The volunteer 'Pointsman of Prees' who kept traffic flowing for 16 years and 'undoubtedly saved many lives'

One Prees villager, then in his 90s, recalled that Mr Gibbons had thought up the role himself, eventually receiving the approval of the police authorities who, although they could not give him any sort of uniform, gave him a cap.

Perhaps that explains why at least one photograph of him shows the cap to have the word "Pointsman" written, a little crudely, on the hatband - presumably Steven, Steve, or Stephen (spellings vary) did it to make the cap look more official.

Today anybody standing in the road to direct traffic would be taking their lives in their hands, but back then Mr Gibbons' efforts were credited with making the crossroads much safer.

Traffic on Shropshire roads surged during that period - there was a 62 per cent increase between 1925 and 1929 - and while the number of vehicles was only a fraction of the number today, there were more road deaths.

“In his time he undoubtedly saved many lives. How many, we shall never know. It was his just pride that he never lost a life through carelessness or inattention to his self-imposed duty,” said a contemporary newspaper report.

He lived at Brades Lane in Prees – it is these days called Brades Road – in a house which has long been demolished. He served as a volunteer traffic regulator from 1921 to 1937, which may well be when he died. These days the busy A49 effectively bypasses the village.

We know at least something about him thanks to photos and cuttings which were shared with the Shropshire Star in 2007 by his great-grandson Robert Gibbons, of Whitchurch, and mother Mrs Audrey Gibbons, of Prees. 

“He controlled the traffic – which was probably a rare sight anyway in those days – from each direction to avoid collisions, as road signs and markings were unheard of in the village at that time,” Robert told us back then.

Born at Higher Wych, which is northwest of Whitchurch, Mr Gibbons lived in the Prees and Tilstock districts almost all his life, and worked as a farm labourer. He died at the age of 72 after an illness of a few months' duration.

The funeral was, according to a contemporary newspaper report, at the Prees Congregational Church burial ground, where the service was conducted by the Rev D Watcyn Owen, although it added that there was also a service at his home, conducted by Mr A E Walley of Wem Baptist Church.

Those looking for his burial place are likely to be disappointed.

“There is no headstone, and never was,” Mr Gibbons told us.