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 through to the Middle Ages. A salt tax was levied by the king until it was abolished in 1825. A local family named Wintour owned up to 25 salt evaporating pans in the area by the 1600s. Brine rose naturally to the surface at three sites along the River Salwarpe within Vines Park in the centre of Droitwich. Unusually the brine was fully saturated with sodium chloride, and was extremely valuable because it was economic to boil, and the yield of salt was high. Because of its value the brine was divided into shares, one share comprising which produced of