Cheers for Charlie’s birthday
Friday 13th February 2009, 11:49AM GMT.
Hundreds of people flooded into Shrewsbury to take part in celebrations to mark the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. Events were held throughout yesterday to help people learn more about the Shrewsbury-born scientist.
In the morning about 100 people met at the Bellstone to toast the scientist before setting off around the town on tours led by volunteers from Shrewsbury Heritage Celebrations dressed in Victorian costume.
See our photo gallery from the celebrations
The tours followed a trail marked by waymarkers which had been unveiled earlier in the day at Darwin-related sites around the town.
And at 2pm about 250 visitors from all over the world gathered in The Square to celebrate with a giant birthday cake.
Led by town crier Martin Wood and Mrs Anne Chebsey, Mayor of Shrewsbury and Atcham, the crowd gave a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday before schoolchildren blew out the 200 candles on the cake – under the watchful eyes of firefighters from Shrewsbury station dressed in Victorian uniforms for the occasion.
Jon King, Darwin events co-ordinator, said: “It’s been a fantastic day and we hope we’ve given ‘Charlie’ a really good birthday party here in his home town,” he said.
Children from around the county who share Darwin’s birthday were invited to a party at the Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury.
l Shropshire MP Daniel Kawczynski has tabled a Commons motion in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth.
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Darwin may have been born in Shropshire but he did not return after he went to Cambridge .He had the good sense to choose a part of the country to live with a much better climate
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