Kinver Edge is the watershed where Staffordshire gives way to Worcestershire, industry to rural life, where heather and woodland co-exist, and visitors from all around come to enjoy nature, good walking, and past generations of history. From Kinver Edge the counties of Shropshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire may be seen. Likewise, the hills of Clent, Clee, and Abberley, Cannock Chase, the Cotswolds, Breden, the Long Mynd, and the Malverns. Yet from any of these it will be almost impossible to identify Kinver Edge. Such is how it fits into the landscape: a low ridge of sandstone and pebble, part wooded, part heath, but otherwise without a distinguishing feature that makes it recognisable from outside. But the views are without peer. In the year 1775 J. Heely was admiring these views when he was overtaken by a storm. So violent was the tempest that he hastened down from the escarpment and was given shelter by a family of cave dwellers at Holy Austin Rock. Five years before Heely's adventure, James Brindley cut the Staffs and Worcs Canal through Kinver on its way to the Severn.
A few facts: Kinver is the most southerly village in Staffordshire. Inhabitants number around 7000, there are six restaurants, six pubs, a library, health centre, two dentists, two butchers and two green grocers, two fish and chip shops and a Chinese takeaway, three hairstylists and a barber, a pharmacy, veterinary practice, doctor, bank, two post offices, a Spar and a Co-op, and a Methodist church. The parish church, however, stands aloof—no one knows quite why—on the escarpment, looking down as it has from Norman times when Kinver was known as Kinfare.
But it was iron that changed Kinver for ever. The Stour—a useful little river—provided both transport and power and soon its winding banks were crammed with enterprise. From the 16th century to the 18th the iron industry grew. By 1850 the population of Kinver had risen four-fold. By 1890 the iron works were gone, unable to compete with Birmingham and the Black Country. The village declined and faced destitution. The paradox is that Birmingham and the Black Country were to be the saviour. The new wealth there translated into tourism and folk saw Kinver as a haven.
The escape from smoke and grime for wholesome Kinver air and fine views was the new industry. Kinver came to be promoted as the Switzerland of the Midlands for the Edge, the winding valley, the winding village street fired the romance in the minds of many. So much so that in 1901 the Kinver Light Railway opened, the first cross-country tramway in Britain and it linked Kinver to the conurbation. Now folk could come in their droves to enjoy the walks on Kinver Edge and afterwards, relax in the café's and tea houses, hotels and pubs.
The outcome was dramatic. The village thrived once more. On Whit Monday, 1905, the tramway carried nearly 17,000 visitors. And the trams ran long into the night to get everyone home. Tourism also brought postcards. There are thousands still circulating. Many of the rock houses were photographed, and the troglodytes who occupied them and who, no doubt, charged for the privilege. Rock House tea rooms sprang up. A pot of tea, bread and butter for four cost 2/6d (12p), and afterwards, a small charge for use of the loo, or soil closet as it was then. The last rock house tearoom was at Holy Austin which closed in the 1960s. Now owned and restored by the National Trust, the tearoom is set to re-open.
The National Trust has a significant interest in Kinver. The Edge was purchased by the four children of a Birmingham solicitor and given to the Trust to protect it from developers. This was 1917, the First World War was at its height, and Kinver Edge was the first of the large Midland open spaces to come into Trust ownership. A 'green lung' was how Octavia Hill, a founding member of Trust, described these new open spaces that were open for all and forever.
More facts and firsts. Of the two wells at Holy Austin Rock, one is said to be the deepest in England at 180 feet. The hymn writer and novelist Baring Gould set his novel Bladys of Stewponey in and around the caves at Kinver. Dorothy Round, twice Ladies Wimbleden Champion in the 1930s, lived in the village. Kinver Edge and Holy Austin Rock are Sights of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for the insects, plants, and geology. A Scheduled Ancient Monument crowns the northern promontory of the Edge. The Iron Age hillfort also includes within its schedule a World War 2 Home Guard observation post. The Queen and her sister as the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret dropped in at Holy Austin one day when passing by. After the Battle of Worcester, Charles II eluded his pursuers by riding along the ridge. It was once claimed that in 1916 a German Zeppelin landed on the hillfort but this has probably more to do with the said claimant living next door to the Elm Tree pub.
Zeppelin or not, the view from up here is still worth the climb.
Our next outing is to Kinver on Sunday, April 19th where Peter and Fran Hodges are organising a treasure trail which will take in the fascinating history and natural environment of the area . You can see them hard at work in the picture. 
