Memory Corner March 19th 2020

Friday March 20th, 1795

THE NUPTIAL STATE BED, just completed at Carlton House [for the wedding of the Prince of Wales], is the most magnificent article of the kind ever erected.  The curtains are gold tissue and foil, lined with crimson satin, and the canopy of burnished gold, with gems and fossils.

WANTED IMMEDIATELY, a young man to make up and carry out goods; he must write a decent hand, and if he has lived with a grocer, the more agreeable [that would be].

 

Friday March 24th, 1820

YESTERDAY the recently elected Members [of Parliament] for Bridgnorth, Thomas Whitmore and William Wolryche Whitmore, Esqrs., were escorted into that town by numerous friends, accompanied with music, flags and banners.  They were afterwards chaired.  Mr Whitmore of Apley’s chair was dressed by Miss Downes, and that of Mr Wolryche Whitmore, which was beautifully chaste and neat, was executed by Mrs Curtis.  Dinners were provided at the Guildhall and several inns.

 

Friday March 25th, 1870

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

AT SHEFFIELD last week a bride and bridegroom with wedding friends all went to church and back on gaily caparisoned donkeys.

IT IS STATED that Miss Garrett, the enterprising lady physician, has been admitted as a member of staff of the East London Hospital for Children.

IT IS REPORTED that 10,000 persons out of a population of 50,000 have died of a virulent plague in Zanzibar.

 

Friday March 19th, 1920

THE CUCKOO has been heard at West Felton this week.

WE ARE GLAD TO LEARN that an effort is being made to revive the Salopian Cycling and Athletic Club, which was disbanded on the outbreak of the war.  It is interesting to record that 36 of the 38 members saw active service, and three gave their lives for King and country.  The two members who were too old to go to the front “did their bit” at home. “Floreat Salopia!”

 

Friday March 21st, 1980

SHREWSBURY POST OFFICE is an unusual place to find a Mini car – but it is all part of a massive campaign to encourage the public to use postcodes.  The brand-new red Mini has been on display in the post office in St Mary’s Street since Monday and is a prize in a national raffle.  Each of the 10 postal areas in the country is offering a British Leyland Mini as a prize, and the raffle for this area will be drawn in Cardiff in June.  At the moment only 40 per cent of the public in Shrewsbury district use postcodes, but it is hoped that campaign will boost the figure to 70 per cent.

 

Thursday March 23rd, 1995

Mural at Greek Orthodox Church

RENOVATORS at a Shrewsbury church have made a surprising discovery – a wall painting that could date from before the Reformation.  Art specialist Anna Hulbert had been called in to check plasterwork at St John’s Church, Sutton Farm, which is being restored after being bought by the Orthodox Church.  There are already some paintings on the walls of the church, but they are floral patterns.  Anna said, “Instead of a floral design, this is figurative. We cannot tell what it is yet, but it may be part of a ship.”

 

Thursday March 25th, 2010

ENTHUSIASTS hoping to restore Shrewsbury’s historic canal have formed their own pressure group in a bid to push the multi-million-pound project forward.  More than 50 people attended a public meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the restoration project with members of Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust.  It is also claimed that the scheme could link up with the redevelopment of the Flaxmill, which lies on the canal route, to create a World Heritage Site.  Despite encouraging talks with officials of the former Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, the trail has run dry since the switch to unitary governance last April.  The pressure group has been set up to put the talks back on track.