Shropshire fridge still working after 63 years - is it Britain's oldest?

It has been chilling at home since the 1940s. But 63 years after it was bought, retired Shropshire farmer Don Ashley's fridge is still keeping food fresh.

Believed to be the oldest working fridge in Britain, the cream-coloured fridge has been in continuous use since 1947 when Mr Ashley's parents George and Ivy bought it from an electrical shop, possibly in Ellesmere.

It has served the family so well it has never needed repairs apart from occasional replacement bulbs for the internal light.

Three generations of the family have fed themselves on food from its temperature-controlled chamber.

Mr Ashley, 68, of Cockshutt, said the fridge is now in an outbuilding at the home he shares with wife Carol because of its "noisy" motor.

The British-made fridge harks back to the golden age of British manufacturing, he said.

"My father bought it in 1947 and it's been going every day since," Mr Ashley said. "The number of hours it has been going for must be incredible.

"It's never once stopped or needed repairing apart from the odd bulb going.

"I thought 'they don't make them like they used to' so I've been looking on the internet and English Electric were an engineering firm that bought out part of Marconi, so this fridge must be one of the first domestic products they­ made.

"I've asked my mother, who is now 89, and she cannot remember where it was bought from. My father was one of the first people in the area to get electricity and he used to order things from shops and they would just turn up, so it's hard to be certain where it came from.

"But I would say the fridge was almost certainly bought somewhere in Shr- opshire, possibly from an el- ectrical shop in Ellesmere."

His interest in the age of the fridge was sparked by articles in the national press this year about people with fridges that had been going strong for 56 and 58 years.

"Mine's 63 now, so I thought it might actually be the oldest," said Mr Ashley.

The Ashleys, who have two sons and four grandchildren, said they could never imagine parting with the fridge, despite newer models being more energy efficient.

Mrs Ashley said: "It's a really treasured item."

• Can you beat Don's fridge? Do you have a household appliance that is still going strong years after it should have given up the ghost? Contact newsroom@shropshirestar.co.uk or call (01952) 242424.

Fridge facts

• Maker: English Electric.

• Price paid: unknown.

• Receipt: whereabouts unknown.

• Instruction manual: whereabouts unknown.

• Repairs: none (apart form replacing light bulbs).

• Years service: 63.

• Colour: cream.

• Height: Approximately 5 feet.

• Width: Approx 2.5 feet.

• Serial number: 10971.

• Cabinet number: 7001.

• Features: Ice box, shelves, electric motor.

• Homes: Crosemere, Welshampton and now Cockshutt.

By Tom Johannsen