Catching up with Shrewsbury successes

As I mentioned a few weeks ago I was delighted to be asked to speak at the Shrewsbury Business Chamber monthly meeting where I met up with some old friends, including their PR Philip Davies who took this picture below.

I was pleased to receive this week their four-page glossy Newsletter for December and read many of the stories and hear of their successes.

Salop Leisure, whose chairman Tony Bywater has been a great supporter when I was editor at the Shrewsbury Chronicle and when I launched the Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel book, has been named Caravan Dealer of the Year. The company has been in business for 46 years and employs 140 people.

Also council staff at Shrewsbury Market Hall have been crowned Market Tenant of the Year (Local Authorities Category) by the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA).

It was good to see that the competition to find Shrewsbury’s Best Dressed Window, which we launched in the Chronicle, is still going strong. The winners this year were Ocacia, Juliet Chilton and Relate.

With the launch of the Shrewsbury Christmas Cracker night last month, chairman’s chat, diary dates, a welcome to new members and news from Destination Shrewsbury and Lanyon Bowdler, it is a good read.

Finally, I was delighted to see on the back page a good write-up and photograph about my talk to the Chamber last month.

Talking of meeting up with old friends, I am off to Shrewsbury again today where I am speaking to the Rotary Club at the Lord Hill, where I am sure I shall agaian recognise some familiar faces.

Inocuous paragraph helped historians

On this day 234 years ago an innocuous paragraph appeared in the Shrewsbury Chronicle.

The report was only a few lines but it proved vital to local historians tracing the story of The Lion Hotel.

Tucked away on page three in the middle of a column underneath the imaginative headline, Shrewsbury, Nov 29, the paper reported in its 1777 edition: “Last week was erected, over the new and elegant Assembly Room, at the Lion Inn in this town, on a beautiful pedestal, decorated with the arms of John Ashby Esq., a highly finished statue of a lion, larger than life, executed by Mr John Nelson, statuary carver, of this place.

“This statue, and another of the same size and elegance, do great credit we think to the artist, as well as to the generous and public-spirited employer.”

That is the entire Chronicle story. But it helps local historians to credit John Nelson as the craftsman responsible for the statues and to show the owner of the hotel at that time was the Shrewsbury solicitor John Ashby (1722-1779), who was Mayor of Shrewsbury and town clerk from 1767 until his death 12 years later.

Incidentally, both the lions can still be seen today, although the rear lion only re-emerged in 1962 after a hotel extension was built.

Pictured below is William Braddock, a local decorator, putting the new gold leaf on the lion over the hotel front door on April 29, 1953.

Shrewsbury carpenter and joiner William Haycock, who rebuilt the Lion, said that Ashby bought the premises, described in the deeds as the ‘Red Lion’, at auction in August 1775 from Sir Thomas Jones, of Stanley Hall, near Bridgnorth. And it was Ashby who renamed it the Lion.

However, the history of the hotel, or the Lion site, goes back much further.

Historian Bill Champion says the first recorded owner of the Red Lion was Richard Mytton Esq. (c. 1500-1591) who sold it in May 1553 to the sitting tenant Richard Owen, alias Barber, for £20 and a fixed fee-farm rent of 12 shillings (60p) per year.

Selling in fee-farm was an old type of conveyance whereby the vendor would sell the freehold, but retain a fixed annual rent called a ‘fee-farm’.

However, there is a conversation recorded ‘at the sign of the Lion’ in 1537 between Nicholas Holte; John Barber, Richard Owen’s father; and Thomas Cowper, for many years the town clerk of the borough.

They were discussing rumours that that the King (Henry VIII) was planning to halve the number of churches, as part of the English Reformation, and to have only one chalice in each church. 

Mr Champion says that, although the reference is only to the Lion, there is no doubt that the Red Lion is meant.

He further believes the present hotel site had belonged since 1460, and probably earlier, to the Myttons, one of the most famous Shropshire families who made their fortunes in the 14^th century in the wool trade.

There are more details about the story of the hotel in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel.

To buy a signed copy for the special Christmas price of £6, including postage within the UK, email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Darwin brought into Bible debate again

I was very interested in the debate in the newspapers over the weekend of Education Secretary Michael Gove’s plan to send a copy of the King James Version of the Bible to every school in Britain.

Mr Gove, pictured below, who has written a foreword to the Bible gift, said it was the most important book in the English language and had major cultural significance.

The Department of Education said the Bibles would be sent to more than 20,000 schools to mark the 400^th anniversary of the translation.

Supporters say the book would help supporters of all faiths to take pride in the history and culture of Britain.

But non-religious groups have condemned it as an unacceptable waste of public money and former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott described it as Mr Gove’s ‘vanity project’.

Mr Prescott said on Twitter: “And Gove gave unto 20,000 schools a Bible that cost £10 a piece and the taxpayer wasted £200,000 on a vanity project.”

The National Secular Society suggested the Department of Education could put a message on its website and save tens of thousands of pounds.

Its president, Terry Sanderson, added: “Will he also please ensure that a copy of On the Origin of Species is sent out on Darwin day (February 12)?

“This book is murder to find in schools and would be in line with his policy of promoting science and evidence based education.”

The story of Charles Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury and who stayed at The Lion Hotel just before and immediately after his epic journey, is told in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel.

Richy Thompson, campaigns officer at the British Humanist Association, said: “Either the Government is funding this initiative itself at a time when it is making severe cuts elsewhere, or the Church is funding it but using the Government as a vehicle through which to promote Christianity – both are unacceptable.”

The story raised a number of questions in my mind.

1. Surely schools in Britain already have a copy of the Bible?

2. With all the economic cutbacks going on at the moment, isn’t this the wrong time to suggest this gift?

3. I am all for pupils studying the facts and reading the evidence for themselves. But if the schools were given a Bible and a copy of the On the Origin of Species, what other books would the Government be asked to provide for free?

4. Each of these Bibles for schools would include a foreword by Michael Gove. Why? Surely he is not trying to make any political capital out of this, is he?

5. The third official translation of the Bible into English was commissioned by the Protestant King James I in 1604 so the ordinary people could read it in their everyday language. If pupils today are to get a Bible, shouldn’t it be a modern version in today’s everyday language, not in the English of 400 years ago?

What do you think? I would be interested in your views?

Blog brings Christmas bonus for hotel

My blog has brought a Christmas bonus for The Lion Hotel.

Charles Spriggs, from Lincoln, was looking for a present for his daughter and son-in-law and wondered about a weekend away in a historic hotel in the UK when he stumbled across my blog.

He was so interested in reading about The Lion, pictured below by Richard Bishop, that he decided to order a copy of my book at the same time buying a weekend hotel voucher.

“My daughter and son-in-law like visiting new places and Shrewsbury seemed a good choice,” Charles told me.

“I am now going to give them the book and the hotel voucher as a Christmas present so they can read up about the place before they go there next year.”

If you would like to buy someone a Christmas present of a weekend at The Lion Hotel go to www.thelionhotelshrewsbury.com/

If you would like to order a signed copy of the book as a festive gift for £6 including postage within the UK email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

I'm amazed where my blog reaches

I never cease to be amazed by the effect of this blog and the number of countries it reaches.

In the last few weeks I have hits from around the world with some of the more unusual ones being Azerbaijan, China, Argentina, Latvia, Philippines, Macedonia, Mongolia and even Somalia.

Another of the benefits is that people are reading my blog and ordering copies of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel at the special Christmas price of £6 including postage to addresses in the UK via my email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

A third spin-off is the feedback I get, sometimes many weeks later.

Yesterday Randall Stock emailed me to say: “I'm sorry to bother you, but I came across one of your blog posts and was hoping you could provide some additional information.

“I write and speak about Conan Doyle rarities, including at Harvard’s Conan Doyle symposium. 

“I'm working on a chapter for a book, and during my research came upon some information by Professor Michael Slater that I need to check. 

“Unfortunately the only email address I have for him is bouncing back, and I see from your blog that you were in touch with the professor back in July.

“Could you send me his email address?  I'd appreciate your help.”

I am now trying to help him

But it is not just my blog and The Lion’s own website that is interesting, there is also the address book of the people who have stayed at the hotel and left their comments.

I was delighted to read recently that John and Sandra Faulkner of the Dickens Fellowship had visited the Shrewsbury hotel, pictured below.

The Fellowship, which was founded in 1902, is a worldwide association of people who share an interest in the life and works of Dickens.

When owner Howard Astbury heard that John and Sandra were staying in the hotel for two nights and of their interest in Dickens he was able to move them for the second night into the Dickens suite.

The couple wrote in the visitors’ book: “The Lion was all that we expected. To stay where the Great Man stayed was wonderful and we thank you.”

And even better news for me – they bought a copy of my book.

Mayor tells of fantastic visit

A fortnight ago I reported on an enjoyable morning showing two Shrewsbury mini mayors for the day round The Lion Hotel.

Thirteen-year-old Abbie Allford and 14-year-old Frankie Hutchings, both from Sundorne School, were chosen to accompany the Mayor and Mayoress of Shrewsbury, Cllr Tony Durnell and Mrs Tricia Durnell, on their civic duties.

I am delighted that the Mayor reported on the visit in his blog and in his column, Pride of Shrewsbury, in the Shrewsbury Chronicle.

This what he wrote in his blog.

Today we held another Mini Mayor day, this time it was with students from Sundorne School, Abbie and Frankie, both year nine students.

They were collected from their school by the Mayor’s Officer in the Mayoral car and taken to the Guildhall where they met with Tricia the Mayoress and myself, in the Mayor’s Parlour where the pair were shown the town’s silver collection.

We then left in the Mayor’s car for our fist engagement at The Lion Hotel, where we were to meet the hotel owner Howard Astbury and John Butterworth, a former editor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle for 12 years and the author of a book called Four Centuries at the Lion Hotel.

The four of us are pictured inside the hotel with owner, Howard Astbury.

We were given a tour of the outside areas of the hotel, explaining the way that stagecoaches to and from London came and went and that it took 15 hours and 45 minutes to cover the whole journey.

No motorways, just stagecoach pulled by four horses that had to be changed every 10 or 12 miles. No bearings on the wheels, so a bit of noise and vibration throughout the time you travelled and also no heating.

What it must have been like on the top in the cold and wet I hate to think.

We then went indoors to look at the fantastic ballroom where the violinist Paganini played there in 1833.

Charles Dickens stayed at the hotel on a number of occasions and we visited the Dickens suite where he wrote and where he slept. The two rooms were joined by a stairway.

We even stood on the small balcony that Dickens wrote home about.

Abbie and Frankie are pictured on the balcony looking down Wyle Cop.

Charles Darwin caught the stagecoach from outside The Lion to ensure he was able to sail with the Beagle.

Mr Astbury is an independent owner and has been patiently restoring the venerable old coaching inn.

Howard bought the hotel in 2006 and the changes already made have ensured that The Lion Hotel is right up there in the front when deciding where to either eat, stay or both.

After our visit to The Lion Hotel we walked through the town centre to the indoor Market Hall to have a tour around the shops/stalls within the Market.

We then went back to the Guildhall for lunch.

After lunch we visited the new Fire and Rescue Station in St Michael’s Street. We had a fantastic reception from all of the people who work there and they spent time showing us all around the new offices, control room and of course the engines themselves.

What a fantastic visit, one we all enjoyed.

To order a signed copy of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel for the special price of £5 plus postage email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Book debate still raging 152 years later

A controversial book was published 152 years today which caused an outcry then and the debate has been going on ever since.

On November 22, 1859, Charles Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury, brought out his work on his expedition to the Galapagos Islands entitled On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, priced at 15 shillings (75p).

There were 1,250 copies printed about his evolution theory, most of which were sold on the first day.

When a gale blew down the top 50ft of St Mary’s Church spire on Sunday, February 11, 1894, the day before the anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and while the council were debating putting up a controversial statue of Darwin in the town, the vicar said it was divine retribution.

Scaffolding, which had been put up by workmen who were due to return to work on the Monday, crashed down, along with part of the spire into the nave which had been full with more than 300 worshippers only an hour or so previously.

Preaching in the wrecked sanctuary on the following Sunday, the vicar, the Rev Newdegate Poyntz, told the congregation: “Could anyone in the future doubt the providence of God. Not one soul was lost. Could they, therefore, doubt that God’s hand was present throughout all and that He was guiding and ruling all.”

Referring to the councillors and their debate he continued: “The fall of the spire should stop for ever, in their mouths at least, the jargon about natural laws, natural forces and the like, so common in this present day.

“One day this month a certain event occurred in Shrewsbury and a few days afterwards the spire was blown down by an Act of God. Was there any connection between the two events?

“If he was right, it was at least possible many had received a warning. Let them act upon it.

“If they pondered well over his remarks, and digested them, they ought to bring in during the week, sufficient funds to restore the church twice over.”

The sermon caused 14 readers to write letters to the Shrewsbury Chronicle over the next two weeks, most of them agreeing with the vicar.

Funds for the £6,000 repair bill for St Mary’s were eventually found. A statue of  Charles Darwin, pictured below, who died on April 19, 1882, and was buried a week later at Westminster Abbey on April 26, was placed outside what is now Shrewsbury Library and can still be seen today.

There’s more about the Darwin story in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel. Autographed copies of the book for the special Christmas price of £5 plus postage can be obtained by emailing John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Dickens' link with Bath

I never cease to be amazed by the number of places with links to Charles Dickens.

The other weekend my wife Jan and I had a weekend in Bath, a place we had not been back to since the first night of our honeymoon 35 years ago.

First stop for us were the Roman Baths, pictured below, which together with the Grand Pump Room attract more than a million visitors every year.

We walked round firstly the well-preserved baths to which Romans came from all over the empire to enjoy the waters and then the Pump Room where we found a reference to Dickens and a quote from one of his books.

I confess I had never read his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, but in the book Mr Pickwick asks his faithful servant: “Have you drank (sic) the waters, Mr Weller?”

To which Sam replies: “I thought they were particularly unpleasant. I thought they’d a very strong flavour o’ warm flat irons.”

We tasted the waters and were not as critical as Mr Sam Weller. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to this fascinating tourist destination which was full of visitors, even in November.

However, we were surprised to read in the local paper, The Bath Chronicle, that the town was worried that the Olympics Games in London might devastate their tourism figures next year.

So it was interesting to read that Bath is celebrating the 200^th anniversary of Dickens’ birth just as The Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury is.

On Tuesday, February 7 next year in Bath at 7pm in the Pump Room there is a one-man double bill by Doc Watson as he tells The Pickwick Papers story and The Signal-man, Dickens’ famous ghost story.

Tickets £8- £6 concessions from: Bath Festivals Box Office, 2 Church St, 01225 463 362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk/

In Shrewsbury the bi-centenary is celebrated by the author’s great, great grandson, Gerald Dickens, with a weekend of readings.

On Friday, February 3, 2012, at 8pm he performs Mr Dickens is Coming, which is a light-hearted and varied look at the life and character of his ancestor.

On Saturday Gerald reads Sikes and Nancy, which Charles Dickens introduced to his repertoire of readings in 1869 and judged the success of the evening by the number of ladies who fainted in horror.

Tickets for those shows are £8.50 each or £15 for both nights from The Lion Hotel on 01743 353107 or go to www.wegottickets.com/f/3039 

Mini mayors given civic tour of The Lion

I had an enjoyable morning last week showing two Shrewsbury mini mayors for the day round The Lion Hotel.

Thirteen-year-old Abbie Allford and 14-year-old Frankie Hutchings, both from Sundorne School, were chosen to accompany the Mayor and Mayoress of Shrewsbury, Cllr Tony Durnell and Mrs Tricia Durnell, on their civic duties.

The four are pictured below in the hotel where they met the owner Howard Astbury.

Neither of the teenagers had been in the hotel before so they were very interested to see where Charles Darwin had set off on his epic world trip.

They were also amused to hear about ‘Mad Jack’ Mytton, who celebrated at being elected the town’s Conservative MP by jumping into The Lion through a window and were impressed at seeing the architectural gem of the Ballroom where Nicolo Paganini gave a concert in 1833.

Howard then took the party to the Charles Dickens bedroom which has little changed since the author wrote to one of his daughters in 1858: “We have the strangest little rooms, the ceilings of which I can touch with my hand. The windows bulge out over the street as if they were little stern windows of a ship. And a door opens out of the sitting room on to a little open gallery with plants in it where one leans over a queer old rail.”

As the civic party stood on that balcony looking down Wyle Cop the Mayor admitted it was the first time he had been in the Dickens room.

It must be one of the very few historical sights in Shrewsbury that the Mayor has never seen.

The youngsters were then taken to meet the traders in Shrewsbury Market before lunch in the Mayor’s Parlour.

Afterwards they went to see the newly-refurbished Shrewsbury Fire Station before being presented with the Mayor’s medal and certificate plus a goody bag to complete their visit.

Both thoroughly enjoyed their day with Abbie saying a highlight was being a town VIP while Frankie said his was being driven in the civic limousine.

More details about the day can be seen in this week’s Shrewsbury Chronicle where the Mayor writes a weekly column, the Pride of Shrewsbury, or on his own blog mayorofshrewsbury.wordpress.com/

Shrewsbury's 50-year campaign on shop hours

A campaign started in Shrewsbury 151 years ago today had a major impact on shop workers throughout the UK.

The appeal for shops to close at lunchtime on Thursday with a paid half-day holiday began with a letter to the Salopian Journal on November 7, 1860, asking the “ladies of Shropshire” to use their influence to obtain early closing when the Volunteer Corps drilled.

The Volunteer force had been raised in 1859 when it was feared the French might invade England.

During the next two years, 18 volunteer rifle corps was formed in Shropshire. Two of them, the 1^st Corps and the 17^th, had headquarters in Shrewsbury and later became the 1^st and 2^nd Shropshire Volunteer Battalions of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.

The list for the 1^st Shropshire Volunteer Corps had 130 names, including 29 railway company clerks, workers from the Post Office, banks and the Inland Revenue, 14 solicitors, a barrister, five engineers, four gentlemen, two bankers, two school teachers, a dentist, a farm and the railway superintendent – but not one shop worker.

Numbers had increased rapidly in 1860 throughout Britain with 70,000 volunteers by February that year, and 200,000 by November.

Patriotism and the chance to wear a uniform were two of the attractions to encourage the volunteers to join up, but the main one was the social side of joining the Corps with bazaars, dinners, fetes, an annual camp in July, a ball in February and a county rifle competition at Hawkstone Park, pictured below.

Up to 30,000 travelled on special trains to Wem for the first shooting contest held on June 28, 1861, at which Lord Hill, the Lord Lieutenant of the county, paid out of his own pocket for the food and drink for the 1,200 volunteers.

Newspaper reports said the tables groaned under the weight of the huge joints of meat and the volunteers were able to help themselves to as much Hawkstone ale as they wanted, while picnics of  pigeon pies and pasties, lobster salad, sherry and champagne were held all over the park.

It was probably fortunate the shooting contest began at 12 noon before the ale was served.

Following the letter action followed and a meeting of young men to draft a circular to be sent to ladies in Shrewsbury led to the forming of the Half-Holiday Association, supposedly the first of its kind outside London.

In early December 1860, the Half-Holiday Association announced that they were holding a meeting on Thursday, January 10, in the Lion Assembly Room.

The Mayor and Corporation appealed to shop owners to allow their employees time off on Thursdays to drill with the volunteers, the clergy urged employers to meet before the date of the meeting.

However, not everyone agreed. The Vicar of Holy Trinity, Shrewsbury, the Rev Colley, spoke against early closing from his pulpit, fearing that the young would misuse the free time and that “temptations to evil were furnished by additional hours of leisure.”

In 1862, the government announced that no more volunteer companies were to be formed, which suggested recruitment was no longer a problem.

By 1880, company drill for volunteers in Shrewsbury now took place at 7.30pm with recruits being given uniforms after 30 drills and soon the Volunteers had no connection to the Half-Holiday Movement.

In 1886, the Shop Hours Regulation Act limited the number of hours for under 18 year olds to 74 hours per week, but some shop assistants were still working 12 to 16 hours a day.

However, it was not until 1911 that legislation finally guaranteed a half-holiday beginning at 1pm – 50 years after the campaign was launched in Shrewsbury at The Lion Hotel on January 10, 1861.

There’s more about this campaign in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel. To buy a signed coped for £6 including postage email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Tourism figures good news for hotel

I was delighted to see in the Shropshire Star today that visitors to Shrewsbury are getting younger.

Their average age has fallen by about 20 years in just over a decade, new research has revealed, which is excellent news for the town.

It is also an opportunity for The Lion Hotel, situated on Wyle Cop, pictured below.

Shropshire tourism bosses said the latest figures showed their efforts to attract visitors under 45 and was paying off.

They said this was due to promotion in publications such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and Time Out which was aimed at younger tourists.

The research, carried out by Shropshire Tourism, shows that 15 per cent of visitors to Shrewsbury are now aged between 35 and 45.

Simon McCloy, chief executive at Shropshire Tourism, said: “Thirteen years ago the average age of visitors to Shrewsbury was 65 or over.

“Now the average visitor is 45, and 15 per cent of visitors are aged between 35 to 45, which we think bodes well for the future.”

With its award-winning Michelin chef, Ian Matfin, and all its history as told in Four Centuries at The Lion the hotel will be hoping to attract many of these new visitors through its doors.

Judge turns to Dickens for guidance

I smiled when I read in The Times recently that a Court of Appeal judge had turned to Charles Dickens for help in trying to resolve a dispute over a property lease.

Lord Justice Rimer said he found a solution in the Dickens’ book Bleak House to his problem over the “potentially flexible” meaning of the word “adjoining”.

The judge said that Dickens, who is pictured below and whose visits to Shrewsbury are mentioned in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, described an inquest in chapter 33 which showed that “adjoining” might not always mean “touching”.

In a written judgement published last Thursday the judge said: “Chapter 32 of Bleak House concludes with the description of Krook’s demise in his rag and bottle warehouse by the phenomenon of spontaneous combustion.

“Chapter 33 describes the inquest held at the Sol’s Arms, a well-conducted tavern immediately adjoining the premises in question on the west side and licensed to a respectable landlord, Mr James George Bogsby.”

He added: “Dickens’ words neatly illustrate the point that a user of the word ‘adjoining’ may not necessarily be using it as meaning ‘touching’.”

Lord Justice Rimer and two other judges were hearing evidence in a dispute between Caroline Lovat, of Radlett, Hertfordshire, and Hertmere Borough Council.

They had to decide whether Mrs Lovat, who owned a leasehold property in Radlett, could acquire the freehold from the council.

But the judges ruled in favour of the council, which had challenged a ruling by a judge sitting in central London County Court.

Who says Dickens is not relevant today and who would expect it to be used in a Court of Appeal case?