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Captain Webb, a swimmer from Dawley, was the first man to swim the English Channel in 1875. The scarlet silk underpants which he wore for the swim, under a pair of woollen long johns, can be seen at the Museum. |
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Although the direct route across the channel is twenty one miles Captain Webb swam thirty nine and a half miles as the tides pushed him off course. It took him over twenty one hours. |
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Captain Webb died in 1883, caught in a whirlpool whilst attempting to swim the Niagara rapids. His body was found four days later. 'Nothing great is easy' is carved on his headstone. |
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The warehouse now housing the museum was constructed within living memory of the Great Flood of 1795 and was designed to let water flow in and out, taking account of fluctuations in the river. Good job really as it still floods in and out today ! |
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The voice that you can hear in the Lady Chapel is that of the coracle maker Eustace Rogers who lived in a house opposite. His coracle making shed still sits on the river bank beyond the Iron Bridge. |
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The warehouse shows that the Coalbrookdale Company was still reliant on river transport whilst the rest of the nation was getting into trains! |
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Captain Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel, was born in Dawley near Ironbridge on 19 January 1848. |
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Local hero Captain Matthew Webb, the first cross channel swimmer, once saved his brother from the dangerous currents near the Iron Bridge. |
