A TRIBUTARY OF THE SEVERN 81 



does important work at Bearstone mills. Thence it 

 proceeds past Oakley Hall. The late Colonel Sir 

 George Chetwode, who lived here many years, 

 served in the Crimea and in the Indian Mutiny. 

 His son, Lieut.-General Sir Philip Chetwode, 

 won his D.S.O. in the Anglo-Boer War, and dis- 

 tinguished himself still further in 1914-1918, in 

 the European and Palestine warfare. 



At Oakley, a flourishing farming district, rare 

 specimens of Shropshire sheep are bred, and from 

 one of these Oakley farms went out into the 

 world, thirty odd years ago, a farmer's son to make 

 his fortune in business. After a successful start 

 near London, he and his partner boldly invaded 

 Oxford Street. The wise father feared his son 

 might lose the money he had already made ; but 

 the son proved wise also, and the Oxford Street 

 establishment now is one of the shopping sights 

 of town. 



A couple of miles from Oakley, and not far 

 from the hamlet of Mucklestone, is the site of the 

 battle of Blore Heath, fought in 1459 during the 

 Wars of the Roses. Here Lord Audley was slain, 

 and the battle-cross erected to his memory is to 

 be seen to this day. The victors had feigned 

 flight, and on reaching a summit turned sharply 

 upon their adversaries when the latter were in 

 the Valley. Great was the slaughter that day ; 

 tradition has it that Hemp Mill Brook ran for 

 three days with blood. At Betton Old Hall, 

 Queen Margaret slept the night before Blore 

 Heath battle, and, when the next day had gone 



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