Ice cream van cone but not forgotten
This picture of a distinctive Sidoli's ice cream van from yesteryear has continued to stir happy memories among readers.
"I bought ice cream from that van in 1954," said Trevor Morris, of Hodnet.
"It visited our local Hodnet school for about two years, and it was then replaced by a Morris Commercial J-type – an ice cream van built on a Morris Commercial J-type chassis.
"I've been interested in vehicles all my life, and when I saw that photograph it came straight back to me. It used to come to Hodnet School on a lunchtime once a week. It pulled in the lane just outside the main gate."
Trevor remembers buying vanilla ice cream from it.
"As soon as I saw it I thought 'I remember that vehicle.' It was quite distinctive. At five years old things like that stick in your mind.
"The cone was painted a beige colour and the cab was the 'ice cream' and was painted white. The bonnet and the mudguards were painted in a maroon colour."
Mr Morris does not know what happened to the ice cream van after it stopped coming to the school.
And Kathleen Ladizesky said: "I remember this van as it used to come around the countryside selling ice cream – a special treat in the 1940s.
"One day the van stopped outside Hadnall School. Denis Thompson, then married to the owner of the Sansaw Estate, was in the Saracen’s Head inn next to the school and he came out and bought all the school children an ice cream.
"Recently there was a picture of the Sidoli cafe in the Square in Shrewsbury and I wondered what the T before Sidoli stood for. The present Sidoli company in Welshpool told me it was Tranquilo.
"The cafe in the Square used to have beautiful murals and the eclairs were delicious."
