Rona Harris – My Story

Hello Everyone. I have been asked to write about my life since coming to live in Shropshire.

It was 1946 and my father was transferred in his job to Wellington. We were living in the Peak District in Derbyshire and I was 16 years of age. We moved to Sinclair Gardens in Ketley and I got a job on the telephone switchboard at the Sinclair Iron Company in Ketley and from then I have lived with my parents in Wellington, Ketley Bank, Oakengates, then afterwards through marriage, in Wombridge, Donnington, Wrockwardine Wood and finally now in Trench and I love it here.

Now, although the Peak District is very beautiful, the village where we lived was very quiet. I recall the first day that we moved to Ketley, it all seemed so different, and I remember my Mum was fed up with a day of removals, so with my Dad not yet properly demobbed from the army, she took us to Wellington and we went to see a film at the Grand Theatre. To me it was truly gorgeous as the cinema in our previous small nearby town was known as the “flea-pit”, and no comparison to the Grand. To me it was luxury itself.

I really love Wellington and all the surrounding villages and small towns, I have made some very good and everlasting friends over the years. I have seen some huge changes since I have lived here, and I am afraid to say, not all for the best. I am now getting on in years and yes progress is fine, but in my opinion destruction should never be allowed. I know that a lot of people probably don’t agree with me, but my firm belief is that Telford Town Centre should never have been considered, never mind actually built, but unfortunately it is a fact of life, and I can only say how lovely all this area was before “Telford”. It is slowly destroying our lovely little market towns.

I use our buses to get around, I do not drive, but there again, I recall many moons ago when the “little buses” used to go from Oakengates or Donnington areas to Wellington they were always packed, but they always turned up too!

Oakengates was a very busy little town and believe me you could buy anything from wet fish to clothing, shoes and well, as I say, everything including the ironmongers etc., there was also a good little market.

I used to walk on summer nights from Oakengates through Wrockwardine Wood and St. Georges and along the Cockshutt and it came out at the top of the Albion Bank and down into Oakengates. On these walks I counted seven pubs in Wrockwardine Wood, namely The Fountain, The Pheasant, The Red Lion, The Whitehouse, The Bulls Head, The Lamb and The Talbot at the start of the hill up to St. Georges, although I do not frequent any pubs myself and I am not sure how many are still open now.

I remember how we would catch Brown’s Buses from Stafford Road, Oakengates to Donnington, some of them had wooden slatted seats, but who cared? We would be going to the “pictures” at the Garrison Theatre in Donnington or hang-out with a coffee at the Cartwheel Café in Donnington. But those buses would never let us down, unlike these “Arriva” things of today, another sign of the time wouldn’t you say?

I have spent many a night in the Regal Cinema in Wrockwardine Wood (now the Kingdom Hall I believe), I know that we almost always had to queue at the Grosvenor Cinema in Oakengates. I would be around 18 years of age and life was really good. Just around this time I decided, that dividing my leisure time in the evenings was not varied enough so I took up ballroom dancing lessons in Wellington. Someone may remember the “Margaret Kendrick School of Dancing” and it was great, so from then on everything changed, I loved dancing, and I must just mention in passing that I am sitting here in my home in Trench, and it is almost the very same spot where some dances were held in a Nissan hut namely the “Four by Two” and I have danced the night away here many time to gramophone records, these were quite adequate with also a few microphones thrown in for good measure, then after wearing high-heeled shoes all night I had to stagger home to Oakengates, yes right up on to the A5 and it was too late to catch any buses by then. Wombridge Road did not exist (this was 1948) so I walked up Farm Lane and through Wrockwardine Wood in to Oakengates and up to the A5, and I must admit there was nothing to fear in the darkness and late at night, but this was only 3 years after the end of WWII and it was OH such a different, slower, lovelier time then.

I suppose that at my age I have seen so many changes, a totally different pace of life, and I think much more enjoyable too.

I mentioned at the beginning that I started my job at Sinclairs in Ketley, and I think the other place I worked was Chad Valley Company, at Wellington. Then in 1948 my life and I suppose everyone’s lives changed for the simple reason that the National Health Scheme started and at the age of eighteen I was interviewed and got a job as a clerical assistant in the then Ministry of National Insurance, and I worked in Stafford Road, Oakengates, and that actual building is now a private house.

Life was good, I enjoyed the work and I remained in the Civil Service for almost thirty years. There was only one problem, “My Parents” they were very staid in their outlook and also very strict, and at this moment in time my wages were increased with this job, but I was not allowed to keep them, I had to ‘tip’ them up to my parents, who in turn would give me ‘spending money’ and this situation continued until I was 21 years of age, but I will tell you more next time about my life, which I am afraid left a lot to be desired.

Part 2

Well here we are again, and may I begin with an apology for a spelling mistake in my previous article.

I mentioned the pub in Wrockwardine wood as the ‘Whitehouse’, this of course should have read “The White Horse”, my apologies for this error.

I will move on a little now with my memories, and I hope that some-one may have the same or similar to mine.

As I told you, at the age of around eighteen to twenty I continued with my dancing nights, and we were at this time living in Ketley Bank, (Sunnyside Road to be precise). But I was still within easy reach of the buses, both to Wellington and also Brown’s to Donnington.

The time came when the powers that be decided to close our office in Oakengates, it was 1949 and I was transferred to a recently opened Ministry of National Insurance Office in Ironbridge, this of course was long before “The Gorge” and the Victorian Town became so popular.

I must confess that it was not my favourite place then.

In the job I was doing, we did see so much poverty in that area, but so many good things have come out of the Gorge and the Victorian Town.

So much for all of that, my parents decided to sell the house in Ketley Bank, and they purchased one in Roseway in Wellington.

At that time, my father was employed in the Ministry of National Insurance in the grade of Executive Officer, and he was always based in Wellington.

My sister Sheila also worked in Wellington, so this was obvious to all to move and to live in that town.

I was loving my life at this time, I was out two nights a week dancing at the Majestic Ballroom in Wellington, and Sankeys’ Ballroom in Hadley, we spent some nights at cinemas, and on lighter spring and summer nights on walks, or in cafes in Wellington and Oakengates, and of course The Cartwheel Café in Donnington ———- Oh Boy! All types of military personnel came there and it was great too.

But then my parents seemed to have “itchy feet” and it was decided yet again to move, so the house in Roseway had to go.

Now back into the Oakengates area, and my Dad bought a house on the Holyhead Road, it was not a particular favourite of mine and I never really did get used to living there.

Anyway, time marches on, and my life was still good despite the fact that the house was the kind of a property that had a “forbidding” feeling about it, I think that maybe the lay-out of it reminded my Mum of the house in Derbyshire where she was born, and I detested that house so much also.

So far as that goes it was a move and I think, doomed from the start.

But you know, when I stop to think of my life in these times, as compared to today, we were happy with our cosy little cinemas, such as these in this area.

I know the Grosvenor in Oakengates, and yes even the little Regent in Wrockwardine Wood were just something a bit special, and yes, I agree! The “back rows” were something a bit special too.

Back to reality, it is amazing really the difference in things we did and places we went and all in the name of enjoyment. It is a bit scary to me today to know just how today’s youngsters “NEED” everything, but are so “NOT” prepared to do things for themselves, everything has to be done for them.

Please give me my time back again, I loved it and all that went with it, we made our own entertainment, and in turn really enjoyed all of it.

Part 3

We have now begun another year so let us hope this will be a good year for everyone.

The last time I wrote, my family and I had moved to Holyhead Road in Oakengates, and as I told you it was not a likeable house at all, so I tended to spend more time out of it that in it. So on summer evenings I would go for walks, almost all around Oakengates, of course over the Cockshutt and into St. Georges, it was then quite a pretty walk.

But still, every Sunday night we had to go to chapel with our parents, this was “Hilltop Methodist” chapel on Ketley Bank.

On some occasions my Dad would play the organ there, and my sister Sheila and myself were members of the choir, although there were a couple of people who were also members and they sounded more like a pair of “throttled earwigs” than singers. After chapel I was actually allowed to go for a walk with, I suppose my ‘boyfriend’ of the time his name was George, and we used to wander everywhere, but I still had to be in for 10 o’clock and I was twenty years of age then. My parents were always very strict, and at this time I still had to ‘tip-up’ my entire wages to my Mother every week, and was given more or less a pittance for spending money. When I questioned this, I was told that I could not “please myself” in what I did with my life in any way until I was twenty one years of age. Oh Yes! there was also this definite rule and I quote “While you are living under this roof, you will abide by the rules and regulations of this house” I know it sounds almost Victorian even for those times (1950). I am just trying to paint a picture of how strict and narrow my parents’ outlook was on life then.

Now enough of all that. My sister and I always walked down into Oakengates every Saturday afternoon, to see the shops and treat ourselves to a coffee and kunzle cake in Sidoli’s café and maybe later joined the queue for the film at the Grosvenor Cinema in Oakengates. I must admit though that I did occasionally ‘lie’ a little when I went out on some evenings, I would catch one of Brown’s buses in Oakengates to Donnington and by way of a change have a coffee in the Cartwheel Café there, and that was really great.

Browns buses were always very reliable though sometimes not very comfortable, and I always got a bus back to Oakengates, then really having to rush up to Holyhead Road home, and God help me if I was five minutes late arriving, I used to wonder how many girls of my age were being treated in this way, but there again, I felt that “my time” would come eventually. I have an older sister who was living in Australia and I badly wanted to go out there to live with her, but the house rules applied yet again.

Anyway, the days and months went by and as I had dancing lessons before moving back to Oakengates, I was unwillingly allowed to go dancing, but before this I had to explain about the last buses from Wellington every Thursday and Saturday nights plus the ‘laid-on’ transport from Sankey’s ballroom on the Saturday nights when I went there, but they would not give me a key to the door, instead they would be waiting up for me to arrive home, and I was then met with endless questions and do’s and don’ts

I suppose it did all get a little better as time went on, but really not until I actually was 21 years of age However, I must close this part of my life for now, and reveal more next time.

Part 4

Moving on from last time, and my dancing nights, also the difficulties I had with my parents, but when I reached 21 years of age life did improve just a little, although still working in the Civil Service, with I suppose not a bad wage for those times

I was allowed to keep all of my wages which then made me feel just like a millionaire (not) but just a minute, No! I did not have all of them, I had to give my Mum “two pounds and ten shillings” (now £2.50) each week, which out of my weekly wage of around five pounds, did not leave very much for all the normal expenses that a girl of my age would want, like stockings, make-up, very occasionally clothes and I could not afford to indulge in too many clothes but in general other things that are “personal” also.

Anyway, I recall telling you of my sister Sheila and myself going for walks and the pictures mainly in Oakengates, while we were living in that area, and yes! as I said there were at that time some lovely places to walk, sadly most of the ones I recall now are “a thing of the past”

But I do remember working with the then Ministry of National Insurance in Oakengates the people I worked with were very friendly, one girl was our typist, and she was ‘ Barbara Bailey’, (Now Mrs Barbara Corbett) who together with her family lived in Dark Lane, this was Stonerow Cottages, some people may recall it and I am attaching a photo showing the cottages, the little Chapel, and the Ever Ready factory all of which sadly, have disappeared never to be seen again and underneath the Town Centre, so much for so-called progress, you know it breaks my heart to think of all this and the lovely busy little town that Oakengates was in my youth, and I still think that whoever is responsible for the Town Centre have a lot to answer for, the destruction of all these places is totally deplorable in my book.

Now I am sorry about that little outburst but I am certain that people whose memories are like mine will agree.

So back to me at 21 years of age. I did enjoy my office job on Stafford Road in Oakengates which is perhaps as well, because as it turned out I was still doing my Civil Service job, almost thirty years down the line.

Although the age of 21 was the “age of consent” and I suppose as I saw it “to please myself” with everything in my life, but my Dad made it perfectly clear that this was not going to happen, but I did have a key to the door at last, which meant that in turn I was more free to go out and stay out a little later, so the time was extended to 10.30pm and I HAD to be in by that time or before, but let it be two minutes later, and all hell broke loose.

I am adding a photograph of ‘yours truly’ around the age of 20/21 taken outside the gates of the park on Hartshill in Oakengates, maybe someone remembers me and some of my memories from way back.

Oh Yes! a long, long way back now.

I will continue next time with a dance at Sankey’s and my eventual meeting with my husband to be, and all the happenings from then.

Part 5

Hello Everyone, As promised, I will continue with my story, taking it up from one particular dance I attended at Sankey’s ballroom in Hadley. This was a Saturday night dance, and as usual with most of the girls in my day and around my age, I was all dressed up with, as was then, a lovely dress and Oh yes! on some occasions, matching satin very high heel shoes (they were not called ‘stiletto’ heels way back then in the 1940s/1950s).

Nevertheless I used to feel like, as they say ‘a million dollars‘, I recall that halfway through the evening I was aware of someone tapping my shoulder, as I turned I got this vision of a tall, broad, good looking lad, he said, “would you like to dance”? and of course I gasped “Yes”, but I must say that with all those things going for him his dancing left a lot to be desired, which to me, was a little disappointing as I absolutely loved dancing, so much so if there had been dances held every night I would have been there. However, on this particular night we had quite a few dances, but most of the time he did the talking. His name was Dennis Dorricott, and he owned an MG Sports Car, it was British Racing Green, with spoke wheels, knock-on hub caps and a ten gallon petrol ‘slab tank’ on the back. I can still recall and see this car so clearly, but can you imagine my surprise when after the last waltz, he offered to take me to the bus-stop, and I went home on the late dance transport, but in actual fact, he really did have this lovely little sports car.

However, as time went on, we were really getting on well together, and yes of course, I eventually took him home to meet my parents, and then my life (and his) started going downhill all the way. My parents decided that they did not like him, so I think you can probably imagine just what our lives were like from then on.

I will however explain how my life changed completely for good, and as time went on Dennis would ride his bicycle to my home on the A5 in Oakengates (his car was off the road being, in his words ‘done up’) and really considering that he lived at Teagues Bridge, it was quite a distance to do almost every night.

Once he arrived at my home, we would then walk down into Oakengates to the Grosvenor Cinema, now that was such a cosy, lovely little cinema, and especially so if you were sitting on the back-row in the ‘best seats’. (I am showing you a photograph of the cinema) Yes OK! We all know how good that was don’t we folks?

The other nights apart from dance nights we would go for a walk, it was so obvious that we were definitely not welcome in my home.

But the time came when I was taken to his home in Teagues Bridge in Trench, and I did wonder where on earth we were going, it was a sunny summer night, he came to collect me and then we walked to Teagues Bridge, I am so sad to say, all the little cottages apart from the photographs I am showing to you, have all been demolished, even the little original Bridge Pub has vanished, and would you believe, replaced by Wombridge Road and its surrounds, I think it is sacrilege, and breaks my heart to think of all that demolition, and a little bit of history has gone with them, the photo of the little red brick cottage was where my in-laws Norman and Elizabeth Dorricott lived and Norman was actually born in that cottage too.

It was a Friday night when Dennis took me there to meet his parents, and because his Mum had a full-time job, Friday night was always her ‘cleaning night’ and when we entered this house my first recollection was the smell of the furniture polish, all the furniture was gleaming and all the brassware was shining brilliantly too

It was all so inviting as were his parents, they made me feel so very welcome and were very kind to me too, that after a few weeks, I used to go straight to their home from my office in Wellington rather than my own home.

But then there was always the walk home later, from there to the A5 in Oakengates, bearing in mind that as I have told you at some previous time I had to be in by 10.30 pm, so we would walk with Dennis pushing his bike which again was uphill all the way from Trench, but there was one consolation, that at least he could ride it all the way back home to Teagues Bridge, and it was downhill all the way back too. But life moves on, and I will tell you more of the ups and downs, but really mainly happiness despite everything in the next part of my story.

Part 6

Moving on with my memories, you will recall how I introduced My Lovely Dennis to my parents, but all as I told you was not well after that.
Now here I must say that I am showing a photograph of the cottage at Teagues Bridge which was the home of my in-laws (the photograph was omitted from the November issue).

So as time went by, I seemed to spend more and more time at Dennis’s parents’ home than my own, they always had a welcome for me, and nothing was ever too much trouble for his Mum to do for me also.

However, over the next few months, Dennis and I had become very close, so much so that we had discussed getting engaged, and we were very much in love, but like all other young couples of around this time, we did not have a lot of money, so in order to afford an engagement ring we did a few jobs in the evenings, for example:-

We took on doing a bit of photography some were of his mates’ weddings, and others’ family portraits etc., so we had all the stuff to do this, like the developing trays and printing trays, plus the various liquids and photographic papers, there was quite a lot of expense incurred but somehow or other we managed, and all this work was done on his mother’s gate-leg dining table, but it had a wobbly leg, and no-one was more surprised than us that the whole thing did not collapse under all the activity.

We still had to walk to my home though every night too, yes from Teagues Bridge up on to the A5 in Oakengates, he would leave me by the gate and would ride his bicycle back to his home, then once more I had to face the misery of my parents reaction to him. My life once back home was far from happy, and you know, I do think back sometimes and wonder why they could be so unwilling to even give us a chance, but I will tell you what! if it was 10.35pm (and I would then be five minutes late because I had to be in by 10.30pm), I then got all the questioning like “where had I been, and what had I been doing”?

However the time came when we had saved enough money at last to buy my engagement ring, it was a really beautiful solitaire diamond, which we bought from Mr Scott the jeweller in Oakengates (sadly not there now, like so many other shops and atmosphere in that once lovely little town).

I was 23 years of age, very much in love, and our love would of course see us through every happening, but would you believe that I had to ask my parents’ permission, they were not happy at all about our forthcoming engagement and marriage.

We decided that we would be married at Wombridge Church, and although I was always brought up with Methodist chapel teachings I was really no longer interested in all that three times a day every Sunday from being five years of age, “enough is enough“ I think. Dennis’s family had always attended Wombridge Church hence our lovely wedding would be held there.

This was going to be OUR day, yes our lovely wedding day, but for the present our lives carried on as usual, the atmosphere did not improve at my home in any way at all.

I am also showing a photograph of me living at home on the A5 until our day would arrive.

I will leave my revelations for now and will carry on next time relating to the build-up and our wedding actually taking place at long last.

Part 7

Well, here I am again with our lives moving on, but you know when I think back to those days and endless winter nights that Dennis and I sat at his Mum’s table, drawing, scribbling, and yes deleting plans for our would be beloved bungalow, you see we both wanted perfection in our very new and beautiful home to be.

As I am writing this, I feel that now people would not tolerate all the things that I did then, and I have no doubt that any people around my age will relate to what I am writing now, those days don’t even begin to compare with today.

But despite all the somewhat hardship, and to some extent strictness, I am so glad that I was 18 to 28 years of age THEN and certainly now, with all this technology and all this education, and the know how, I would ask “Please give me my time back again,” we were, all of us, individuals and not carbon copies or clones of one another——-

Moving on, as time went on our relationship with my parents did not improve in any way, strangely enough my in-laws to be were really good to me, they accepted me without any second thoughts, and the hours spent with them in their home with my lovely Dennis was such a wonderful outlet from the ever disintegrating atmosphere in my parents’ home.

They used to say to me and I quote “you don’t want him, he is no good for you. We want you to give him up” and I had to endure all of this, and they did not really bother to get to know him properly, and of course I was determined to marry him come what may.

However, I did try to ignore all this “agro” and concentrated on what our future was going to be like, and I suppose like most couples it was going to be a wonderland of happiness, blue skies all the way and no clouds except for one that was known as “cloud nine”, but it was strange how quickly this cloud dispersed and shed rain and gloom at every corner of my life, and well, Dennis’s life too I suppose.

We were married at Wombridge Church, on the 4th December 1954, it was a very cold day, I was so very happy, and as My Dad and I left our home in Oakengates he was still asking me not to go through with it.

However, we arrived at the church, but as we walked down the aisle towards my lovely Dennis I got such very strong vibes that my Dad did not want to be there at all, but with all that had gone before we did actually get married.

We had a lovely reception at the then Caledonia Hotel, it was a lovely place at that time, and I believe that we had the whole of Newport Rugby club there (Dennis was a member of that team, he played scrum half so you can probably imagine the whole afternoon was very good and happy.)

I believe the team had a match that same afternoon, and won the match with a score of 46 – nil. Anyway reception over and I went home to get changed.

My Dad then drove us to Wellington Station to start our journey to Dublin for our honeymoon.

At this point I recall my sister Sheila (who was my bridesmaid) telling me that she was shivering with the cold, while waiting for the train. When I asked why, she said that she did not want to wear a coat over her bridesmaid dress.

Ah bless her! and it was a lovely dress too.

So off we go to Liverpool to board a boat to Dublin.

Ours was a truly wonderful day.

I will continue my story of our lives and futures together next time.

Part 8

Hello again, moving on from my last story, as I told you we went to Liverpool and then on a boat to Dublin. The fare was expensive then, considering that the accommodation was really poor, but I will not go into any details. We duly arrived in Dublin and walked up the famous ‘O’Connell Street’ on our way to the Iona Hotel. Dublin really was a beautiful city then, but I believe like everywhere else now greatly changed.

We hired a little car for the week, it was a “Volkswagen Beetle”, and so we visited a few places around the outskirts of Dublin. That city, at that time of year with Christmas Lights, decorations and Christmas music everywhere and together with everything else, for us it was all purely magical.

All too soon, the time came for us to leave and at the end of that perfect week, we arrived back in Wellington, and then on to Teagues Bridge where we were going to live for the time being, and then of course all too soon back to work.

A few months later and loads of thoughts and considerations with regard to finding a place of our own.

Oh! I know life is not easy when a couple live with parents or in-laws, although I will always maintain that life was much easier and much more pleasant with my in-laws.

After all the aggravation and unpleasantness with my parents prior to our wedding, we really wanted to keep a distance from their home, simply because of the attitude problem, although we still visited them fairly regularly.

Can I say at this point, that so far as a family was concerned neither Dennis nor I were interested in having children, we had such plans for our future, and none of these included a family, but thereby hangs yet another story for another time.

After looking at houses to rent and to buy, we were much undecided what to do. So eventually after sitting night after night scanning newspapers and property details from estate agents we hit upon the idea of building our own home.

Now every night after work and once dinner was over and done with, we would sit for endless hours drawing plans with a view to possibly build, and with more paper scrapped, more ideas that we had binned, there was almost miraculously a break-through.

We decided on drawing up plans for a bungalow, and again months later we felt that we had come up with the perfect plans for our perfect home and it was going to be the last word in luxury. All that we needed now was a piece of land on which to build this dream home. In fact the drawing, with various crossings out and alterations of so many things, it all started to take its toll, and the decision was made to look for a piece of building land to buy as soon as possible.

Now all those dark winter nights seemed to be paying off and with the onset of spring, we did eventually find this piece of land and everything was totally wonderful with a future to look forward to, and I will continue with all the happenings in our lives next time.

I am enclosing a couple of photos taken on a rare break from building in 1955, and the other one more recent.

13

Nov

Wartime Observation Site

This observation post was built about 1940 in the early war years. It provided visual cover to the approaches to the railway sidings within the Donnington Ordnance Depot.

Positioned on the raised ground of the extensive ordnance sidings, it gave an uninterrupted view across farmland to Hadley and Horton.

In those busy times the sidings were in continuous use and shunting activities continued both day and night. Facilities were available within the depot for the loading and unloading of goods in a secure environment.

Rail access was from the Wellington to Stafford L.M.S. railway track, being serviced by the signal box off Johnsons Lane on the Horton side of the line.

During discussion meetings relating to the new freight depot Borough representatives were asked to retain this structure as a wartime heritage site and it is regretted that they chose not to do so.

A similar structure was also built off the originally known access road leading to Teagues Bridge. The site is now incorporated in the property known as No. 325 Wombridge Road. This viewed the open area from Church Road to the Trench Pool embankment including the rising ground to the original Bridge Inn public house.

R.H. Davies. May 2010

13

Nov

Wrockwardine Wood Rectory

The photograph of the Wrockwardine Wood Rectory comes to us courtesy of Paul Luter and Joy Minshall the former wife of Neville Minshall, Vicar of Wrockwardine Wood Church in 1965-1974.

Joy now lives in the Shrewsbury area, but the photograph reminded her of the rectory in 1965 before renovations were carried out.

The house was built by the ironmaster, William Reynolds in 1794 and documentation reveals that it was originally lived in by William Rowton, a banker from Shrewsbury who was the excise officer for the glasshouse at the time.

Later Joseph Adams from Admaston the commercial carrier for the works lived there, as also did William Henry Cope, one of the partners of the works.

After the church was built in 1833 the rectory became the residence of the incumbent after the glasshouse closed in December 1841.

We would like to thank Mr. R. H. Davies for the following article.

Schools in the Fifties and Sixties & Romany Fayre

This photograph shows the John Hunt School Orchestra with Norman Pickering, about the year 1960.

Trench Boys’ Modern School Staff in 1956. Amongst the faces are Headteacher Harold Fletcher, Sir John Hunt and Reverend G. Smith.

A Science Lesson at John Hunt Boys School circa 1960

Our picture shows a happy group of fund raisers at a Romany Fayre held at Trench Methodist Chapel in October 1962. We would be interested to know if anyone recognises any of the faces

13

Nov

Methodist Chapel & Sunday School

Trench Methodist Chapel

Our second local history page features Trench Methodist Chapel. We would like to thank Mr. Ken Fryer very much for the following article and for loaning the photographs to us.

“When Trench Methodist Chapel was built in 1866 the local population totalled approximately 500 people and the area was classed as a straggling hamlet until 1941when alterations were made to the area. The Chapel was surrounded by fields which were part of Bromleys Farm. The photograph below is of scholars and officials of the Trench Methodist Sunday School, taken in the early 1960’s. Many of the scholars are now married with children of their own, but should have no difficulty in identifying themselves.

The Sunday School at Trench like all others played a very important part in the life for the community; Apart from providing Christian teaching, it gave children the opportunity to take part in and enjoy social activities and entertainment. Concerts, plays, tea parties and outings being regular events.

The Sunday School Anniversary Services were important days at Trench, held on the last two Sundays in June, when the scholars with an augmented choir gathered to sing special hymns and choruses. From a raised stage or platform they rendered solos, duets and recitations, and the large congregations joined whole heartedly in the singing of well known hymns.

Not all the boys and girls joined in the Anniversary, but one event they attended was the annual outing or ‘treat’ as it was often called.This was indeed a memorable day, when taken free of charge by bus the children enjoyed a visit to a country beauty spot, or town; games and tea often being included.

Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939, the new style coaches enabled the Welsh and Lancashire coast towns to be reached quite easily, and for many children and adults such an outing was the first time that they had visited a seaside resort. The Sunday School ceased in 1978.

After its closure in October 1997, the Chapel and schoolroom were sold and converted into flats.

Sunday School c 1930

Our picture is of the Wrockwardine Wood Methodist Church Sunday School Anniversary, which it is believed was held in 1930.

We would be very interested to know if anyone recognises themselves or parents/grandparents.

The Old Canal (by Norman Pickering)

I was quite young, but I remember feeling quite sad when they drained the Old Canal.

I recall a sunken coal barge was revealed near the Old Yard.

The canal was at the top of the old incline near the Trench Lock and went all the way to Lilleshall Abbey without a lock.

At Teagues Bridge there was a single track iron bridge similar to three others along our stretch.

From there it went into a sort of ox-bow called the Mot and then past the Old Mill and over Church Road.

Incidentally this was referred to by everybody as Stoney Lane, and was indeed shown as such on early 20th century Ordnance Survey Maps. Then the canal went along past Holy Trinity Church and Glasshouse Row on the site of the old glassworks.

The next stretch is still actually designated as Canal Side and so on to Furnace Lane and another bridge. Here the canal skirted “Lemuel” Jones’ small holding near to the place where the Old Incline by the Methodist Chapel came down, at the back of what is now Smiths Crescent. Here there is a brick bridge still intact.

And so we go on to the Old Yard and Muxton Bridge and across the Fields to Lilleshall.

If anyone has any memories of the area from their childhood, or any old photographs, we would be very pleased to include them in our local history page.

13

Nov

Donnington Wood Mill

Between 1818 and 1821 a partnership was formed to mill, bake, and deal in grain, and a four-storeyed brick steam mill was built in 1818 on the north bank of the Shrewsbury Canal.

The mill, generally known as Donnington Wood mill, closed in the 1970s. (ref. http://www.british-history.ac.uk)

Four bitter years of trouble followed during which local charter master used a much more economical railway built by John Bishton in 1796, which ran parallel to the Shropshire Canal.

13

Nov

Inclined Plane

Construction of the Wrockwardine Wood inclined plane began about 17th January 1791 after the Ironmaster, John Wilkinson had personally petitioned Parliament to extend the Shropshire Canal from Snedshill to form a junction with the Donnington Wood Canal.

The slope of the incline measured about seven degrees. The plane spanned the descent of 113 feet 2 inches and measured nine hundred and forty eight feet in length. The engine that served the plane’s lifting operations was the work of Adam Heslop of the Ketley Works and had a 12 inch bore and a 7 foot 6 inch stroke.

Between June 1791 and December 1792 records of the nearby Snedshill Ironworks near Oakengates, record making 193 tons of cast iron rails from the works were fitted on the plane. The wooden sleepers were made by a timber merchant named Thomas Ford of Hadley and his assistant James Houghton and were supplied by funding from the treasurer of the Canal Company, Edward Bishop. The cradles which supported the lifting operation were especially designed by a Quaker named William Prideaux of Newdale, who was a blood relative of William Reynolds.

In April 1795 subsidence beneath the plane, which may have been due to subterranean tunnels running underneath the engine house, was reported and a fissure three inches wide opened up across the housing. At that time, the new brickwork in the upper bay of the inclined plane was damaged showing that the mines were actually subsiding under the machinery.

In May 1797, after the partners of the Shropshire Navigation Company had entered into a dispute with local charter master over the price of carriage on the plane, Henry Williams of Ketley, Engineer took away the ropes and special carriages, rendering the plane unusable for a period.