This week's pictures from the past

Here's the mother of all potholes... "Park Road, Dawley, collapsed due to excavation work" said the original caption to this photo from our files, which dates from April 1976. It was used in the Telford Journal on April 23 of that year. Note the signpost pointing the way to Dawley and leaning at an angle.

We have Bob Hanley of Telford to thank for this photo, who tells us: "I saw an article about Whittington the other day, and it reminded me that I had an old glass negative which I had scanned into my computer some time ago."

Bob emailed us the photo, which looks to be dated around 1920, along with a modern comparison photo from exactly the same spot which he took only a few days ago. We haven't got space for that here, but it showed most of the buildings ­ including, of course, Whittington Castle ­ little altered from that view all those years ago.

If you went to junior school in Ludlow in the 1970s, this picture may have a familiar feel to it. The caption with this photo from our files read: "Ludlow's new junior school". It bears the date stamp of September 8, 1972, so the school may well have opened for the autumn term of that year. In the distance is the Clee Hill.

Where was this taken? Who's the man loading the milk churns? Those are questions Shrewsbury transport historian Roy Pilsbury is hoping Shropshire Star readers can answer about this photo, which he says shows a Bedford 'O'-type lorry in the 1950s. The lorry was operated by Queens Head Transport, of Welshpool.

"They have long gone now. I think it was owned by somebody named Pritchard.

"If I remember rightly, the vehicles were very smart. They were painted red.

"I think Queens Head Transport were not far from the church in Welshpool," said Roy, who said the Bedford lorries would have been supplied by Greenhous at Shrewsbury.

Anyone with any more information can contact Roy on 01743 463572.

The Shropshire Star has a long reach, and Mrs Jo Davies, who lives in Bedfordshire, says she is a big fan, and looks forward to seeing copies brought to her by her Shropshire relatives. Seeing a picture we used recently showing a netball team at Walker Technical College, Oakengates, has prompted her to send in this photo of a rounders team from the college in 1960. That's her, as Josie Price as she was then, on the left.

"My sister Audrey was in the same year as some of the girls in the netball photograph and occasionally sees some of them round town. Having moved from the county 30 years ago I have lost touch with school friends, but enjoy hearing about the times Audrey bumps into them," said Jo, from Shefford.

She names the lineup as: Josie Price, four unknowns, Anita Leyland, unknown, Sylvia Withington, Rosemary Chesters, Angela Perry.

"The following names fill the spaces, but I am not sure which is which ­ Barbara Lynne Jones, Carol Pitchford, Barbara Richards, Angela Attwood, and Margaret Watson."

Here's another photo emailed to us by Shrewsbury transport historian Roy Pilsbury who says it was taken at Cilcewydd Mill, Forden, near Welshpool, in the early 1950s.

He says it shows a Bedford 'O'-type lorry, unloading milk. The lorry was operated by Queens Head Transport, of Welshpool, which is defunct.