History Group Season Five

The history of Shrewsbury in the 20th century

The History Group Season Five will start in August 2025. The focus this time will be on Shrewsbury in the 20th century – the period of world war and urban development.

Once again there will be five separate presentations, lasting approximately 90 minutes, with refreshments and notes included in the price. Details can be found to the right or on www.shrewsburyhistorica.co.uk.

Dates and tickets can be found by clicking here

Early 20th Century Developments

  • Comparing early 20th century Shrewsbury with today
  • The state of sanitation and public health at the start of the 20th century
  • The fate of the railways – failures and disasters
  • Educating Shrewsbury – the development of the grammar schools and secondary education
  • Crossing the river – the nine (plus one) bridges of Shrewsbury

The First World War & Beyond

  • The effect of the First World War on Shrewsbury
  • The role of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in the war
  • Wilfred Owen – Shropshire’s own war poet
  • The interwar years – social and environmental developments
  • The 1930s – growth and the first signs of modernism and ‘urban development’

Second World War & Afterwards

  • The changing use of landscape and buildings
  • Protecting Shrewsbury – defences, defenders and air raids
  • Social change – evacuation, rationing and the food supply
  • Harlescott and ‘the spy who might never have been’
  • The postwar years – celebration, morality, reality and the town of flowers

The Modern Period

  • ‘Urban Improvement’ – the changing appearance of Shrewsbury
  • Conservation after the 1960s and the birth of the civic society
  • Was Shrewsbury a ‘cultural backwater’ when it came to modern music?
  • Sporting Successes – cricket, rugby, golf and football
  • The changing landscape – comparing Shrewsbury now and in the past

The Finale

  • The truth behind the Silhouette factory
  • The story of Shrewsbury’s ace pilot
  • Percy Thrower – the first TV gardener
  • The murder of Hilda Murrell
  • Is Frankwell safe?
  • The story of the Shrewsbury Pickets
  • Our Town Shrewsbury – fun facts
  • Conclusion and farewell

All presentations held at the Bear Steps Hall and Art Gallery, the home of Shrewsbury Civic Society

As with previous seasons, each session provides a handout with brief notes of the presentation, together with some of the other issues of the period for which there was no time in the presentation itself. Tea and/or coffee will be provided.

Each session will be led by Russell Game, who is a retired teacher of History and Politics at William Brookes School in Much Wenlock. Russell has a BA Honours degree in History and German from the University of Reading, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Exeter. He also studied at Konstanz University in Germany.

Currently Russell is a Board Trustee of Shrewsbury Civic Society, serving as IT manager, researcher, presenter, webmaster and newsletter/magazine editor. He specialises in local history and will be assisted by Bibbs Cameron, an ex-British Museum Guide, who runs Shrewsbury Historica.

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