The village of Bayston Hill? It's just Buncum
Do folk from Bayston Hill ever say that they are from "Buncum" anymore?
It is, apparently, a local name for the Shropshire village - a village which has changed beyond all recognition in the lifetime of Bayston Hill-born Allan Caswell.
Allan, who is 74, has written some memories of the village, and also of his long career in the police force.
Bayston Hill, he writes, was known as Buncum or The Lump among the locals.
"In fact, the local saying went: 'Buncum born, Buncum bred, strong in the arm and weak in the head."
Recalling his childhood, he writes: "It was a time when the focal point of the village was centred either side of the main A49 road, with the church and school on the common and shops such as Morris's, Mrs Millman's sweet shop and, a little later, Mrs Howell's chip shop.
"At the crossroads was the local butcher and Co-op. On the common Mr Cope had a shoe repair business in his garden shed."
The hub of the community was the Memorial Hall.
On his first day at school, he tightly clutched his mother's hand, walking into the classroom to be greeted by his teacher, Miss Lewis. There was also the rather stern and austere-looking headmaster, Mr Bessows.
For school dinners all the school would walk crocodile-fashion to the Memorial Hall.
"In my first school concert I played the King of Hearts. The vicar's daughter, Elizabeth Evans, played the Queen. I was supposed to pretend-smack her on the bottom, but during a rehearsal I made her cry. I got well and truly chastised by the teacher."
Aged 11, the pupils had to go to another school.
"The brainy ones who passed their 11-plus went on to the grammar school. I ended up at Condover CofE where I cycled every day. At 13 I moved to the Wakeman School to study agriculture, and eventually left at the age of 15.
"For a number of years I was a member of the church choir. Once us boys - there were about eight of us in all - had a dispute with the adults in the choir. They said they could do without us, so we took them at their word and went 'on strike' for a few weeks, taking our places in the congregation in the back of the church.
"The vicar, Mr Mulrenan, eventually sorted it out with an apology from the adults. As an inducement for us to turn up to choir practice we were allowed to leave early and have use of the tennis court, which was at the vicarage. It worked."
Allan left Bayston Hill aged 22 to join the police, spending the next 35 years living in Wrexham and Shrewsbury, before returning to his Bayston Hill roots, where he still lives.
And last year he was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's birthday honours for services to the community in the village.
