10 and a half things you never knew about..... Shrewsbury

Henry Irving

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury but sensibly moved to Bromley to be closer to the Valley

While Woolwich has the first McDonald's in the UK, Shrewsbury has the oldest McDonald's in the world as the fast food store dates back to the 13th century

While Shrewsbury is now in England it was once the capital of Wales. Locals long to return to the principality and welcome being called Welsh.

Per head of population Shrewsbury has more registered cocaine and heroin addicts than any other town in Europe.

In the cult movie Spinal Tap one of the band is seen wearing a Shrewsbury Town shirt. The shirt recently sold at auction for £12k to a Japanese collector.

The river Severn, that used to run alongside Shrewsbury Town's LBGT Meadow ground, is actually a flooded railway cutting created in 1911 as part of an early theme park

No one is sure if the "Shrew" in the town names should be pronounced to rhyme with "throw" or "through". Locals in the North and East of the town say "Shrow" and those in the South say "Shrew". There is no Western part of the town as that is Wales.

Shrewsbury Town only joined the football League in 1950.

Chizz

Shrewsbury was originally called "Scrobbesbyrig".

LenGlover

Gay Meadow was actually selected as the venue for the first Pride march in Great Britain in preference to Brighton but tragically some marchers fell into the River Severn and drowned.

Hence the change of venue.

Chizz

Act 5, scene 1 of Henry IV takes place in Shrewsbury and features King Henry IV, his son Prince Henry, Lord John of Lancaster, the Earl of Westmoreland, Sir Walter Blunt and Falstaff. All of them are now dead. Which must mean there's something very evil about Shrewsbury.

Croydon

The town, Shrews Berry, is named after a wild fruit that grows along the A49. A small berry like fruit eaten by Shrews and other small woodland creatures. A previous mayor once spelled it wrong and the town have stuck with it ever since to curb his embarrassment.

LenGlover

In the late 17th century an outbreak of a myxomatosis like illness threatened to render shrews extinct.

Thousands of dead shrews were found close to the River Severn and buried for public health reasons. The area thereafter became known as 'Shrewsbury.'

se9addick

On a recent trip to North Wales we stopped at Shrewsbury and I caught a Pokemon.

Macronate

Mr S H Rewsbury used to run a quaint, little newsagent next to a rail station in France. However, when an unruly Englishman moved out there, Mr Rewsbury decided to emigrate to England and reform as a town in Shropshire where he has a current population of approximately 72,000.

soapy_jones

Shrewsbury is famous in rodent circles as somwhere where you go to bury shrews... in fact i feel we may well find even RD is up for this one!

Six-a-bag-of-nuts

Shrewsbury is the County town of Shropshire, often abbreviated to Salop following the filming there of Dr. Who and the Salopians.
Shrewsbury was once mistakenly thought to contain the source of a tributary to the River Severn, but it later was found to be the late MP Roy Hattersley shouting "Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Shrewsbury Shropshire" repetitively for hours from atop Lord Hill's Monument for a jape.

Edit: Shrewsbury is the only town where Lord Hill built a monument for a jape

Stig

Derek Smalls used to play bass for Shrewsbury Town.

Bedsaddick

Back in 1996 on the way back from a conservative party meeting in Shrewsbury , Ann Widdecombe ran over a police officer while he was having a quick slash at the roadside on the A49 . Despite only have a broken leg she put him out of his pain by hitting him over the head and killing him with the jack she found in the boot of her Mini Metro.
The whole episode was covered up....Until now.

Stig

The song Three Lions on a Shirt, was originally about Shrewsbury Town but was shamelessly stolen by Flanders and Swann who converted it into an England song. In a little known radio interview Donald Swann said they did it because England were the best and the didn't care tuppence about Shrewsbury Town. Flanders went on to enjoy a starring role in The Simpsons.

Stig

Shrewsbury is technically a village. The epithet 'Town' comes from the fact that it was founded by exiles of Canning Town. The correct local pronunciation is therefore Shuzbry Tahhhn.

AFKABartram

In 2012, Shrewsbury become the first ever local council majority-run by the Monster Raving Loony Party, who immediately introduced the 'Shrewsbury Calendar' having been swept to power on the slogan 'Monday's are a bit shit'.

Shrewsbury operates a 6 day week calendar of 28hr days, and it's proven hugely beneficial to the football club as 97% of away fans turn up at the wrong time.

Cheating weirdo loony scum

Algarveaddick

On the night of the 2007 rugby world cup final, I had to borrow the wheelchair from the office at Shrewsbury railway station to wheel my paralytic drunk mate, Vicky out to the taxi rank. To this day we often refer to her as Brian Potter.

(This is a true story)

Uboat

80s pop plodders T'Pau used to claim to be from Shrewsbury as they were too embarrassed to admit that they were really from Telford.

LenGlover

Algarveaddick said:

On the night of the 2007 rugby world cup final, I had to borrow the wheelchair from the office at Shrewsbury railway station to wheel my paralytic drunk mate, Vicky out to the taxi rank. To this day we often refer to her as Brian Potter.

(This is a true story)

Aren't they all on this thread?

cafc999

Shrewsbury fans will be part of a record low attendance at the valley tonight

LargeAddick

they are above us in the league