes’ created a camp in an area then known as Cwatbridge. In the year 912, Ethelfelda ( Lady of the Mercians ) the ruler of Mercia in the English Midlands from 911-918 built a mound on the West Bank of the River Severn or possibly on the site of what was to become Bridgnorth Castle. This was designed to be used as part of an offensive against ‘The Danes’ Following the completion of the Norman conquest, William I granted the manor of Bridgnorth to Roger de Montgomerie, who was the first Earl of Shrewsbury. The town itself was not created until the year 1101. This came about when, Robert de Belleme, the third Earl of Shrewsbury and son of Roger de Montgomerie moved from Quatford and constructed both a Castle and Church on the site of the modern-day town. The Castle was demolished during the English Civil War of 1642-1651 but parts of the Great Tower, remain to this day. Due to the damage the Castle sustained during the Civil War, the tower leans at an angle of 15 degrees, four times as much as the World-famous leaning tower of Pisa in Italy. The remains of the castle are shown below: Bridgnorth became a royal borough in 1102, the newly constructed Castle was to be used as a defence mechanism against the Welsh. In 1322 and During what was known as The Despenser War, Bridgnorth was attacked and burnt by, Roger Mortimer, the First Earl of March. The Despenser War was a Baronial revolt against Edward II of England. This was led by Mortimer and fellow Marcher Lord, Humphrey de Bohun. The Town Walls in Bridgnorth were originally built from timber between 1216-1223. These were later upgraded to Stone walls between the 13th-15th Century. In total, five walls were built but only one survives to this day, known as Northgate and today houses the Town’s museum, Northgate is shown as follows: There is a plaque on Northgate describing the events of 1646, during the period of The English Civil War The plaque reads as follows: The Church of St.Leonards, a redundant Anglican Church and now a Grade II listed building was constructed during the 12th Century. The Church was used by the Roundheads during the Civil War to store their ammunition. In 1646, St.Leonards was ignited following a shot fired from a Cannon. This resulted in parts of the Church being destroyed. The roof of the Church was re-built in 1662 and major reconstruction works were carried out during the beginning of 1860. Unfortunately, by the 1970’s the tower had become unsafe and St.Leonards was declared redundant in 1976. The Church is now in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust, although being declared redundant it does still hold occasional services as well as various community events. St.Leonards is shown in the picture below: Another Church in High Town, Bridgnorth is a Parish Church called St. Mary Magdalene. This Church is situated in the West Castle Street area of the town. The Nave, Chancel and Western Tower were all constructed around the year, 1238. The current building was designed by Thomas Telford and constructed between, 1792-1795. This Church is beautiful as you can see from the picture the below. The tower stands at a height of 120ft. The town hall in Bridgnorth is a half timber building and was constructed during the 17th Century. This is another beautiful building in the town, please see pictures as follows: The Severn Valley Railway, which has a station in Bridgnorth and runs for a total of 16 miles along the Severn Valley to Kidderminster was opened to the public in February 1862. The railway line primarily uses trains powered by steam to carry passengers, it is the 6th longest standard gauge heritage railway line in the United Kingdom. A view of the station in Bridgnorth can be seen as follows: Bridgnorth is also the home of a Funicular Railway called, The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway. This amazing railway links Low Town to High Town, it is one of four railways built from the same design and is one of the steepest and shortest railways in the whole of the United Kingdom. The Bridgnorth Castle Hill Railway Company Ltd was registered in 1891, works started on the project in November 1891 and was officially opened to the public in July 1892. The same company still operates the line today, passengers can enjoy an enjoyable ride from Low Town to High Town and return. Stunning views of Low Town Can be pictured from the High Town entrance to the Cliff Railway as shown: More than 255 men from Bridgnorth volunteered to be called up during The First World War. Several of the men are remembered on the beautiful War Memorial which is situated on the same site as Bridgnorth Castle: Up until 1961, The Royal Airforce’s initial recruitment training unit was stationed at RAF Bridgnorth. The unit first opened in 1939, during The Second World War, two women were killed following a German air raid with bombs hitting houses close to the Unit in High Town. In 2005 unverified German papers dating from 1941 were discovered. These papers appeared to outline details with regards to ‘Operation Sealion’ a code name used by Germany during the war, for the planned German invasion of Britain. Two Shropshire towns were mentioned in the report, namely Ludlow and Bridgnorth. Experts believe that it was Hitler’s intention to make Bridgnorth his personal Headquarters in Britain, due to Bridgnorth being both a Central and Rural location as well as it’s rail connections and the now disused airfield. The picture on page one of my report shows that Bridgnorth has two twin towns. In 1978 Bridgnorth was twinned with Thiers, France and in 1992 Schrobenhausen, Germany. In 2003 it was granted Fairtrade Status, the first town in Shropshire to receive this status. Bridgnorth has many shops, restaurants and public houses as well as its own Theatre, known as ‘The Theatre on the Steps’. The town also has its own Cinema, The Majestic which was first used in the 1930’s and is still open to this day. In addition to AFC Bridgnorth, the town is also home to Bridgnorth Spartans Junior Football Club, which is one of the biggest of its kind in Shropshire. Ranging from under-8’s to Under-15’s boys’ teams as well as girls and Women’s teams. Bridgnorth Rowing club has been in existence from 1865 when it played host to a rowing competition between Shrewsbury School and Cheltenham College. Bridgnorth is home to the most successful table tennis club in Shropshire in recent times. The club can boast many men’s and ladies County champions amongst their ranks. In 2007 Bridgnorth hosted the UK Downhill Cycling Street Race. Bridgnorth Rugby Union Club has a successful side playing in the Midlands Premier League, finishing 5th in the 2017/2018 season. I am a Salopian born and bred, Bridgnorth is one of my very favourite places to visit in the whole of Shropshire. AFC Bridgnorth The football Club in its current form were founded as recently as 2013, following the previous club Bridgnorth Town folding after the 2012/2013 season due to financial problems. A Bridgnorth Town Football Club can be traced back to the 19th Century and indeed records show that a team joined the Shropshire and District League in 1899. A separate club by the same name were formed in July 1938 and joined the Worcestershire Combination in time for the 1938/1939 season. The Club folded after that season due to the outbreak of the Second World War. The name reappeared in 1949 when the Kidderminster League Club and wonderfully named, Bridgnorth Boys Club Old Boys changed their name to Bridgnorth Town. In 1968 Bridgnorth Town moved up to the league formerly known as The Worcestershire Combination, renamed the Midland Combination and joined Division One. In the 1970/1971 season they won the Football Association of Wales Trophy, beating Welshpool 2-1 in the final. They are one of only a handful of clubs from England to win this competition. They won the Midland Combination Division One title in 1979/1980 and again in the 1982/1983 season. This second title win saw the club being promoted to the Midland Division of the Southern League. Bridgnorth Town spent many seasons playing at this level before being relegated to the Midland Alliance.