Sabrina's birthday wishes

 

Over the last couple of years, the Shrewsbury improvement group, BID, has been commissioning artists to paint bollards and telecom-cabinets across the town.  It’s a novel way of beautifying the urban environment.

In this year 2025, there had of course to be pieces remembering the 600th-birthday of the loggerheads (see SNIDs’ bollard for an example).  
One of the most charming of them is the one shown here, located near English Bridge. It shows Sabrina, the patronal goddess of the town, holding the emblem. There’s an air of Botticelli about it; and it quite raises the spirits when one walks past it, even if the loggerheads themselves look strangely thoughtful!   
Katherine Morris is the artist.  

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

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Pigs wear gold & blue

 

There is tenuous evidence pointing to a high-level connection in the Middle Ages between Hereford and Shrewsbury. However, the evidence is circumstantial, nothing solid so far.  
(If anyone knows different, would they please email us?).

One pointer is the blue & gold/amber colouring which is seen in various heraldry of the two towns.  Admittedly, it’s not a colour combination that’s unique to these two towns, but it underwrites the supposed connection.  
The loggerheads emblem always comes in blue & gold/amber colouring, as does the symbol of Hereford Cathedral. 

One example of the colour pairing in Hereford is these pigs – which wear livery of blue and yellow bends. They are seen on the tomb of John Swinfield (died 1311) in Hereford Cathedral.

 

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

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Bright and beautiful loggerheads

  

There have been a flurry of loggerheads renovations/restorations during 2025.  It’s probably coincidence, but maybe also an unconscious tribute to the emblem in this, the loggerheads' 600th year. Perhaps.
(See also: Pub-Sign Refresher and Coleham School updates).

Among these renovations is the complete refurbishment of the famous grade 2-listed Quarry Park gates. They were commissioned by the Shropshire Horticultural Society in 1881.
The main gates were even taken off site to get their makeover, which restored them to their pristine condition and also ensures their future. The park’s similarly designed side-gates were also restored.

The loggerheads are the main decoration on the structure, as the Horticultural Society seemed very fond of them.  (See Magnificent Gates)
It’s a bit of a puzzle however why the society ordered some of the loggerheads on the gates to be painted in blue only (see pic below).  The emblem should really be: gold faces, blue background.  Odd.

The gates are now back to their brilliant and vibrant best, and Shrewsbury Town Council should be congratulated on driving the project forward.

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

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Drumming for loggerheads

The famous South Stand Drum was used by football supporters of the Bring Back Our Loggerheads campaign. Its loud boom would ring out regularly round the stadium during matches at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.
The BBOL campaign came about in the early 2000s after the owners of the club replaced the traditional loggerheads badge on the club shirt with a new image.  And - kudos to those fans! – after a ten-year programme of protests and publicity, the loggerheads badge was eventually restored.

The South Stand Drum has now been retired - but can still be seen, displayed in pride of place at the Twelfth Man Vintage Football Shirts shop near the town centre.

 

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

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Yeomanry's anniversary too

  

By coincidence, 2025 is a significant year not just for the loggerheads but for the Shropshire Yeomanry regiment. It is the 150th anniversary year of the North and South Shropshire Yeomanry. 
The anniversary is being celebrated with a small exhibition at St Mary’s, Shrewsbury town’s central church.

The Yeomanry badge has always carried loggerheads (as you’d expect), though the design can vary quite a bit. In the photo above, there are three versions of Yeomanry loggerheads!
(For other variants used by the Yeomanry, see Sharp Militaria and Helmeted Loggerheads).

The Shropshire Yeomanry were transmuted into the 75th and 76th (SY) Regiments Royal Artillery during WW2.

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

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Loggerheads go into battle

The ‘Shrewsbury Levy’ medieval enactment group (which used to be known as Les Miles de Marches) sport loggerheads badges on their costumes. It’s great to see them in action, especially when re-creating the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury.

In fact, there is no proof that the Levy (a kind of town militia) wore the loggerheads badges  back in 1403 - but then, there is no proof they didn’t, either…

Thanks for the photo to Lin Keska.

 

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

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Belle Vue view

It’s a great shame to see that the nineteenth-century Belle Vue Tavern, a proper community pub in the suburb of Belle Vue to the south of Shrewsbury, has closed.  Dave the barman was always a welcoming and considerate landlord, who would tell the stories of the old pub with relish.

Like a number of pubs locally*, its pub-sign features the loggerheads.  Curiously, the pub-sign was only recently changed - and the words ‘Shropshire Ales’ were removed (see old sign, right).
It’s not clear if there was ever a brewery called ‘Shropshire Ales’ or whether the old sign simply meant that local beers were sold there. If anyone knows the answer to this mystery, please email us, or use the Comments box below.

For information:  the pub’s former name was The Old Plough, but has been called The Belle Vue Tavern since 1991.  

* other pubs bearing loggerheads in their signs include the Shrewsbury Arms (both the one in Shrewsbury and the one in Chester), the Loggerheads Inn, the Bricklayers and the Heathgates.  Also, the Shrewsbury Arms at Albrighton has an heraldic reference to the arms on its pub-sign.

 

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

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