Letter: Admiral Benbow is not ignored
The impression is being given by those promoting the idea of a statue to honour Admiral Benbow that Shrewsbury has ignored him. That is not so.
The story about him leaving the front door key above the door, to be left until his return, is a very well-known tale amongst Shrewsbury people.
There is a pub called The Admiral Benbow in Swan Hill.
In 2005, the Civic Society held a big exhibition in St Mary's Church, where there is a very fine marble memorial to Benbow.
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Many members of the Benbow family researching their family tree came along, and Woods Brewery at Craven Arms brewed a Benbow ale.
There is also a tree planted at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire (barely five miles from the new home of English Football at St George's Park), to remember those who served in HMS Benbow.
Admiral Benbow will also be recognised in the new museum at the Music Hall.
Recent examples of statuary in the town have not found much favour with townspeople.
Benbow should not be seen in isolation; he cannot have been the only lad to run away to sea from Shropshire.
Rivers leading to the sea have always been vital to our role as a trading nation. Benbow captured Turkish pirates in the Mediterranean and died in Jamaica.
Today trade means tourism. How much better to develop tourism with Jamaica than spend the money on a statue.
Joan Fidler
Shrewsbury
