1948 was a dark year for the hospital

Of course, we cannot mention Gobowen without mentioning the well-known hospital on the fringe of this Salop village.

It was officially opened in 1921 because of the tireless efforts of Dame Agnes Hunt and Sir Robert Jones. Sir Robert who was born in Rhyl, north Wales and was an orthopaedic surgeon who Dame Agnes Hunt, a qualified nurse from Salop Infirmary originally from Baschurch met when she consulted him at Liverpool about severe pain in her hips.

They seemed to make a great team when they opened a small military hospital at Florence House in Baschurch during the First World War.

A few years later they transferred their medical practices to what is now known to many as the Orthopaedic Hospital at Park Hall near Gobowen.

The rest is history. 1948 appeared to be one of the saddest times for the hospital. In January of that year it succumbed to a blaze that destroyed half of the hospital.

In the July, Dame Agnes Hunt died at the age of 80. (Sir Robert Jones had passed away in 1933). During the autumn of 1948, typhoid struck a blow at the hospital which resulted in no fewer than seven fatalities.

A ‘dark’ year for the Orthopaedic indeed.

I have one brief recollection of the Orthopaedic Hospital dating back to 1962. This concerned a farm situated close to Haughton near to West Felton.

One of the fields of this was situated on the other side of the Chester-Shrewsbury railway away from the rest of the farm and buildings etc.

One sunny day in April of that year a farm worker was crossing this railway line on a small grey Ferguson tractor. He did not see the oncoming northbound train. A collision occurred.

The tractor was sliced in two by the steam locomotive and fortunately the tractor driver was thrown clear with relatively minor injuries.

One or two small pieces of tractor I am told were still on the front of the loco when it arrived at Gobowen station!

The tractor driver also ended up in Gobowen at the Orthopaedic Hospital. He was extremely lucky to be alive.

The story of this accident was reported on the front page of the Border Counties Advertizer dated Saturday, April 28, 1962.

Sometimes I find myself browsing through old books and magazines at various street markets etc.

On one occasion in the Shrewsbury Market I came across a vast number of Shropshire Magazines dating back to the early 1950s and 1960s.

I found them most interesting. I could not purchase all of them, there were just so many! However, I did buy about a couple of dozen.

When I found time to read them I noticed among other topics there were historical items concerning Shropshire in the past.

I decided to write about these accounts in my own words and hopefully this would be of interest to historians of Shropshire, which in my opinion is one of the prettiest counties in Britain.

A few years ago I wrote an account relating to people all over the country concerning their personal Second World War memories.

In these Shropshire Magazine recollections I have supplemented them with spoken war memories of people in Shropshire.

In 1403 on July 21 it was the day of the Battle of Shrewsbury. Today the main battle is driving into the town trying to find a parking space, followed by a few hours later fighting another battle weaving through the traffic consisting of some impatient and inconsiderate drivers in order to exit the town!

Interestingly, if this famous battle had been won by the rebel side the boundaries of counties in England, Wales and possibly Scotland due to various negotiations/treaties etc would, I am convinced, have been somewhat different. This was arguably a most important battle in English history and I do not think it is explored enough.

I also think a detailed television documentary about the lead-up to the Battle of Shrewsbury, its outcome and immediate aftermath would be most interesting, even to people not of Shropshire origins.

Big trouble was brewing amongst the monarchy a few years before the famous encounter outside Shrewsbury. I would say the seeds were initially sown in 1377 when Richard II (also known as Richard of Bordeaux) came to the throne. He was the son of Edward III and nephew of John of Gaunt who was of a most influential nature.

Richard was very young when he took the throne, just 10 years old.

In 1381, King Richard II had to contend with a revolt from the peasants. The king was still a teenager when he successfully contained the rebellion.

During the late 1380s an assemblage of aristocrats formed what was known as the Lords Appellant. They were in my opinion quite influential in wrestling certain overall control away from King Richard II. Fortunately, for the king, he managed to suppress this situation, thus gaining back the power advantage in 1389.

A few years later the king evened the score with these aristocrats after his dissatisfaction of their apparently ‘big’ ideas of challenging the English monarchy. He did not show much mercy; some were put to death while others were sent in exile to other countries.

In 1399 a situation occurred which arguably could be said was indirectly linked to the Battle of Shrewsbury.

Those seeds I mentioned earlier were just starting to sprout out of the ground!

When John of Gaunt died the king cleverly managed to deprive Gaunt’s son of his inheritance.

The name of this offspring was a certain Henry of Bolingbroke who had among many of that time suffered the indignity of exile.

Henry of Bolingbroke was obviously livid about the situation. To counteract this, in June of 1399, with an army initially diminutive in numbers (eventually to grow in size) invaded England simply to stand up for his rights and claim his rightful inheritance and arguably the throne with any means at his disposal.

The invasion was in the main quite an easy task for Henry’s forces, with the allies of Richard swiftly swept aside.

Richard II was removed from the throne and placed in captivity apparently in Pontefract Castle whereas some accounts relate to him being starved to death aged 33 in 1400 by the ‘new’ king.

During his reign, Henry IV had to contend with various insurgencies. Among these were those of Owen Glendower who had proclaimed himself Prince of Wales in 1400.

Then there was another man who was to threaten his throne known as Henry Percy ‘Hotspur’ the 1st Earl of Northumberland.

Percy Hotspur had a most distinguished military career abroad and in England and very loyal to Henry IV.

By 1403 Percy was swiftly withdrawing his allegiance to the King of England. It appears the king had not stood by certain promises to Percy Hotspur.

Returning to the early 1400s, King Richard II, an apparently legally-recognised monarch, but said to be somewhat imprudent, was slain by a Henry Bolingbroke who then took for granted the title of Henry IV.