74 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



Three and three-quarter miles from Shrews- 

 bury, and a comparatively short distance from 

 Severnside, is the site of Uriconium (Wroxeter), 

 a Roman city, which was destroyed by the West 

 Saxons, AD. 584. It is said in olden days to have 

 had the beautiful name of " The White Town in 

 the Woodland." There is still much of interest 

 to be studied amongst the ruins. 



You can wander and wonder among the ruins 

 of these Roman cities. And there is a romantic 

 fascination about following some old, forgotten, 

 straight Roman road. Had one, perchance, some 

 remote ancestor among those mighty Romans, 

 who were in Britain for centuries ? 



Between Wroxeter and Shrewsbury is Atcham, 

 where close to the parish church is an imposing 

 bridge over the Severn. In Capetown one after- 

 noon I saw a picture of this scene hung on the 

 walls of an Adderley Street cafe. It brought me 

 back to Severnside in a trice. The proprietor, it 

 seemed, was a Birmingham man, and he told me 

 that he happened to be at a party at Shifnal on 

 the night in 1883 when news came of the tragic 

 death of Captain Matthew Webb in his daring 

 attempt to swim Niagara Rapids. Webb was a 

 Shropshire man, and his sister was at that Shifnal 

 party. She resolutely refused to believe the 

 message. " Matthew could never be drowned 

 when swimming," said she. Her words showed 

 what a pride in him those had who knew him 

 best. Alas ! the message was true. 



Shrewsbury itself, if history appeals to him, 



