Shropshire Magazine

Cover: May 1950

The Shropshire Magazine’s 60th anniversary

I was born in the second half of the 1950s so, unsurprisingly, it’s the one decade that I’ve lived in that I can’t remember very much about, being three when it ended.

In the past couple of weeks, though, I’ve come to envy those who did experience it.

In my naivity, I thought it a rather dreary decade, merely marking time between the turbulence of the 1940s and the swinging ’60s. There always seemed something faintly nonedescript about it, its one memorable event being the birth of rock’n'roll.

That aside, the ’50s post-war austerity was brightened more by the odd star personality  like Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe than by momentous happenings or great movements.

Focusing on the birth of The Shropshire Magazine in May 1950, though, has concentrated my mind on this most neglected of decades. And the more I looked, the more I found to admire.

As the decade dawned, VE day was still a vivid memory for many, as was the pain of loss, as small children became teenagers, growing up with a treasured and fading photograph of a man in uniform in place of the father they never got to know. New names were freshly chiselled onto war memorials the length and breadth of Britain.

The memory of wartime deprivation was there every time you took your ration book to the shops. Yet there was also a new sense of caring for one another. The great Butler Act of 1944 introduced free universal education, with the idea that children should never again be held back by poverty and ignorance. The National Health Service, introduced in 1948, cared when you were ill, whether you were rich or poor.

Whatever you think of the success of these institutions today, they are wonderful concepts in which the individual is valued and they heralded a new sense of optimism in the 1950s.

There was, too, glamour, through ultra-feminine fashions, glossy Hollywood movies and the mellow music of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald. There was the excitement of the aforementioned ‘decadent’ rock’n'roll, as youth found its voice.

As the decade progressed more and more people shared a collective culture through television and found personal freedom via family motor cars.

And Shropshire now had its own magazine, reflecting the people and events of a wonderful county. The Shropshire Magazine has undergone several changes since that birthday issue and, at 60, is certainly a survivor in a tough market. It could even claim to be a county institution. I know one thing: everyone involved in it today is truly proud to be so.

NEIL THOMAS, Editor

Cover: May 2010

Aside from the articles you can browse on this website, the print magazine contains a wealth of fascinating feature pieces and regular items to keep you entertained and informed. This month, you can also read about:

Happy birthday to us! . . . Current editor Neil Thomas looks back to the first issue of this august magazine, talks to a past owner of it, and shows off some of the varied cover styles that have seen it through the years

Attitudes at altitude . . . Ben Bentley packs his Thermos flask and ventures into the clouds to talk to those who live in the county’s highest villageThe OK chorale . . . Of One Accord is a choir celebrating 25 years in the way it knows best: by performing. Neil Thomas talks to the choir’s musical director

Built on a fine foundation . . . The home of volatile playwright John Osborne is now base for a literary foundation helping bring through new writing talent. We visit to hear of plans to restore the house to its former glory and a chance to take a look around the grounds this month

Bookish behaviour . . . Chapter and Verse, the second Bridgnorth and South Shropshire Literature Festival is about to get under way. Ben Bentley talks to some of the participating authors about the rewards they take from being involvedCelebrating the spice of life . . . Shirley Tart meets Dr Warren Perks, an endlessly enthusiastic medical consultant, golfer and family man

A Cotswold encomium . . . Our ‘Daytripper’ takes a trip south and enjoys the honey-colured heaven that is the Cotswolds

Education . . . A round-up of news from the cream of local educational establishments, and a look at Skillbuilders, an initiative that sees county schoolchildren learning practical skills from professionals in their field

Out and about . . . Shirley Tart’s round-up of social news, and a digest of readers’ events from around the county recorded by our photographers

Food and drink . . . News of a pioneering National Trust culinary project; rhubarb showcased in a Taste of Shropshire; Neil Thomas dines out in style at The Mytton and Mermaid; and Inn-former drops in to The Armoury

Plus much, much more! . . . Win tickets to Cosford Air Show; Tracey O’Sullivan harks back to a golden age of fashion in the ’50s, while Adam Haynes does the same for family motoring; There’s a round-up of antiques news; Andy Richardson goes Greek; and Ken Tudor visits a gardener getting over winter