Press gang to party on

It's back! The Shropshire Press Ball, which was once a highlight of the county social scene, is making a return.

A picture we carried of the 1955 ball, when the theme was "Space Night", stirred many memories of the event - including those of veteran journalist Gordon Riley, who was one of the founders.

Full size pictures at the bottom of this article

He was quick to correct us about the name of a "newspaper" which was distributed among the revellers, which we had described as The Salopian, but Gordon tells us was actually called The Sloppian.

Gordon, from Shrewsbury, said: "I was, with Ted Ireland (who was later the founder editor of the Shropshire Star in 1964), the originator of the first. Over a pint in the Bull, Castle Gates, Shrewsbury, just opposite the Granada, we talked about the idea in 1951.

"Although the Shropshire branch of the National Union of Journalists then had literally a few pounds in the bank, the idea was approved and we booked Ted Heath and his Orchestra at a charge of £100.

"The first ball took place in the Music Hall, Shrewsbury, on a very snowy, frosty night in January 1952. We made a small profit and so we were on the road.

"During the next 25 years into the late 1970s we gave our profits to national and local charities, including phonic ears to help children at Coleham School, Shrewsbury, who had hearing difficulties, play equipment to the blind and otherwise handicapped youngsters at the RNIB Overley Hall, Wellington, equipment for the first coronary care unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, and many other charities.

"I ended up as chairman in the last few years but we then came to an abrupt end because we ran out of the big bands and volunteers to do the organising work, including begging enormous numbers of freebies for the tombola prizes, which invariably included cruises.

"The big names we booked in addition to Ted Heath (twice) before his band disbanded were Geraldo, Cyril Stapleton, Stanley Black, Acker Bilk (twice), Kenny Ball, Frank Weir, Teddy Foster, Victor Silvester senior and junior, and Johnny Dankworth. With Dankworth that night was Cleo Laine on her first gig on tour with the outfit.

"Later she became Johnny's wife, and still is, and of course the pair went on to be famous.

"Often we had guests who were appearing at the Granada at the time, including Tony Hancock, accompanied by Ray Ellington, the jazz drummer with whom I served in the Royal Air Force. Our supporting band was invariably led by George Riley (no relation) from Oswestry.

"Each evening we sold, as a raffle ticket, a special gag newspaper called The Sloppian. Tom Cartwright, a Chronicle reporter, was the editor.

"The ball's first chairman was S Morley Tonkin, the owner of the Shrewsbury Chronicle and associated weekly titles, followed by Tom Leake, of the Journal and the Shropshire Star, and then me. We obtained the patronage of the county aristocrats, starting with Lord Bridgeman as president, through to the Earl of Plymouth, Lord Boyne, several mayors of Shrewsbury, and others.

"The amount of cash raised each year may seem mundane in retrospect, but a lot of people were very grateful to us for trying to put back something into the community which served us so well in our working life. I hope the new generation will do as well."

Among those who enjoyed the ball in the 1950s was Mrs Angela Rogers (back then, Miss Angela Davies), who remembers the special newspaper, which she said came out at midnight and was distributed among the revellers.

"There were these wonderful prizes. The paper had a number on, and whoever had the winning number got a prize. One year it was a cruise," said Mrs Rogers, of Shrewsbury.

Although not in the press herself, she said: "We went every year to the press ball. I went with friends. Four of us used to go. It was very good."

Mr Motto Jones of Shrewsbury identified the photo we carried as "Space Night" - which turns out to have been the fourth ball, held at the Music Hall on Friday, February 4, 1955. He was there himself.

"I have two tickets from that night. The tickets were 25 shillings," said Motto, from Shrewsbury.

He is the beaming youngster at the very top of the group. Standing beside him is Sheila McGuire, and in front of him is Rose Haynes, who became Mrs Rose Owen.

To the immediate right of her, as you look at the photo, with the bottom part of his face obscured, is Peter Watson, and the young man with the lower part of his face obscured by the bald head of the gentleman on the right is John Williams.

Motto, who is president of the Shrewsbury and District Table Tennis Association, said: "There were two big social events that everybody tried to get tickets for - the press ball, and the Nurses Red Rose Ball held at the Radbrook College."

He recalled that at another press ball the theme was Cops and Robbers.

• This year's revived press ball is at the Lord Hill Hotel in Shrewsbury on April 12 at 7pm and, just as in the past, is open to everyone. It will include a three-course meal, after-dinner speaker and disco.

• Tickets are £35. For more details e-mail shropshirenuj@hotmail.co.uk or contact secretary Rhea Parsons on 01743 233296. Alternatively send a cheque addressed to Shropshire NUJ, 6 Argyll Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 2SF, including your name and address, and the tickets will be posted.

nextpageWives and girlfriends of the first Shropshire Press Ball committee in 1951 at Shrewsbury Music Hall. Gordon Riley names them as back, from left: Mrs Ireland (wife of Ted Ireland); unknown; Mrs Megan Goodwin, wife of Harry Goodwin, a subeditor later on the Shropshire Star; next unknown, but possibly Mrs Whistance Smith; Mrs Tibbott, wife of photographer John Tibbott. Front from left: unknown; Eileen Mulford, wife of Russell Mulford; GordonÕs wife Mrs Freda Riley; unknown; unknown.

A 'flying bedstead' arrives at the Shropshire Press Ball of February 4, 1955, piloted by 'spacemen' to distribute a copy of the ball's own newspaper, called The Sloppian. The 'spacemen' who greeted revellers as they entered the ball were the then junior Shrewsbury reporters Ron Nicholas and Bob Davies, although a contemporary newspaper report does not make clear if they were also the 'pilots' of the flying bedstead. This picture is from Mrs Angela Rogers of Shrewsbury, who is among the crowd.

Revellers at one of the 1950s balls. This is another photo loaned by Mrs Angela Rogers, who was then Miss Angela Davies. She says she is on the picture, 'at the bottom, towards the left, in a net dress'. Notice the person in a mask towards the bottom left who seems to be distributing the papers.