Riddings Route

The basics. ( check out the glossary is you are unsure of any terms used )
Riddings watercourse, features and route.
Riddings Brook is a watercourse that has culverted sections, a culvert is a when a previously open channel or water is diverted through pipes. Their are a large number of separate culverts on Riddings Brook as it meanders its way under roads, through the Safari Park, before joining the River Severn between the Leisure Centre and High School on Stourport Road. Culverts can work well for many years, but can also cause flash flooding problems following rainstorms or prolonged rain as culverting dramatically reduces the capacity of a watercourse. Flash flooding can also be made worse when the capacity of small watercourses or culverts is reduced by blockages of silt, rubbish/fly-tipping. Rubbish can also travel down watercourses until it reaches culverted sections and block them, a new pre debris screen has just been fitted ( read Hot Off the Press HERE ). Photo of Riddings Brook alongside Grey Green Farm, where the replacement pre screen will be located.To help avoid this riparian owners are encouraged to keep watercourses that run through their land clear of debris that might cause problems further downstream. Their has recently been grants available for this work which is still being undertaken.

Over the years many developments and alterations have been made to its course and composition, with the construction of the bypass one of its significant pools ( Known as Toad Pool / Folly Pool / Chipperfields Pool ) was cut in half with a culvert connecting, the track at the rear of Lodge Close in Church Meadow has another culvert, as does the top of Sandbourne Close. The private housing estate the rises on the Kidderminster side of Queensway has the majority of Meadow Rise, Lingfield Road, Belvedere Crescent and Dunmore Roads sewage and surface water joining the Queensway drainage system down the footpath along Springside Place, adjacent to 100 Queensway. Delemere Road, Heathfield Road and a small section of Meadow Rise sewerage joins the Queensway between 44 & 46 Queensway. Many properties on the estate high above the Queensway suffer from water overflowing their drains and flowing through garages etc
The most significant culvert on the Riddings Brook water course and the one we are interested in at the moment is the Queensway culvert. During the building of the Queensway the culvert was partially constructed to channel water away from land that was designated for buildings. The first section was built a very long time ago and passes upstream underneath Kidderminster Road from Church Meadow, it is showing signs of collapse following the 6th of September flood and 4th October.
Photos HERE.
The lower Queensway Houses have the culvert running above the level of their homes in the rear garden to maintain flow, it is visible above ground and has numerous leaks that spew the distinctive clay coloured water into their gardens during culvert high volume.
As the demand for homes increased after the war, the culvert pipe was extended further up the road and more homes were constructed in the middle section of the Queensway. The the top section of the pipe was added onto the existing concrete culvert, enabling the bungalows on the right of the Queensway to be built, Hoarstone Close and part of Cordle Marsh Road. Riddings Close was built during the 70s during the craze for self build homes, as were the properties on the junction of Cordle Marsh Road going uphill Towards Shaw Hedge Road.
Queensway Culverts Construction.
The Culverts construction starts with sandstone blocks which run from its exit in Church Meadow on Kidderminster Road, upstream at a location that is accessed from 71 Kidderinster Road. Their are two open drains on the main road that enter the culvert directly and also an open inspection pit which has a temporary cover as a safety measure just upstream of the pavement, with an access manhole a few meters upstream.
It changes at some point in this bottom section to a concrete pipe construction, which with various additions and changes in circumference, continues all the way upstream past Riddings Close to the inlet in the top field, below Grey Green Lane, where the new culvert grid has been installed.
It is not possible to show this section as it is completely inaccessible, the shot below is 10 foot downstream of the Queensway culvert outlet and clearly shows a huge amount of construction material. What is perhaps most concerning, is this is the section that runs under the main Kidderminster Road.
A huge amount of homes across Wribbenhall rely on the Queensway culvert to prevent their properties from flooding. No matter how hard the Riddings Brook Flood Group work to maintain the culverts flow at the top, unless it has a free flow it will ultimately be in vain. The pipes capacity is already questionable to the huge demand of surface water that is placed on it.