Pictures from the Past - Aug 24

Click on the edge of the next picture to start the gallery.

Captions:

1. Since they were married Harry Foxall and his wife, of Friar Street, Bridgnorth, had put away some money every week so they could buy their own car.

Eventually they had enough to buy a secondhand 1950 Austin A70.

And look what happened three weeks later. Eighty tons of sandstone tumbled from a rockface by their home and crushed their newly-bought car in July 1962. The good news was that their 12-year-old daughter Jennifer and two other schoolgirls escaped injury after running for their lives.

2. Bridgnorth historian Clive Gwilt recently bought some old glass negatives dating from 1897 which he thinks feature locations in the Bridgnorth area.

The trouble is, he doesn't know exactly where. Here is one of them, showing a cottage in an idyllic location reached by a distinctive bridge. Does anybody recognise where it is (or was)?

3. Penny Stephan is researching her family tree and came across this photo in her grandparents' old documents.

Her grandfather Bob Gennoe used to work for the Shrewsbury Chronicle and was a highly accomplished fisherman, who caught one of the biggest salmon at Shrewsbury weir.

The photo has the datestamp on the back of September 7, 1957, and may well be the Shrewsbury team which won the Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News challenge cup in a the annual team championship on the River Severn at Apley, near Bridgnorth.

By comparison with a photo that the paper published on that date, the gentleman front, third from right, with the brimmed hat can be identified as Mr K Phillips, captain of the Shrewsbury team, and front left is Mr A Margerison of Shrewsbury, winner of the individual award with a catch of 17lb, 5oz, 12drs.

Can anybody name the others?

4. These are youngsters from the Air Training Corps in the Much Wenlock area who were at a camp at RAF Madley, Herefordshire, in about 1943.

This picture came from Mr John South, of Shrewsbury, but who used to live in Brockton, near Much Wenlock. He is second row down, extreme right.

As it happened he did not subsequently go in the RAF, but went into the Army for a short while. The photo is captioned: "A.T.C. Camp RAF Madley, Visit of 1200 Squadron (Borough of Wenlock)."

The names below are: (Back row) Cadets N.L. Franks, W. Williams, T.J. Watkins, W.B. Davies, C. Pugh, D.O. Banks, W.E. Evans, L.T.H. Parry, J.B. Marston, A.H. Thomas.

(Next row down): Cadets H. Jones, G.R. Sylvester, H.C. Thomas, R.G. Palmer, D.G. Cookson, I.G. Southern, H. Pugh, T.H. Bennett, J.C. Watkins, J.H. South.

(Third row down): Cadets G.T. Salt, V.C. Evans, G.G. Morris, G.G. Whitmore, W.J. Taylor, A.E.K. Parry, T. Meadows, B.E. Vow, P.A. Joy, T.L. Sharp. The names of those on the front are cropped off unfortunately.

5. Regular contributor Paul France, of Coalbrookdale, e-mailed in this photo telling us: "It was taken in the Black Swan in Jackfield in the early 1960s.

The occasion was a leaving party for Graham Rich, who was emigrating to Australia.

Graham's father was Joe Rich who was a local councillor and one time Mayor of Wenlock.

There is a road named after him in Madeley. From the left: Bob Gittings, Paul France, John Norry (with tankard), John Fidler, don't know the partially hidden guy,

Garth Owen, Graham Rich, Mike Collings, don't know. Standing on a chair at the back is Colin Pugh.

"The strange expressions on some of the faces is not the effect of Watney's Red Barrel – more the fact they are singing!"

A little later, Paul got in touch again: "Since I sent the picture I've been in touch with Graham Rich.

"He tells me the partially hidden guy was an ex-work colleague called John Cotterill and the guy bottom right is Dave Barber, who still lives in Coalbrookdale."