Going Dutch at the cafe

 

The 'Old Market Hall' cinema-cafe complex in the centre of Shrewsbury displays more than one set of loggerheads.  This one, in the cafe windows, celebrates the links between Shrewsbury and the Dutch town of Zutphen - with the town council's arms on the left and a picture of of Sir Philip Sidney on the right.
Sir Philip, who was educated at Shrewsbury and has a statue dedicated to him at Shrewsbury School, died of his wounds at the Battle of Zutphen in 1586. 
The photo shows part of the window in the OMH which was created to celebrate the long-standing 'twinning' agreement between the two towns (which only recently came to an end).

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Lighting it up

A friend on mine spotted this set.
If you squint a bit you can see a marker, perhaps burnt on to the glass (it’s too high up to see properly), inside this street lamp. It bears the arms of the old Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council. There's a painted white F there too. I suppose it’s there as a mark of ownership.
Was it a way to deter thieves perhaps?

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Antique road sign - with odd yellows

It seems rather bizarre to realise that this shiny road sign in Shrewsbury is already an antique.  Like thousands of others in the area, it shows the arms of Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council - which no longer exists. It was abolished in 2009, and its powers were split between Shropshire County and the new Shrewsbury Town Council.  People mistakenly believe that the bridge in the picture is one of Shrewsbury's bridges, but, no, it's Atcham Bridge.

Of course, it would cost a fortune to replace all the road signs, so they will stay up until they decay, one supposes.

By the way, I have never been able to work out if the yellow markings are just a case of poor, misaligned printing or a deliberate attempt at a 'modern design' in scrolling.  Does anyone know?

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Cabbies' shelter

 
This quaint little structure, just inside the gates of Shrewsbury Castle, is in fact a former cabmen’s shelter/rank. It once stood in the town's Market Square, just a couple of hundred yards away – where it had provided a place out of the rain for cabbies as far back as horse-drawn times.

The roundel in the top window shows the arms of Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council, which existed from 1974 to 2009. As the shelter is much older than 1974, one wonders why this badge was installed...
Also... does anyone know exactly how old the shelter is?

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