Ironbridge to Bridgnorth along the river – is it rideable?

We were hoping to do a gravel ride to Bridgnorth on Friday, getting onto the river path at Coalport.

We did it about 10 years ago on 700 x 23 tyres but having seen the state of the rivers recently I wondered if any locals knew if it was underwater, boggy as hell or worth a go.

Cheers!

On a pedalo…? Maybe!

You can ride to Bridgnorth along the disused railway line, it’s quite a nice ride, the last mile is along the road past the golf club. The river is high at the moment but it doesn’t get near the old railway line

The railway line might be what we need. I’m new to the gravel scene so now we need to find routes from Stafford and Penkridge.

The river isn’t (wasn’t last weekend anyway) anywhere near high enough to bother the old rlwy line. That was built high enough not to be flooded. As above, the Bridgnorth end is close to the golf course, which does sometimes flood, but the route quickly bypasses the course itself by using using the lane past the clubhouse,  which is slightly higher.

TL:DR the Severn would have to be very high to make it impassable.

routes from Stafford and Penkridge.

From Stafford, I’d say Millenium Way to Newport, then via Church Aston, Lilleshall & Preston on Weald Moors to the north end of the Silkin Way near Shawbirch. If your nav is up to following the twists and turns of the bastardised route that now takes through Telford, it’ll drop you perfectly down to Coalport.
From Penkridge, either head NW to join the Millenium Way at Gnosall, or (probably shorter) go basically west via Wheaton Aston, Gt Chatwell, south of Lilleshall and then cycleways from Muxton westwards to join the above Silkin Way.
Easy peasy!

Either of the above, followed by a ride down to Bridgo, makes for a longish day.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure the route along the Severn valley is no longer gravel; think it was surfaced a few years ago.

Well, we’ve been doing the Coalport to Bridgnorth disused railway track a few times now. It ain’t half bumpy, even on a gravel bike with a bit of suspension. Far worse than any of the tracks we do on Cannock Chase.
Anyway, we took a look at the private bridge at Apley Park/Linley Station when a rather genteel lady drove over it and opened the gates and let us through.
We felt like proper scalliwags! Although the ride through the grounds was fun it brought us out on the main road miles away from any quiet lane heading east back to Stafford. So in future we’ll stick to the path back to Coalport and enjoy the back road/dirt track to Ryton.

Scallywags is a great word. I hope you young scamps didn’t get up to mischief upon your velocipedes.

Toodles!