A stroll along the bank of the River Parrett at Langport in Somerset.

The River Parrett at Langport in Somerset.

It was a nice summer’s afternoon with a gentle breeze so my wife and I decided to drive up to Langport and have stroll along the bank of the River Parrett.  The “Curry Road” was closed for roadworks so a detour up the A358 to the A378 was required.  Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant drive as the road gently twisted and turned up and down toward Wrantage, past Swell Wood and on through Curry Rivel.

In Langport we left the car in the spacious car park just off Bow Street, a very convenient place to stop if you are taking a walk alongside the Parrett or exploring the town.  A few steps took us to the riverside footpath where there are numerous benches for those who wish to just sit and enjoy a view of the river and low-lying fields on the far bank.  Swallows or Martins were skilfully swooping low over the water, but as we strolled along something a lot more sinister passed overhead; a RAF Tornado with its landing gear down - presumably heading for nearby RNAS Yeovilton. 

A Royal Air Force Tornado, with landing gear down, above the River Parrett at Langport in Somerset. 

As we continued along the riverbank my wife spotted the tower of All Saints Church rising above the treetops and suggested it would make a pleasant photo set against the clear blue sky.

The tower of All Saints Church in Langport, Somerset.  Viewed from the footpath alongside the River Parrett.

The River Parrett enters Bridgwater Bay at Burnham-on-Sea 37 miles from its source which is 4 miles southeast of Crewkerne in Somerset near the Dorsetshire village of Chedington.  Today the Parrett is peaceful and undisturbed yet in the mid-nineteenth century, when waterborne trade was at its peak, Langport’s quays and warehouses dealt with 55,000 tons of cargo annually.  Barges and canal boats of 15 to 20 tons capacity carried their loads to Langport where they were either transhipped to smaller barges of 5 to 10 tons to carry those cargoes continuing upriver, or stored for distribution by packhorse or wagon.

The town’s fifteenth century Great Bow Bridge, with its low arches, also restricted the size of vessels proceeding to the narrower upper reaches of the Parrett and its tributaries.  In 1840 the bridge was replaced thus facilitating an increase in trade and prosperity, but the coming of the railway in the form of the Taunton to Yeovil branch line, which opened in 1853, began the inevitable decline of river-borne cargoes.  

A view across the River Parrett, near Westover Pumping Station, at Langport in Somerset.

   

Now that the quays and warehouses are no more, an apt description of Langport is given by Ralph Whitlock in his Somerset (B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1975).  He compares the town to an elderly man who, after an exciting and eventful life, has settled down to a humdrum retirement in a terraced house.  Unfortunately for his peace it is too near a busy main road.

Be that as it may, once we had negotiated the confines of Bow Street and parked the car my wife and I enjoyed our stroll along the bank of the River Parrett.  No doubt we will return to explore Langport further.