Fact File

The origin of the word trow probably derives from the Saxon word 'trog' later 'trough' meaning a hollowed out vessel.

Severn Trows

The trows plied their trade along the River Severn, one of the most important waterways in Europe. Of all the varied craft that have sailed the Severn the keel-less, flat bottomed was perhaps the most suited to the task. When asked who designed the trows, a river man had replied: "The river."

Although the trows reached their zenith during the Industrial Revolution - a fleet of 39 were based at Madeley Wood - they had been used for several centuries prior to it.

The earliest reference to this particular craft is in 1411, when an appeal was made to King Henry 1V to take action against the piratical activities of trow owners in the County of Salop (Shropshire) and elsewhere. It had little effect, as further appeals were made in 1427 and 1429.

The trow owners wanted to monopolise the river trade and were not adverse to attacking smaller craft and stealing the cargoes. If the owners of these smaller craft hired the trows from time to time, however, they tended not to suffer further attacks - a blatant protection racket!

That the trow men were capable of behaving in such a manner is hardly surprising for history has recorded them as being broad-shouldered, foul-mouthed individuals whose only pleasures in life were swilling ale, womanising, bare-knuckle fighting, bull baiting, cock fighting and all other ungodly pursuits imaginable.

For a long time there had been conflict between landowners and trow men regarding the fishing weirs, which hindered navigation along the river. The weirs consisted of series of logs that were laid in the centre of the riverbed to form a chevron into which fish would swim and be trapped. At low water levels, the trows were unable to go around them.

During the reigns of King Henry V11 and V111 some attempts were made to ensure free passage but it was not until Queen Elizabeth 1 came to the throne that legislation was passed to remove all such obstructions.

If the trow men were men to be avoided, then the Bowhauliers were even more so. At times of calm weather these stockily built men would literally haul the trows along the river from the bank by means of ropes attached to the bows - each man pulling a cargo weighing 3 tons the 24 miles between Coalbrookdale and Bewdley, for which they were paid the equivalent in today's currency of 15p!

The Bowhauliers made the trow men seem positively gentile.

Many a deal was struck at the Mug Inn, named such because deals were made with a mug of beer in the hand. To keep tabs on how much they had consumed, they used a red hot poker to scorch the tally into the beams of the boats and would no doubt have used it on anyone disagreeing with said tally!

Apart from the owners of the Ale Houses, not many people would have welcomed the trow men or Bowhauliers when because of floods or drought they would be laid up ashore for long periods of time. Indeed, when Abraham Darby repaired and fired the Brooke furnace in 1708 at Coalbrookdale it was recorded that there was insufficient water for navigation on an average of 146 days per year - the worst year being 1796, when even the smaller 20 ton vessels were laid up for 234 days.

Despite the uncertainty of navigable conditions, river transport was still more cost effective and reliable than the trackways ashore.

If the ironmasters had kick-started the Industrial Revolution, it was the uncouth, yet skilled, trow men and Bowhauliers who carried the products downstream to the waiting world.

Written by Colin Ayling © 2006