What about a ‘nonument’ to those who bettered daily life?

Over the summer three parties of students will come over to practice their English and have a good time. We have used a map of Shrewsbury a lot. They discovered something curious. There are two statues of Charles Darwin; outside the old and new Shrewsbury School, and three war memorials; one beside St Mary’s Church and two very near each other in The Quarry. They wondered if repetitions were common in the UK.

This discovery led me to wonder something else, some things not specific to Shrewsbury. How come there are no monuments or memorials in the memory of those who fought and won for us the rights, freedoms and pleasures which we enjoy today?

We ordinary people are the luckiest ordinary people in all of history. My grandparents were born in the 19th century and when I think of the rights, freedoms and pleasures they didn’t enjoy, I shudder.

I also wonder why it has taken me 68 years to see this glaring omission on our pantheon of heroes, and not just in Shrewsbury, but everywhere.

Shrewsbury has its Darwin statues, war memorials, statues in memory of local military heroes; Clive of India and Lord Hill, but, say where are the “nonuments” (not + monuments) in memory of those who gave us the vote, those who freed our ancestors from harsh working conditions, and all the freedoms and pleasures we enjoy today, and perhaps take too much for granted?

Perhaps when parties of students visit the area next summer they will not only practice their English and enjoy their stay (I know just about everything and everywhere will delight them!), but they will discover “the world’s first nonument”?

Clive Booth, Shifnal