Wyre Forest in the Stour valley. These supplied iron from manufacture into finished iron goods mainly in the Black Country. Charcoal burning continued into the 20th century. A branch off the Severn Valley Railway known as the "Tenbury Line" once ran through the Wyre Forest. It broke off the main line north of Bewdley and crossed the River Severn at Dowles Bridge, the piers of which still remain. The main track has long been dismantled but the trackbed is now a walking route through the forest. The Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire containing the towns Kidderminster, Bewdley and Stourport on Severn takes
Droitwich Spa is likely derived from Sal meaning "salt" and weorp which means "to throw up" i.e. "the river which throws up salt" which overflows from the salt brines. The town is situated on massive deposits of salt, and salt has been extracted there since ancient times. The natural Droitwich brine contains of salt – ten times stronger than sea water and rivalled only by the Dead Sea. During the Roman era the settlement was known as "Salinae" and was located at the crossroads of several Roman roads. Railway construction in 1847 revealed Roman mosaic pavements, and later excavations unearthed a Roman