Shropshire, England

Shrewsbury put-in

Launch — Shrewsbury Town Council manages this slipway as the town's designated canoe launch area on the River Severn.

Parking — Frankwell Car Park (632 spaces) and the smaller Frankwell Riverside car park (79 spaces) are both a short walk from the launch, run by Shropshire Council on a pay-and-display or MiPermit basis (location codes 740004 and 740008). Frankwell Riverside closes to incoming vehicles between midnight and 5am, though cars already parked can still leave.

Access — Reached on foot across the Welsh Bridge, which has step-free access towards the town centre (the separate Frankwell footbridge does not), or by road via the A458 into Frankwell.

Season — The launch falls within Shrewsbury's statutory bathing water season, 15 May to 30 September, when the Environment Agency samples the water weekly for E. coli and intestinal enterococci and later publishes an overall water-quality classification. The Agency's Shropshire Groundwater Scheme can add up to 240 million litres a day from a sandstone aquifer beneath North Shropshire to help maintain summer flows.

Regulations — Unpowered craft need no Canal & River Trust licence on this stretch of the Severn, part of the historic Public Right of Navigation running from Pool Quay to Stourport. The 1974 River Severn byelaws set an 8 mph speed limit for powered launches and ban racing and water-skiing through the town.

This is an informal ground-surface put-in on the River Severn in central Shrewsbury, a short walk from Frankwell Quay and the Welsh Bridge. It sits on the same horseshoe loop of the Severn that local canoe hire trips use to head downstream toward Ironbridge.

Water quality

DEFRA designated the canoe launch area a Bathing Water site in 2024, one of only a handful on an inland river in England. Shrewsbury Town Council's Clean Rivers Working Group pushed for the status, showing how many people already used the water here.

The Severn Rivers Trust records that only around 10% of the catchment's roughly 400 rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies meet 'good' ecological status, a result of agricultural runoff and sewage discharges.

Nearby

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Ginger & Co. Coffee

Independent coffee shop on Princess Street, about 500m from the launch on foot across the Welsh Bridge.

Website

Oxon Hall Touring & Holiday Home Park

Touring park open year-round, taking tents, caravans and motorhomes, about 3.6km west of the launch just off the A458 Welshpool Road.

Website

Conditions to check

Weir

A weir crosses the river about 260 yards (238m) below Castle Bridge. Canoes are exempt from the roller pass required of other vessels and may pass directly over the weir, at the paddler's own risk with no council liability.

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Boat traffic

Powered launches, including local canoe-hire boats and private motorboats, share this stretch under an 8 mph speed limit. The byelaws also ban racing and water-skiing through the town.

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Other

The Welsh Bridge gauge normally reads between 0.42m and 2.70m but has recorded a high of 5.25m on 1 November 2000.

Source

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