Hampton Loade
Hampton Loade is a hamlet in Shropshire, England along the Severn Valley. It is situated on the east bank of the River Severn at, and is notable for the unusual current-operated Hampton Loade Ferry, a reaction ferry to the hamlet of Hampton on the west bank. The ferry is responsible for Hampton Loade's name, as Loade is derived from lode, an old English word for ferry.
The village is in the post town district of Wolverhampton and local government district of Bridgnorth, 4 miles to the north. It is in the Ludlow parliamentary constituency and the West Midlands European parliament constituency.
Hampton Loade station, on the preserved Severn Valley Railway, is actually located on the Hampton side of the river.
There is an unusual bridge close to Hampton Loade: a small private roadway is suspended below two large waterpipe arches, used to pump water from the river to Chelmarsh Reservoir, by the South Staffordshire Water works.
The hamlet is also home to a satellite navigation error where the ferry is listed as a car ferry or a bridge on certain sat-nav systems; there are now road signs in place warning of the error on approaching the village.
The ferry has not been run recently prompting speculation that it is permanently closed. This has not been confirmed by any reliable news sources but according to the Severn Valley Railway it has ceased operation.On the night of 19 June 2007, the village of Hampton on the west bank suffered major damage as a result of a severe rainstorm. The one and only road into the village was washed away, and large sections of nearby Severn Valley Railway track subsided.
