Over a span of three centuries Shrewsbury Railway Station has sent countless travellers on their way and welcomed untold numbers to the county town.
In popular imagination the golden era of rail travel was some time in the distant past and, whether or not that is true, it was certainly different with the huffing, puffing, snorting steam locomotives, the smell of smoke, the distinctive clickety-clack of trains moving over the tracks, platform tickets (remember those?), and plentiful staff.
Shrewsbury, it should be remembered, was a major railway town. Not so much now though. But it does have one of Britain’s most striking railway station buildings, dating back to 1848, its architecture meriting it Grade II listed status.
It’s all a fascinating past. Hop on, and let us take you there.
- Did you see our gallery of 49 pictures showing a very different Shropshire in 1978? Take a trip back in time and see the pictures here.
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33. Coronation celebration
Decorated again, this time for the Coronation in 1953. David Mitchell who loaned us this told us at the time: "In the late 1940s my aunt who lived in Berrington House, St Alkmund's Square, took a lodger/companion after my grandmother died and it was she, a keen photographer, who took this photograph, among many others of the town. Her name was Marjorie and she was a rather lonely spinster who I think would have preferred being a boy! They were in an album of 6cm square snapshots I inherited some decades ago." The Coronation would see the family TV and radio firm, Mitchell's in Shrewsbury, very busy. "Since the event was being televised, Mitchell's were working flat out erecting aerials and installing television sets for the great day." | David Mitchell
34. It's a classic
A classic view of a steam loco pulling out of the station with the castle in the background. | Shropshire Star
35. The glory of steam
We must be going back quite a while with this one. Sadly we don't have the date or details, other than it was taken near Shrewsbury station. | Shropshire Archives
36. Tragedy
In the early hours of January 11, 1965, a diesel engine drawing 48 wagons crashed into a stationary diesel engine. Coton Hill signal box was demolished. Sadly the signalman inside was killed. | Shropshire Star archive