Rail poster is sealed

 

Posters from the 1930s that promoted Shrewsbury as a ‘destination town’ are fascinating; they seem to tell social historians so much about attitudes of the time.
For us though, the most interesting element of this poster is the way that the ancient and original town-seal (which dates to 1425) has pride of place on it (see full pic below). 

(The loggerheads first entered history when they appeared on this seal - although the details of what’s on the seal are too blurred on this poster, sadly, to allow one to see much of them).

Why the PR people of the time thought the town’s seal would grab the attention of potential tourists is difficult to fathom. Perhaps its presence on this poster does underline the town’s ‘historicity’ though.

Incidentally, the scene in the poster is real.  It shows the public gardens in front of Castle Gates House, from which one can go (through the arch) into the grounds of the castle (now a museum), with Laura’s Tower at the right. 

The style of poster was not unusual.  The major railway companies produced lots of these sorts of posters, all with a very similar design approach.  They were supposed to encourage people to take trips (on railways of course) to destination-towns such as York and Nottingham, and many more.  
One can almost date Shrewsbury’s mass-tourism profile from the era in which these posters started to appear.

 

A new book has been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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Odd use of the Shrewsbury Great Seal

 

Here’s an odd thing.  We came across this sticker recently, attached to a lamppost in a part of Shrewsbury called The Dana.
What’s odd about it is that, for its central picture, it uses an image of the 600 year-old Great Seal of Shrewsbury.  (On the image of the seal you can just about see some loggerheads, which appeared in history for the first time on this seal).

But… what does it all mean?  The motto has nothing to do with the ancient seal and has, presumably, been written by a modern citizen of the town.  It reads: “One Hand Clapping all things in common all people one”.  But who ‘One Hand Clapping’ is, no one seems to know.

What OHC may have seized upon in using such an ancient image is that the seal was cut, back in 1425, to commemorate “the free commune of Shrewsbury”.  Perhaps OHC would like to see the free commune revived…?
It’s certainly wonderful to think that a dusty old historical artefact seems to have inspired a modern-day idealist…!

 

A new book has now been published to celebrate 600 years of the loggerheads - click here to find out more.

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The Gild's pretty badge

 

The Gild of Freemen of Shrewsbury looks, from a distance, just like another exclusive club, but in fact it has an important role in monitoring the development of the medieval town.

 

The Gild has adopted as its badge an image of the ancient town Common Seal of 1425, which shows the loggerheads on the old town walls.
The Gild has taken a little artistic licence with the badge though, as the seal was not painted, so it had no colours.  The badge looks pretty though!  

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