This week's Pictures from the Past

A young soldier – or soldiers – far from home sent this postcard showing the "Naafi Club, Oswestry" in either 1950 or 1951 (the franking mark is difficult to read).

The message was: "Dear Tony, Many thanks for your cards. You seem to be quite well off and to have a good holiday. Life in the army is pretty hard with plenty of square bashing and polishing. The food is rather poor, nothing like home. Please do not forget to join the soccer team and Christchurch (the next word is unreadable). Well that's all for now Tony, best wishes to all, new soldiers (next word unreadable) David & Chris."

It was posted to T. Stewart Esq, 503A Croydon Road, Beckenham, Kent.

Picture courtesy of Ray Farlow

The caption to this old postcard is: "Weston Shop, Kinlet." But what does it mean? Were the people who ran the shop the Weston family? Maybe there is some older person in Kinlet who can solve the riddle, although we imagine that they would, to say the least, have to be getting on to have any direct knowledge as this photo must date from the early part of the 20th century.

Picture: Ray Farlow

Why did the chicken walk down the road? We're not certain, but we think it was at Ellesmere carnival, as this photo was taken in Ellesmere and is obviously a procession of some sort which was attracting the crowds.

Premises visible include the Victoria Hotel (there's a sign for the hotel next to the "Davies" banner on the left), Lloyds Bank, Ellesmere Brewery Company, and F Stephens. The fashions point to this event being in the 1920s.

Picture: Ray Farlow

There's a bit of history attached to this photo, but as you'll never guess what, we'll tell you, it is the first railway picture taken by renowned Shrewsbury railway buff and journalist Russell Mulford.

It was taken in 1946 with his mother's box Brownie camera.

The location is the Sutton Bridge junction on the Shropshire & Montgomery line at Shrewsbury.

The "WD" on the side of the tender stands for War Department. The photo was e-mailed to us by Russell's pal Roy Pilsbury who says: "I think this month is the 50th anniversary of the line closing."

We're going underground today with a picture of an old, disappeared tunnel on a Shropshire canal. This photo was e-mailed to us by Al Young, who says: "This is the Wombridge Canal tunnel before it disappeared under the Eastern Primary road in Telford. The picture was taken in 1965, by my uncle, Gerald Herbert."

Here's one that's close to home in more ways than one. It's an Express & Star van by Shrewsbury Abbey in the early 1950s – when there was no Shropshire Star, and our sister paper the Express & Star circulated in the county.

As it happens, the van is standing not far from our new, recently-opened offices in Abbey Foregate.

The picture was e-mailed in by Roy Pilsbury who identifies it as a Bedford PC van. He says EDA is a Wolverhampton registration.

Here is what we assume to be the "delivery van" outside the Oswestry Co-op many years ago in an undated postcard view but, based on the fashions of the lady on the extreme right who is looking on, may be the early 1920s. It's a long shot but does anyone know who these people are? The building on the right seems to be a hotel, as that word is just about readable on the sign.

Picture: Ray Farlow