Elusive bus depot evaded the cameras
With a functional tin building, and probably a parking area for coaches, the old garage of H. Brown's Coaches can hardly have been as pretty as a picture.
Which probably explains why nobody took one – leaving a gap in the history of Donnington Wood.
Or, if anybody did take one, it has not yet come to light, as the archivist of Donnington Wood Baptist Church, Richard Camp, has been trying to find one for ages – because that coach depot is also relevant to the history of the church.
Now he is appealing to Shropshire Star readers in the hope that somebody can help out and come up with a photo. Pictures exist of the firm's buses, but the depot itself appears to have missed the camera lens.
Richard said: "For quite some time I have been trying to find someone with a picture of the garage or depot of H. Brown’s Coaches in Queens Road, Donnington Wood.
"The reason is because the church bought the garage in the late 1960s and built a new church on it.
"Although we have pictures of the new church, built in 1969, we do not have a picture of the site before – which I have been told contained a tin building and, presumably, a parking area for the coaches.
"The garage was roughly in the centre of Queens Road between a pre-World War Two detached house and a row of post-World War Two council houses.
"H. Brown was one of the local coach companies who ran regular local bus routes and, no doubt, trip and holiday runs to places further away. It now no longer exists.
"The original Baptist Church in Donnington Wood was on Bell Corner at the junction of Queens Road and Church Road and was probably built in the 1820s.
"It was suffering from severe damp problems and in the 1960s the hunt was on for a suitable new site for a, then, modern new building. At about the same time, H. Brown Coaches moved to a site near to the later Britannia Coaches depot off Church Road.
"I think that H. Brown Coaches were later incorporated into Britannia Coaches. It is not known if H. Brown Coaches moved to sell their Queens Road site or had moved before and the site became available for sale.
"In either case, the church bought the site and built a new church. The old church site was sold and the old church building had several owners and uses before being demolished and the site has now been redeveloped for housing.
"It appears no-one connected to the church took a picture of the new church site before the church was built, or even of the new church during the building.
"People did not take so many pictures of such things in those days, photography being more expensive in the days before digital and mobile phone photography."
Richard, who lives in Wellington and can be contacted on 01952 405458, added: "Despite many efforts and inquiries, I have been unable to find a picture of the depot or garage when H. Brown’s Coaches were using the site.
"If anyone has a picture of the garage or depot in Queens Road, I will be grateful to have a copy for the church archive. If any succeeding relative of H. Brown reads this appeal and has some pictures of H. Brown or relating to his coaches, I will be pleased if they get in touch."
