1930s student's rural vision of a future Shrewsbury

Well, a lot of Salopians will know what Shrewsbury was like at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. But we are going back to Christmas 1931, when a student at Shrewsbury Technical College, one Frank J.G. Offord, won a prize for his English essay which imagined what Shrewsbury would be like in the year 2000.

It's quite a long essay, but let's give a flavour of what he found: "Early one October morning I took one huge stride over 70 years and came down in Shrewsbury 2000 A.D.

"I had come down right enough, but where was I? Drake gazing on the Pacific for the first time could not have been more silent or more moved than I was.

"My first impression was dominated by the rural nature of my surroundings. Gradually I came to discover differences. Where there were houses, there were indeed large houses.

"Not far from me I recognised what was once called the English Bridge. I could see the trees near the riverside preparing for winter, just as they had done in the 'good old days,' but all the houses that had surrounded the river were gone, and there was now one stretch of verdure."

Shrewsbury had become a Midlands beauty spot, its only population being 2,000 students.

Behind him, Shrewsbury Abbey was still standing.

"There was not a house to interrupt the view up to the Column: again, there was that delightful vista of green. On my right was a massive building, extending into what had once been a football field."

As Frank gazed at it "a creature of great stature, dressed in blue" emerged from it and invited him in to what turned out to be the modern version of Shrewsbury Technical College, with extensive use of glass resulting in light and airy rooms. He was taken to the Principal, who showed no surprise that Frank was from 1931.

He brought Frank up to date with international affairs, telling him modern nations existed under a system of limited sovereignty.

"No country has a foreign policy or a foreign office, because there are no foreign countries," the Principal told Frank. Scholars finished their usual education at 16, and then every male was drafted into the International Service Organisation, spending his service abroad to learn foreign languages, form friendships, and broaden the mind. Returning at 18, he then had vocational or technical training until 21.

As for young ladies, between 16 and 19 they were trained as nurses and "thereafter they proceed to professional training according to their ability and inclination."

England had lost her mining areas and many of the dirty cities had gone. Local shops had also gone, with Shrewsbury linked with Birmingham for supplies, and an aeroplane arrived daily with food supplies.

"Radiovision," the Principal told Frank, had eliminated the "talkie cinema" and there were three international newspapers which, by law, had to publish in French, Spanish and German on certain days of the week to maintain "a more cosmopolitan attitude of mind."