Hereford & Worcester

Ice on the River Severn below Redstone, 1895

Archive photos owned by a Worcestershire man show the River Severn frozen enough for people to walk on it.

The photos, owned by John Hinton from Kidderminster, are in an old form of 3D known as stereoscope.

They date back to 1895, when temperatures in Worcestershire fell low enough to completely freeze the river.

They are part of a larger collection of photographs showing life in Worcestershire in the 19th century.

John Hinton told BBC Hereford & Worcester that the pictures were taken in a special way:

"All these photos are stereoscope photos, in other words you need a viewer to see them in 3D.

Ice on Severn at Ribbesford, February 1895

"I think it was first introduced into this country in about 1850 and was very popular for quite a long time.

"Obviously they are black and white photos."

Big freeze

The second part of the 19th century saw a long sustained drop in temperatures, and the River Severn froze over in 1855, 1883 or 1885, and 1879.

John Hinton says the photos show just how thick the ice was:

"The river is well frozen and quite easy to walk on - there's somebody on the river.

"I understand that from time to time when this happened they actually roasted an ox in the middle of the river."

Ice pack on the River Severn above Bewdley

He told BBC Hereford & Worcester that the photo collection came to him in an unusual way:

"My mother gave them to a friend of mine, he put them in the back of his garage, and forgot about them.

"Then he found them again and phoned me up and said he had some photos that belonged to me."

The collection contains many rare images, including pictures of Witley Court before a fire gutted the Worcestershire stately home.

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