Record start for festival

Saturday 11th October 2008, 11:50AM BST.

Wellington Literary Festival is enjoying a record year, with the biggest audiences in its 12-year history, its chairman claimed today.

Councillor Gary Davies said crowds of 50-plus were rolling up to hear local and national authors speak following the successful launch night with TV newsman George Alagiah on Saturday.

“This is the end of our first week and we are seeing record numbers,” he said.

“Richard Bifield’s Brief History of Telford – 2,000 years in 60 minutes – attracted 70 people to Wellington Civic Centre on Wednesday.

“We had to delay the start by 10 minutes so we could bring in extra seats.”

Councillor Davies said Thursday’s launch of Allan Frost’s book, Memories of Secondary School Days, had attracted more than 50 people to Wellington Methodist Church.

On Monday, Dr Gladys Mary Coles, probably the world’s leading expert on Mary Webb, Shropshire’s most famous daughter, will be talking at the Hayward Arts Centre, New College, King Street, at 7pm.