‘There’s nothing else like it in Shropshire’

Shirehall, former home of Shropshire County Council and subsequently Shropshire Council, is certainly unique in the county.

But is that a good enough reason to keep it, and develop new uses for the building?

There’s an exhibition of contemporary photographs from around the time of the 1967 opening of Shirehall, currently on show at the Bear Steps Gallery in Shrewsbury. The title of the exhibition is ‘Shirehall - Too Good to Lose’. No question mark at the end, Shrewsbury Civic Society is making that as a definite statement.

But why is Shirehall ‘too good to lose’? I met Simon Beedles, chartered surveyor, buildings enthusiast and trustee of Shrewsbury Civic Society, at Bear Steps so he could use the photographs to make his case.

‘If you destroy it, you’ll never see it again’

Once you’ve heard Simon Beedles’ passionate plea for Shirehall to remain standing, join in the conversation by leaving a comment:

And if you want to find out how your friends, colleagues and family feel about it, share this episode with them:

Where’s the bespoke reception desk now?

Take a look at this picture, of the reception area of Shirehall around the time it opened:

That desk was made especially for the new building.

But where is it now?

Does it look familiar? Is it in your garage, or a lock-up somewhere? Were you responsible for carting it away during a re-fit at some point in the last forty years?

Can Hello You the Shropshire podcast help to track down the missing desk?

If you have a lead on this, or if there’s anything else about which you’d like to get in touch, send me a message:

… or use the Hello You Tip Line! Get the confidential, super-secure Signal messaging app, and send me a message at jimallthetime.69

Coming up on Hello You the Shropshire podcast

On Sunday, I’ll publish a special summery sporting soundscape that I think you’ll love. I’m really pleased with it. It’s an hour of extremely relaxing listening, perfect for a warm weekend afternoon.

To make sure you’re able to hear it, take out a paid subscription today! It’ll cost you as much as a couple of coffees per month, for intelligent, progressive, Shropshire-based conversation, entertainment and audio journalism that you can’t find anywhere else:

And on Monday, I’ll bring you an interview with Dr Julia Buckley, Labour MP for Shrewsbury. How has her first year in Parliament been? And how does she answer the questions that Hello You listeners have sent me to ask her?

Again, to make sure you don’t miss that or anything else I publish in the future, subscribe (paid or free) by signing up here:

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Thank you for being there

Thank you for being a member of the Hello You family. Please talk about this podcast with your friends, colleagues, family members, whoever. If you like what I do, they’ll probably like it too, and they’ll be grateful to you for bringing them into the Hello You fold.

Take care of yourself. Take care of the people around you, and I hope the people around you are taking care of you, too.

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