Friday October 31st, 1794
ABOUT A MONTH AGO a drinking man of Shifnal swallowed a guinea for a wager in a glass of ale. The guinea not having passed through his body, he now labours under great pain, attended with a fever, and is supposed to be fast going into a waste. [Doctors], it is feared, can do nothing for him.
WE CAN POSITIVELY STATE the Parliament will definitely meet on 25th of next month, for the dispatch of business.
Friday October 29th, 1819
GEORGE DAVENPORT, gardener to HPT Aubrey, Esq. of Broome Hall, near Oswestry, last week cut a gourd of the enormous weight of 29½lbs and measuring in circumference 5ft 1½ inches. What renders this the more remarkable is that the same stem produced four others, weighing respectively 24lbs, 18lbs, 12lbs, and 10lbs, and was planted so late as the 19th June last.
Friday October 29th, 1869
A YOUNG MAN bathing somewhere in the province of Quebec deposited his clothes upon what he supposed to be a stone. It proved to be a somnolent seal, however, which woke up suddenly and waddled out seaward with the sagacious youth’s dry goods on its back.
IT IS STATED that scarlatina has assumed such a serious aspect in Bermondsey that it has been considered necessary to distribute a code of “sanitary precautions” – a copy being left at every house in the parish.
Friday October 31st, 1919
ROYAL SALOP INFIRMARY – a football match has been arranged between teams of the Borough Police Force and “The Specials” to take place on the Gay Meadow on November 8th. The proceeds will be given to the Royal Salop Infirmary Victory Shilling Fund. It is hoped that the Hon. Treasurer of the Institution, Col HR Sykes, will be able to kick off.
A DEADLOCK has been reached in the iron founders’ strike, which threatens to bring about a general stoppage of the engineering industry.
Friday November 2nd, 1979
HOME HUNTERS in the Shrewsbury area can expect a tough time this winter. That was the gloomy prediction made yesterday by Mr Christopher Heaven, manager of the Shrewsbury branch of the Provincial Building Society. He said mortgages were becoming more and more difficult to obtain, and to add to the bad news facing prospective house-buyers, mortgage rates would inevitably rise to a record 12½ per cent on January 1st. “Most building societies are now having to tell potential purchasers that they will not be able to grant them a mortgage until next year, and many are already fully committed up until April,” Mr Heaven said. In the Shrewsbury area a semi-detached property now costs on average between £17,000 and £19,000. Prices are likely to rise by 15 to 20 per cent next year.
Thursday November 3rd, 1994
SHREWSBURY’S newest park and ride scheme has been hailed a success by its first customers. The service from Meole Brace opened to the public on Tuesday afternoon. One customer went as far as to say she would never drive into town again. Miss Connie Hughes, from Lea Cross, said: “It is good to have a convenient service. It is the first time I have used the park and ride and it is cheaper even than using car parks in town.” Customers came from within the town to use the service as well. Mrs Andrew Whysall, of Longden Road, took her children into town on the bus. She said she would use the service regularly, despite driving away from home to get to Meole Brace.
Thursday November 5th, 2009
VILLAGERS from Dorrington will be without their post office for five weeks while it is moved to a new location – the bar of the Horseshoes Inn. Dorrington’s post office has been in an outbuilding behind the pub since 2003 after the closure of the previous post office in the village shop. The grade two listed pub is currently closed for a £500,000 refurbishment, and sub-postmistress Julia Kesterton said the move of the post office was part of the refurbishment scheme. “I am being moved to what used to be part of the bar at the Horseshoes,” she said.