Telford's spark

Toby Neal uncovers more about the man who whose pen changed the direction of Telford's history

Pioneers . . . Dawley Urban District Council from 1958-61 , in which the foundation blocks of what became Dawley New Town, and later Telford New Town, were laid. Freddy Bowdler is on the press bench at the far end of the room. On the left of the table, with face in profile, is Harry Goodwin, the Express & Star reporter, and next along to the right is Bill Dumbell, of the Shrewsbury Chronicle. In the far window on the right is George Phillips, a resident who for over 20 years attended virtually every monthly council meeting. Front left is Councillor Jack Clayton and the clergyman on the right is the Rev Hamilton, Dawley's vicar. Others known to be on the photo are Mrs Beaton (the wife of Dr Beaton), Mr Sankey, Mr Hewitt, Mr Wilkes, Mr Savage, Mr Chetwood and Mr Wood

Who was A.W. Bowdler, the spiritual father – or maybe that should be grandfather – of Telford?

That was the question we posed during 40th anniversary celebrations of the creation of the new town in 1968.

It was Dawley journalist Mr Bowdler who, in February 1955, wrote an article published in a Birmingham newspaper which suggested that the vast swathes of derelict land in east Shropshire could be used for housing to accommodate the Birmingham "overspill" population.

His idea struck a chord and led to the Dawley and Birmingham authorities forging a linkup in which Dawley was earmarked for new housing to take Birmingham families.

One thing led to another, with the creation of Dawley New Town in 1963, a concept which was greatly expanded in 1968 with the creation of Telford.

His full name, we now know, was Alfred William Bowdler – generally called Freddy Bowdler or Fred, but also nicknamed "Scoop" Bowdler – and he lived with wife Emma on Dun Cow Bank near Dawley Town Hall, before moving to King Street and, ultimately, 4 Lancaster Avenue.

The couple had no children but his niece, Miss Christina Bowers, of Johnston Road, Dawley, tells us: "His wife and my dad were brother and sister.

"He had a green scooter, and they lived opposite Webb House – the new doctors – where the Chinese takeaway is, at the back of there in a cottage. The Chinese takeaway was the waiting room for the old doctors many years ago."

Further details came from 75-year-old Malcolm "Mac" Allworth. Now living in Pembrokeshire, he saw our article by chance while on a visit back to Shropshire to see his daughter in Lilleshall.

"His parents had a little newsagents shop in Burton Street – Bowdler's newsagents – and he was their only son. They lived at 7 New Street, on the road by Dawley Town Hall. Freddie lived at number 8. I lived at number 5, so I knew Freddy very well," said Mac.

"He came there some time in the 1940s, to live next door to his parents. Prior to that he lived in Shrewsbury.

"For a time he was the Registrar of Births and Deaths in Dawley.

"He was a reporter for the old Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News. He was portly and had a round florid face. He always wore a cloth cap when outside, and he had a long raincoat, and a scarf around his neck.

"At one time he used to go round on a push bike and then, some time in the 1950s, he got a little BSA Bantam motor bike, which he used to do his rounds on.

"Being Registrar was a part-time job, so he was Registrar and reporter at the same time.

"Freddie was something of a visionary as far as Dawley New Town was concerned. He was always going on about it and chasing councillors.

"He was definitely the initiator of the idea. He banged on about how there was a lot of waste land around Dawley which could be better used housing people from around Birmingham. He banged on and on ad nauseam."

Mac said the house he himself was born in on Dun Cow Bank was demolished years ago, but he did not know if Freddy Bowdler's was still standing.

"He moved house, probably in the late 1950s, and into King Street. I was by then in my teens and he just disappeared off my horizon."

Burt Morris of Wellington worked on the Wellington Journal for 19 years and remembers Freddy, although he did not know him well.

"He certainly used to be a visitor to the Wellington Journal offices in Queen Street, Wellington, while I was working there – I was a reporter, a sub, and then sports editor.

"He was not a fully-fledged member of staff, but there was some sort of arrangement where he was paid a regular salary, but I can't tell you what that was.

"He had a big area of Dawley, including Malinslee, Horsehay, Doseley, Little Dawley, Mossey Green, and Old Park. He was a freelance but was paid some sort of retainer.

"In those days there were two Birmingham morning papers which had a presence there, but not a very strong one. They were the Birmingham Post and the Birmingham Gazette, which did token coverage of the area, which was like a fringe place for them.

"Fred, I think, did some reporting for them.

"He had a little motorbike. I have been talking to a fellow called John Chesters, who was a schoolboy then and remembers Fred going round the place on a 125cc Excelsior two-stroke.

"He was called 'Scoop' Bowdler. He used to wear a sort of leather helmet which was very much like, but not the same as, the leather helmets that pilots of the old biplanes used to wear."

His wife was described as a "very attractive, well dressed woman."

"He talked if anything with a bit of a Dawley accent and, although I don't think he affected it purposely, it had a slight American shade to it. I can't explain it any better than that.

"I don't think I ever saw him after the paper moved to Ketley, which is 43 years ago."

Freddy died on December 2, 1979, aged 81.

His obituary said that he had served on HMS Furious in the 1914-18 war and later served in France in the RAF. He was a founder member of the Mid Shropshire Bowling League.

His grave is at Dawley church, with nothing on it to show that there lies a man who used his pen to change the direction of Shropshire's history.