Sometimes you just have to rise above it all. These hot air balloons were taking off en masse from Telford town park in May 1989 during a balloon fiesta which was a curtainraiser for an event called Telford International Day.

If you're planning to travel to the Welsh coast any time soon, you might choose to stop to break the journey in Bala. Here we are in the Mid Wales town back in September 1968, with the White Lion Royal Hotel on the left, and a well-loaded coach or minibus parked outside.

Faces in the crowd in the new stand at Telford United's Bucks Head ground as they take on Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup – the date must be Saturday, December 11, 1982. The result was a 1-1 draw, but Telford lost the replay at Tranmere.

"Wellington Town F.C., 1920-21," is the caption to this postcard which shows players and staff posing with their trophies – and as they won the Birmingham League in 1921 we presume that is the big shield taking centre stage.

Will it catch on? It's 1977 and a new leisure sensation is sweeping the country. "The new craze is video games, table tennis, squash, soccer – you can play them all in the comfort of your armchair, thanks to TV and a special games unit," said the original caption. "Leading the field in video games production is Sportel, an offshoot of Luton-based Norton Telecommunications. The Sportel unit is unique in its field. For a start it's in colour and that alone makes it No 1 in the UK. The key to Sportel's success is the sophistication of the unit which gives a realism to the games not enjoyed by other systems."

A new AA road services centre had opened at Newtown's Short Bridge Street in 1973. In charge was Patrolman Trevor Oliver, of Montgomery. In addition to dealing with breakdowns it had a shop for maps and motoring literature. The photo was taken in August that year.