Memory Corner February 28th 2019

Friday, February 28th, 1794

ALL YOUNG MEN OF SPIRIT, who are able and willing to serve their KING and COUNTRY, in the regiment to be raised by Colonel Graham, with MAJOR ROWLAND HILL, are desired to repair immediately to his standard at the White Lion in Whitchurch, the Red Lion, Prees, or at the sign of the Drum in Roushill, Shrewsbury.  TEN GUINEAS BOUNTY, without any deductions, will be given to every sound, healthy man, not above 35 years of age, 5 foot 5 inches high, who voluntarily enters himself with the Major or his Sergeants; or nine guineas if introduced by a friend.  One half of the bounty to be immediately paid, the remainder on being finally passed to the regiment.

 

Friday February 26th, 1819

PASSENGERS DROPPED – on Thursday, when the coach from Wolverhampton to Worcester arrived in Dudley, the coachman was much surprised to find that several outside passengers were missing.  Upon enquiring, it was ascertained that the iron which supported the dicky had broken off near three miles from the town, and four men seated upon it were precipitated to the ground.  The accident was not observed by the other outside passengers, but the above persons all arrived in a short time, having fortunately escaped with a few slight contusions and a rolling in the mud.

 

Friday February 26th, 1869

ATTEMPT TO UPSET A TRAIN – a boy named Henry Taylor was charged at the County Police Office on Friday with attempting to upset a passenger train by placing a pair of trolley wheels against the rails of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales railway. He was committed for trial to the assizes.

IT WAS STATED in both Lords and Commons on Friday that the Queen wished to deliver the Royal Speech in person, but that her medical attendants did not consider her to be in sufficiently good health safely to make the necessary exertion.

 

Friday February 28th, 1919

MOTOR SMASH – Sergeant-Major Alfred Biddulph Williams, RAF Monkmoor Aerodrome, was charged by PC Lamb with driving a motor car without being duly licensed on January 26th. The car skidded on High Street and damaged a window.  Williams told the constable he had no license, but said he thought it was alright because a friend who was in the car with him held a license.  The defendant was fined £1.

INFLUENZA RAMPANT – the influenza epidemic has again become most acute in the Shrewsbury district, and numerous deaths have been reported.

 

Friday March 2nd, 1979

SHROPSHIRE’S LONG COLD WINTER could mean a grim £2 million headache for the County Council. The severe Arctic conditions have taken a heavy toll of the county’s roads and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. Salting, gritting and clearing roads has already cost the county council £800,000 – £150,000 more than had originally been estimated for. And although the council is now temporarily patching up roads battered by the effects of snow and frost, a massive sum will have to be spent on more permanent repairs.

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE are seeking help from the Samaritans in Shrewsbury.  And so organisers have now installed a second telephone line to cope with the increased number of calls.  Some 6,000 local people contacted the Samaritans last year, compared with 4,000 in 1977.

 

Thursday March 3rd, 1994

LAWRIE BLOOMFIELD will never forget a visit to Shrewsbury in the summer of 1980.  “I inadvertently stumbled upon the Flower Show,” recalls Lawrie, who retires as manager of Radio Shropshire this month.  He had come to Shrewsbury on a day out with his wife-to-be, Alison, not knowing that the famous show was being staged.  “It was a beautiful day.  We sat on the river bank, had an ice cream, and I remarked that if you had a local radio station such an event would make a great broadcast.  Four years after sitting there in the Quarry I was given the privilege of returning to Shrewsbury to open such a station.” Radio Shropshire began its service on April 23rd, 1985.  Lawrie had arrived twelve months earlier to plan the station.

 

Thursday March 5th, 2009

SHOVELS were at the ready when a former landfill site in the town was transformed into a wildlife haven – after more than 60 people turned out to lend a hand.  Residents living near the rough ground at Mousefield, near Underdale Road, gave the area a facelift recently by planting around 70 trees to breathe new life into the land.  Members of the Mousefield Community Woodland group, along with the Countryside Unit of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, helped put the project into action and all the work was overseen by field officer Matt Wilcoxon. He said, “there were probably 50 or 60 people altogether throughout the morning.  We had kids as young as three, right up to pensioners, and whole families turned out.”