Shropshire earl's leopards

 
The Newports were an ancient Shropshire family which made it into the peerage when Francis Newport became Viscount Newport in 1675.  He then progressed upwards to be created Earl of Bradford (his esatte in mid-Shropshire) in 1694. His son later acquired Weston Park in the east of the county.

What's fascinating about the Earl's shield of arms is that it specifically references leopards. The spotted fur of leopards is quite clear in this device.   That's an important detail, because there's always been an argument over whether the loggerheads are in fact lions, though many heraldic experts down the years have actually identified the figures as leopards. 
Obviously, Francis plumped for leopards...

These leopards are not standard loggerheads. Standard loggerheads would be in blue & gold, and show no chevron - but neverthelss the earl's arms' configuration is related to them.

(Detail taken from the contemporary 'Hundreds in Shropshire' map by R Blome, which was dedicated to the first Earl)

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Shrewsbury's Welsh newspaper

 
The ‘Welsh Bridge Collectibles’ shop in Shrewsbury is a joy for any antiquarian.  Over three floors of a very old building, it has anything a collector of curios might want, from old books (of course) to toys of the past to figurines.  The best thing is that it’s properly arranged – no rooting about in disorderly & dusty junk!

In the old newspapers section, I found this Salopian Journal from 1837.  Like a number of Shrewsbury-based newspapers of the time, it carries the loggerheads on its masthead.  What’s very interesting is the newspaper’s description of itself – as the 'Courier Of Wales' (see pic right).  What we modern Salopians forget is that, until the middle of the nineteenth century, Shrewsbury’s area of interest outside the town was not the English West Midlands, but the North Wales region: thus, at this time, the town still had a very Welsh feeling.

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Design in stained-glass

 
It’s a shame that Shrewsbury's St Julian’s Church is now ‘redundant’ and so is closed nearly all of the time. It has a lot of lovely heraldic and decorative stained-glass among its features.
Fortunately, it was acquired by a man who has decided to keep the building as it is; and so it is still used at least a little, by a group that gathers for prayer and by the Greek Orthodox community.

In the mid-nineteenth century, David Evans was the go-to craftsman for stained-glass in Shrewsbury (and Shropshire).  His bright colours and design are actually quite special; and it’s believed that these loggerheads, in a window of the north side of the nave, are probably by him. Wh they are there... is anybod's guess.

If you want to know more about David Evans, one authority is Robert Walker and it’s worth checking to find out if he has any talks coming up.

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Proud Salopians take pride

 
June is ‘Pride’ month when gay members of the community, and their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual orientation colleagues come together to celebrate who they are.

Pride meets the loggerheads in this rainbow logo – used by gay fans of Shrewsbury Town to denote their group, which they call the Proud Salopians Fans (founded 2019).
The group’s name is a clever play on words, as it brings together the ancient phrase ‘the Proud Salopian’ and the idea of Gay Pride. 

PS   If you're confused by the date 1886, that is the date the club was founded, not the group!

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Darwin and the loggerheads

 

Shrewsbury’s most famous son is the naturalist Charles Darwin; he was born and raised in the town.
So one might wonder, in an idle moment, if he was aware of the loggerheads.   Well, actually, he had to be if he was at all observant, but here’s proof…

On one side (the servants’ side) of his father’s house The Mount, is a Salop Fire Insurance Office badge, plaque #5448. 
An entry at Shropshire Archives suggests that it was placed there around 1810, around the time Charles was born.
So Charles must have seen it when he was a young lad.

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The leg carries the badge

 
There are few greater signs of fealty than having one’s body tattooed with the badge of the institution that commands one’s loyalty…  Here we have a particularly good instance: this leg will carry the loggerheads-badge of Shrewsbury Town FC for many many years. 
Fans fought hard for the loggerheads badge when the club wanted to do away with it - and the fans won!
Curiously, the gentleman to whom the leg belongs is not alone in this type of homage. On summer days, when shorts are ubiquitous, one can spot quite a few of them in and around the club’s Meadow Stadium. 

It's interesting to note that, as well as the loggerheads motto Floreat Salopia (Let Shrewsbury Flourish), our man has the words 'Proud Salopian' tattooed too.  That phrase has its own, separate, but equally fascinating story...

This limb was photographed at The Prince Of Wales pub, a place where fans gather to celebrate their passion. Thanks to MC for the sighting.

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It's Loggerheads Day!

 

Today (May 2nd) is Loggerheads Day… at least, so far as Shrewsbury Town Football Club supporters are concerned.  It was on this day in 2015 that the Shrewsbury loggerheads were rightfully restored to the club’s badge, after a hiatus in which a rather ordinary lion had replaced them (Lord knows why!).

It only happened however because of a year-long and very loud campaign by fans (which was of course dubbed the Bring Back The Loggerheads Campaign). To their credit, the club’s owners listened, and then agreed with the fans. 

The campaign is remembered in a lovely poem, a framed copy of which is to be found in The Loggerheads Pub in central Shrewsbury.  It’s a funny pastiche on the stirring St Crispian's Day speech by the king in Shakespeare's play of Henry V.  It’s really clever.

The mystery is:  who was the author?

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