Memory Corner March 14th 2019

Friday March 14th, 1794

A GENTLEMAN just arrived from Lyme, in Dorsetshire, states that the people all along the coast are making preparations to resist any attempts of the French [to attack].  The great guns at Lyme, which have long lain useless, are mounted on new carriages, and ready to fire on the enemy.

ON WEDNESDAY LAST a float of timber was overset by running foul of one of the piers of the new Welsh Bridge.  There were four men on the float, one of whom was very providentially saved by the vigilance of boat owner Cullis, who took him up into a boat, and the other three escaped unhurt by clinging to the wood.

 

Friday March 12th, 1819

SURGEON-DENTIST, Shrewsbury – Mr Berend, Surgeon-Dentist, respectfully informs the inhabitants of Shrewsbury and the neighbourhood that he may be consulted at Jones and Thomas, straw-bonnet makers, top of Mardol, where he will continue fourteen days. Artificial teeth fixed without any pain.

MARRIED – at Whittington, Mr Robert Bowen of Preeshenlley, aged 19, to Mrs Ruth Morris, aged 85!  She is one of the claimants of Barber’s property, and two carriages with four horses were in the procession to church.  The day was kept with much mirth at the Foxes, in Gobowen.

 

Friday March 12th, 1869

A WAGGON from Mr Dodson’s yard, heavily laden with stone, having last week knocked down a considerable portion of the strong iron fencing around the offices of TM How, Esq, that gentleman, with praiseworthy liberality, immediately made a very handsome offer to give as much land as the Corporation thought necessary to widen Swan Hill at its narrowest point.  The Corporation at once accepted Mr How’s offer, and steps were at once taken to carry into effect the very desirable improvement.  It is hoped that the proprietors of the adjoining properties will meet the local authorities in the same liberal manner.

 

Friday March 14th, 1919

A CORRESPONDENT WRITES – “When is the Shropshire Football Association going to revive?  The period for inactivity has surely expired, and a big programme may be anticipated with the return of the boys from military service. We are all looking forward to keen competition for the Senior and Junior Cups, but a great deal of preparation will be necessary on the part of those interested in the football clubs of the County. It is, therefore, imperative that the County Association should get a move on.”

 

Friday March 16th, 1979

Ship Inn Barker St 1930s

AS CHAOTIC BRITAIN stumbles from crisis to crisis, more people are looking back with nostalgia to the “good old days”.  But what were they really like?  Town guide Miss Evelyn Lloyd remembers what it was like before the First World War.  She lived for a short time on Claremont Bank and writes, ‘At the back of Claremont Bank was Cock’s Tannery, and there was always an unpleasant smell from the untanned skins.  Opposite the tannery was a maze of terrible slum alleys and tumbledown hovels where Barker Street, Hill’s Lane and Bridge Street now are. No sign of the lovely black and white Rowley’s House could be seen.  It was a rat and bug-infested tenement approached by dark narrow courts with the Ship Inn beside it.  We were forbidden by our parents from approaching town by this route, and we had to go by St Chad’s Church and down Claremont Hill or through the Quarry.’

 

Thursday March 17th, 1994

Dave Mellor

THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION may have spent a long time deliberating over the next England manager, but when the British Mountain Bike Federation needed a new coach they turned straight to Shrewsbury’s Dave Mellor.  Mellor, proprietor of Dave Mellor cycles of Frankwell, will oversee team affairs for the World Mountain Bike Championships in Vale, Colorado, and the 1995 event which will be held in Europe.  “I’m delighted with the appointment,” said Mellor yesterday. “I’m in charge of team selection, team funds and generating sponsorship.”

 

Thursday March 19th, 2009

NEW MOTHERS in the town are invited to take part in a popular post-natal exercise regime which is sweeping across the States and Australia.  Lydia Roberts, a personal trainer at Welti Health and Fitness Club on Sundorne Road, is hoping to launch her own ‘Buggy Fit’ session in the Quarry at the end of April.  The fitness class is a way for mothers to exercise with their babies just six weeks after giving birth, and for new mum Lydia, 31, it provided her with the perfect chance to gain the relevant qualification to become the first Buggy Fit trainer in the town.  “I heard about Buggy Fit while I was in Australia and saw mums running with their prams,” Lydia said.  “I know how hard it is as a mum to get child care and I always wanted to do something with my little boy, rather than having to go on my own to exercise.”