David Jones of Shrewsbury worked hard on preparing a historical booklet which he intended to come out to coincide with the diamond anniversary of Shrewsbury Choral Society in 2001-2002, but then something happened which threatened the whole project.
An application for a lottery grant to pay for the preparation and printing was turned down.
“That took the wind out of my sails,” said Mr Jones. “It meant a considerable period of non activity until lately I got my second wind. I suddenly had the urge to get on with it again.”
The upshot is that finally “The Diamond Years”, which is a chronicle of the choral society, is now ready.
Mr Jones said: “I have sung in the choral society since 1981 and am a past chairman. I was society librarian from 1991 to 2005, and as librarian I had lots of information. I have always been an avid collector of programmes from concerts which I sang in, and then I acquired a computer and thought it would be nice to have things in chronological order.”
He started by using his programmes and notes, but became more and more interested and decided to research deeper by going into Shropshire Archives, the records and research centre.
And, although he had initially intended to compile a chronicle spanning the diamond years from 1941, when the present-day choral society was formed, to 2002, he decided to widen the scope of his research.
“I did not set out to write a book, but I became so fascinated. They were very helpful at Shropshire Archives. I started looking in the Shrewsbury Chronicle and became absolutely fascinated with some of the early entries, starting in 1772. I spent quite a considerable time going through there.
“Then it dawned on me that it would be nice to get this into booklet form. I plodded on in my leisure time - I’m retired.”
The booklet is the culmination of his researches and has taken around six years all told. Copies cost £5 each, plus postage and packing of £1.50, and are obtainable by contacting him on (01743) 465725.
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