A Church, A Footall Team & the Search for Lost Photographs - Sepia Saturday.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt image shows a barge on a river with, in the background,   a large church building.    

Cue for me to featured a church linked with my father’s childhood in Broseley, Shropshire in England’s West Midlands.  Situated on  the banks of the River Severn, Broseley lies across the river  from its more famous neighbour Ironbridge, noted as the birthplace of England’s 18th century Industrial Revolution. 

 All Saints Parish Church in Broseley  was built  in 1845, replacing a previous structure.   It has been described as "the finest early Victorian church in Shropshire".    The tower rises to over 93 feet amd can be visible from  along the Ironbridge gorge.  

I’m,

 

 

River Severn flowing between Broseley and Ironbridge
Photograph by my brother Chris Weston

 

 

 

The famous 100 feet span of the Ironbridge, linking Broseley  and Ironbridge, was completed in 1779.   My grandfather Albert Ernest Weston had a 35 minute walk (one way), crossing the bridge to Coalbrookdale where he worked in the Power House.  Photograph by my brother Chris Weston. 

 

This was the church where my father sang in the choir from the age of seven.  My father John Percy Weston was born in Bilston, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire  on 15th April 1912 -  a momentous date in many ways  as that was the night the "Titanic" sank on its  maiden voyage.   Dad was the second son of Albert Ernest Weston and Mary Barbara Matthews with siblings Fred, Madge and Charles.   

Dad was named after his mother’s brother who had died two year’s earlier.  But Dad rated his middle name of Percy, or even worse when corrupted to “Perce”, whcih he seemed to be known as locally  He almost made me believe as a child that his middle name was actually Philip,  the name of the late Queen's husband.  

At the age of seven the Weston family moved to the neighbouring county of Shropshire and to the small town of Broseley, across the River Severn from Ironbridge. Dad always regarded Broseley as his spiritual home  and had written down for me memories of his life there.  

 

 

 

He recalled in Broseley,

 Dad wrote : "We lived in a a house that was unique since it had an indoor flush toilet..... Our house was next door to the Wesleyan chapel, and when we were in bed, we could hear the church choir practising.  

We had a "palace" organ double keyboard.  Mum was very musical and Dad, who,  as far as i know  had never had a music lesson,  played in Coalbrookdale Brass Band and could also play the violin.  Mum would play the organ on a Sunday night, and Dad the violin  and we sandf hymns along with them". 

 

 Dad worked at Coalbrookdale, in the power house. It was 35 minutes walk, no buses.  On a Sunday if Dad was working on what he called “grinding the vales in”, I came home from church at noon and had to set off to the works with his dinner, come back for mine and the go to Sunday school and church at night."

 

In Broseley Dad with his older brother Fred joined the  church choir at the age of seven and remained a choir member wherever he lived, with a love of hymns and sacred  music.  Listening to Sunday Half Hour (hymn singing on the radio) was part of our Sunday evening ritual when I was growing up - as was TV's "Songs of Praise". 

 

Dad' brother Fred Weston, but sadly there is no similar photograph for my father John Percy  Weston. 

 

 My father often mentioned that a photograph had been taken of him as a choir boy and also as a member of his school winning football team (his great passion). But these were unfortunately thrown out on the death of a relative. Dad felt quite bitter about that, soI set out to see what I could find.    

Through Google I established there was a Broseley Local History Society  and  I contacted it o see if they held any pictures of the church choir and the football team   in the 1920s.  I met with Immediate  success! 

 

 

 

Dad is the first figure on the  third row from the back.  

 

 

  

 

The Society website featured transcriptions from the local newspaper at the time the Weston family lived  in Broseley.  The frequent reports on church activities presented a picture of what Dad could have well been involved in,  with singing in  Stainer's "Crucifixion" his favourite memory,  

 

 

 The inscription written in the prayer book presented to my father, here named as Percy Weston.

 

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In Dad's own words  "When my school team entered a cup competition. I was vice-captain and we got to the final - and won the cup, the first ever for Broseley.   One of the supporters took a carrier pigeon along with us and set it loose at the end to let Broseley know the result and to prepare a welcome, as we were bringing home the cup! " 

 

Broseley Historical  Society  put my enquiry on their online newsletter.   I was delighted to hear  from three members of the society with more personal memories of the pigeon story  - and even better  a photograph of the  football team itself with my father identified as Perce Weston. Vice Captain  on the right of the middle row - the team is identified on the reverse with Dad named as Perce Wes.  The date 1926. 

 

 This is the  earliest photograph I have of my father and I was so grateful  to the Society for filling this gap in my family history.   My father retained his love of football all his life and was an avid watcher of matches on television,  right up to his death at the age of 91.   

 

And  an important lesson from this - don't forget the value that can be gained from contacting local societies. 

 

 

 My father John P. Wesston (1912-2003)

 

 

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