ON Saturday September 15 at 8.30am, a coach-load of 50 people from Droitwich Spa and Bromsgrove started out on a tour of the history of the River Severn.

Mr Draper, a former employee of the Severn Water Board, and now a professional guide and author on the River Severn, led the trip.

We soon passed the famous Ironbridge and headed into the hills and valleys of Wales.

Mr Draper had a vast knowledge of every church, pub, village and famous house en route and was an excellent commentator with a sense of humour.

We had a short stop at the famous Welsh Dam but were all surprised to find the water level so low, there having been so much rain over the past six to eight weeks.

We had coffee at Welshpool, lunch at Newtown and, later in the afternoon, tea in a very pretty little village. We arrived home at about 7.30pm.

So successful was this trip that negotiations have already begun for another Severn outing in September 2002 when the southern half of the river will be visited.

Another event which has taken place is the visit of Mr E Wolffe Wahle, an ex-German prisoner of war, who talked about his life in the German Air Force and his residence in Britain as a prisoner.

He went back home in 1948, but returned in 1949, met his wife and has been here ever since.