| Bidford-on-Avon | |
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Bidford-on-Avon
Bidford-on-Avon shown within Warwickshire |
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| Population | 4,830 (2001) |
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| OS grid reference | SP099518 |
| Parish | Bidford-on-Avon |
| District | Stratford-on-Avon |
| Shire county | Warwickshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Warwickshire |
| Fire | Warwickshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| List of places: UK • England • Warwickshire | |
Bidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830.
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Bidford-on-Avon village is, as its name suggests, situated on the River Avon, some 7 miles (11 km) downstream of Stratford-upon-Avon and about the same distance upstream of Evesham. The village grew up around an ancient ford, (Byda's Ford) now replaced by a narrow stone bridge, on the Ryknild Street Roman road, now a minor country road to Honeybourne 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south. To the north Alcester is about 4 miles (6.4 km) away, Redditch 10 miles (16 km) away and Birmingham 25 miles (40 km) away. It also lies on the Heart of England Way.
Bidford-on-Avon is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwickshire County Council. The three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.
Besides the village of Bidford itself, the civil parish includes the settlements of Barton, Broom and Marlcliff. Broom lies to the north of Bidford, whilst both Barton and Marlcliffe lie south of the river.[1]
William Shakespeare is said to have joined a party of Startford folk which set itself to outdrink a drinking club at Bidford-on-Avon, and as a result of his labours in that regard to have fallen asleep under the crab tree of which a descendant is still called Shakespeares tree. When morning dawned his friends wished to renew the encounter but he wisely said "No I have drunk with “Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston, Haunted Hillboro’, Hungry Grafton, Dodging Exhall, Papist Wixford, Beggarly Broom and Drunken Bidford” and so, presumably, I will drink no more. The story is said to date from the 17th century but of its truth or of any connection of the story or the verse to Shakespeare there is no evidence. The Falcon Inn was a favorite tavern in his day. [2].
There is also an ancient Saxon burial ground under the free car park located just behind Spice Avon, formerly the pub "The Anglo-Saxon". Bidford was the birthplace and childhood home of the author Barbara Comyns Carr.
The bridge is wider than a Packhorse bridge, suggesting that Bidford was an important river crossing. It dates from the early 15th century but has been repaired many times; in the 16th century stone from Alcester's demolished priory was used. There are eight arches, with cutwaters on the upper side. In 1644 Charles I demolished the bridge to cover his retreat from Worcester to Oxford - this was repaired in 1650 by Quarter Sessions, for whom Bidford Bridge was a 'county bridge' under its control. The bridge underwent repairs as a combine harvester got stuck on it and the sides had to be demolished for it to be freed.
Bidford no longer has an active railway line, but it once had a station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway, which ran east-west across country from Broom Junction on the Midland Railway's Barnt Green-Redditch-Alcester-Evesham-Ashchurch line, through Stratford-upon-Avon to Towcester and beyond. The Broom to Stratford section (including Bidford and also Binton), was an early casualty, with passenger services suspended in June 1947 and closure rubber-stamped as permanent in May 1949. The line itself remained open with the south curve of Broom Junction until at least 1952.[3]
The village was featured on the BBC motoring programme Top Gear when the presenters resurfaced a local road in a single day, a task that would have usually taken an entire working week.
The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Lawrence and St. Joseph the Worker Church is the local Roman Catholic church. Bidford also has a Methodist church and a Baptist church.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bidford-on-Avon Bidford-on-Avon] at Wikimedia Commons
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