Mystery over magical Drayton print

And now Barry Salter of Market Drayton is trying to find out more about this print which has come his way.

It depicts St Mary's Street, looking towards the church, and perhaps is set in late Victorian times.

There is also a connection to the Shropshire Star - but we have to admit that we're scratching our heads about it, so are hoping that readers will be able to tell us, and Barry, more about the background to the picture.

He tells us: "I'm a parochial church council member for St Mary's Church, which is why this particular print is interesting to me.

"It's a lovely water colour print showing St Mary's Church and a very active scene, with soldiers and sailors, children playing, a maypole - it's a wonderful scene. I have sort of fallen for it and because it's my church I'm interested in it and wanted to know a little more about it. It's purely history."

As for how he acquired the print, Barry says: "It was at a neighbour's house. We were just chit-chatting. He was outside his front door and throwing things into his bin. This was one of the things he was throwing into his bin. I said: 'Why are you throwing that away?' He said: 'I don't like it.' I said I liked it and he said that if I liked it, I could have it.

"I don't know where he got it from - he can't remember. He is 92 and was having a clearout."

Now to the big clue. The print has a label which says: "Exclusive print of St Mary's Church, Market Drayton, one of six scenes painted by Brian Eden to mark the 25th anniversary of the Shropshire Star and published by Miss Carter Publications, Bolton."

The 25th anniversary of the Shropshire Star was in 1989, as the Star was launched in 1964.

A dip into the internet tells us a bit more about the artist Brian Eden, assuming it's the same one, as seems likely as the style is identifiable.

He hails from Liverpool area and did National Service in the Royal Marines. With a background in graphic design, many of his paintings portray Victorian England.

As for the link with the Shropshire Star, we are in the dark as we can't immediately find any record, and it's so long ago that nobody can remember.

So it's over to you, our readers... If you can help drop me a line at toby.neal@shropshirestar.co.uk