A Shropshire historian has teamed up with one of the county’s top postcard collectors to produce a showcase of hundreds of historic pictures - some of which have never previously been published - of the towns and villages which make up modern-day Telford. “Telford” is the second book to result from the link-up between David Trumper of Shrewsbury and Ray Farlow of Bridgnorth, and has been published as part of the “Shropshire Postcards From The Past” series by Breedon Books.
“I have never seen such a wonderful postcard collection as Ray’s. It’s quite unique,” said Dave.
“He has such a vast collection of all the villages and townships that make up the new town of Telford, including photographs that have never been published before, that we thought it would make a good contribution to the local history of the area.”
The pair were first brought together by the Shropshire Star - they are both regular contributors to our nostalgia features - and their first book featured views of Ludlow and the surrounding area.
To create the latest book, Dave sifted through and researched many of Ray’s Telford area views, and has some personal favourites among them.
“Of the Wellington area, I particularly like the one of the soldiers outside Orleton Hall. My father, Dennis Trumper, was actually a patient there during the war. I did look to see if he was on the photograph, but he wasn’t. They have got these unique light blue overcoats on which show they were either wounded or sick soldiers.
“He was in the Royal West African Rifles and contracted malaria in Nigeria, and was invalided back to England.
“I also particularly liked the ones up on the side of Ironbridge, around Hodge Bower, and there’s an interesting one of an aeroplane which came down at Madeley.
“We had a very nice interview with Eric Smith on BBC Radio Shropshire with lots of people phoning in. One lady was very pleased because we had actually mentioned Coalbrookdale, which often gets missed out in these books, or gets lumped in with Ironbridge. She was pleased when we told her that we had given it a separate section.”
The book is hardback, black and white, with 186 pages, and costs £16.99.
Ray and Dave have some signing sessions lined up for the book. One is on October 21, at Wellington Civic Centre, between 10am and 2pm, during a stamp and postcard fair there, and on November 11 they will be at Waterstone’s in Telford town centre between 1pm and 3pm.
And already they have started work on the third book in the series, which will cover Bridgnorth and south east Shropshire.
The Telford book can be ordered through us for £16.99, plus £1.99 p&p. Contact Editorial Support Department, Shropshire Star Book Club, Ketley, Telford, Shropshire TF1 5HU. Office hours telephone (01952) 241459 or 241496 before 4pm; fax 01952 254605; e-mail editorialsupport@shropshirestar.co.uk. Tell them your book choice and discuss with them your preferred payment method.
- Have you got a book with a local connection which we could feature? Contact Toby Neal on (01952) 242424
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