Bewdley

By Guy Scott

At the western end of Rice Lake lies the small village of Bewdley. The village was established in the early 1800s; it being situated at the point the Cobourg-Peterborough Road skirted the shore of Rice Lake. The road was the major link to Peterborough, but was upstaged by routes that crossed Rice Lake (except in winter). Bewdley was a ‘port’ on Rice Lake, similar to Harwood and Gore’s Landing. This Road is now Highway 28 and was aligned with the Bobcaygeon Road.

The first business was Black’s Tavern (circa 1820) which catered to travelllers on the road and those using Rice Lake. The first sawmill on Rice Lake was at Bewdley, cashing in on its proximity to the Cobourg Road. In 1833, local landowner William Blank renamed the hamlet Bewdley, after his former residence in Worcester, England. The little hamlet sputtered along as a port on Rice Lake and a mill town throughout the 1800s. The Rice Lake Railway through Harwood drew off some business, but the Cobourg-Peterborough Road kept the traffic percolating through the area. Along with other hamlets along the south shore of Rice Lake, Bewdley established itself as a tourist destination. The most famous character of the Bewdley area was Joseph Scriven, who was a wandering preacher and tutor for the ‘landed gentry’ of the area. He is best remembered as a writer of poems or hymns, especially the famous “What a Friend we Have in Jesus.” Today, Bewdley is still a “tourist town” on scenic Rice Lake.

The whole of Northumberland and Durham Counties are laced with numerous small cross-roads settlements. Most of these settlements were founded in the early 1800s, when travel was more difficult, and most people did not travel far to attend church, shop or collect mail. Here is a list of these minor settlements and their distance from Bewdley. Most of the names are unfamiliar, and many were not even post offices. But it is interesting to see how many there were and how closely they were to each other.

Halstead Beach 3 km

Rosmount 5 km

Pengelly Landing 5 km

Taits Beach 4 km

Davidson’s Corners 7 km

Perrytown 7 km

Hall Landing 8 km

South Monaghan 8 km

Thomstown 7 km

Garden Hill 7 km

Canton 10 km

Bensford Corners 10 km

Plainville 8 km

Wallace Point 11 km

Dale 11 km

Carmel (Bewdley area) 9 km

Camborne 10 km

Cold Springs (Cobourg area) 9 km

Welcome 13 km

Cedar Valley (Peterborough area) 12 km

Bensfort Bridge 14 km

Port Hope 14 km

Crystal Springs 15 km

Osaca 13 km

Stewart Hall 16 km

Morrish 15 km

Precious Corners 13 km

Hiawatha 14 km

Elizabethville 12 km

Campbelltown 16 km

Port Britain 17 km

Kendry 17 km

Decker Hollow 14 km

Zion (Lucknow area) 16 km

Zion (Peterborough area) 18 km

Cavan Station 17 km

Springville (Peterborough area) 18 km

Braund Port 20 km

Mathers Corners 18 km

Yankee Bonnet 20 km

Creighton Heights 16 km

Crawford’s Grove 21 km

Wesleyville 20 km

Assumption 21 km

Collison Heights 21 km

Drummond 20 km

Glamorgan 16km

Fairmount (Peterborough area) 20 km

Coldsprings 22 km

Kawartha Heights 22 km