Ben Welsher | Writings

My Bradshaw's Guide tells me that Bridgwater is "A port and borough in Somersetshire, on the Great Western Railway, 29 miles from Bristol, a bay, and the mouth of the Parret. Common red bricks of an excellent quality, and the white scouring “Bath Brick” as it is called, though peculiar to Bridge water, is only made here by two or three firms. They are manufactured from the slime deposited on the banks of the Parret, where untouched by the salt water (which spoils it), and burnt at the top of the kiln, above the red bricks.' There was a fortress on Castle Hill, built after the Conquest, by Walter de Douai, from whom, or from the bridge which he began, the town takes its name, Bridge-Walter". So why the lack of an 'E' in the current name? At this point I'm tempted to make a poor joke about the simplicity of finding an 'E' in Bridgwater but looking at the people who hang around the high street after nightfall I'd say heroin is more the local delic