Growing Upwar Years

A Memory of Prees.

Earliest memory was the wedding of my uncle, Harry Copnall...this would have been in the 1930s though before war was declared in 1939. My next vivid memory was an anniversary Sunday at the Methodist chapel in the village. This was in the early 1940s and a very sad day for the Copnall family, my uncle Harry had been killed in the war, leaving a widow and baby son. I remember Mildred Ratcliffe was about to sing 'Land of Hope and Glory as our family left the chapel, although I, as a young child knew nothing of this until much later when I found my father sobbing in our garden at Station Road. Only twice did I see him cry and the second time too was upon the death of a friend, Vic Grocott, a well known local business men.

Prees was a thriving village in those days, we had three general stores one with its own bakery. Two sweetshops, one of which also sold vegetables and various grocery items, whilst the other one too sold some groceries and also newspapers & magazines. The lovely owner, Mrs. Ikin, would let us wait in the shop for the Whitchurch Herald to be delivered on Thursday evening...straight off the press as they say. I spent many an hour waiting for that paper and to this day never understood the urgency! We also boasted another newsagent, Wilbraham's [I think they are, possibly, still there]. Their shop also housed the village hairdresser's, gents downstairs & women upstairs. Two butchers, two cobblers [as they were called then], I think about four garages, one being the 'famous' Grindley's. Two of the three main grocery shops also had drapery departments. Before & during the war my grandparents had a fish & chip shop before selling wet fish. For many years they also had a fish stall in Whitchurch market. Completing the village were the usual doctor, nurse, inn, two chapels, the church and school. There was also an undertaker who was on the left hand side of the village going out towards Shrewsbury...I mention this because I have a phobia about coffins [even the word still makes me shiver] and never once have I walked past those premises on that side of Shrewsbury Street. Activities were also well catered for. The recreation ground had tennis courts, bowling green, cricket & football pitches. The railway station was over a mile out of the village, but well used. Employment for the locals was good too. There was the flour mill, Salopian engineers [before that always referred to as the bowl company!] then it was bought by Rubery Owen...but that was later and I can think of at least four big farms employing local people and during the war they had prisoners of war in the old creamery.

When the Americans came into the war we would see truck loads of 'Yanks' [that is what we knew them as] driving through the village on their way to camps such as Burtonwood, if we were lucky enough to be at the crossroads when they went through the soldiers would throw us chocolate and gum, to the children it was very exciting.

I think it was brought home to we local children just how lucky we were, living where we did, when the evacuees arrived. We had one, Pat Betts from Liverpool. I think they were made welcome, I certainly don't remember any bullying or such like, life in those days was very routine,f ew people had cars, so the outside world was a mystery, our new friends were therefore made welcome. Looking back I realise I was lucky I went further afield than Whitchurch, but there were people who never left Prees...yes there were Sunday school trips to the seaside after the war, mainly to Rhyl.

So many memories and, despite everything, lovely ones, but the over riding one has to be the freedom we enjoyed, even as young children. Packing up sandwiches we'd disappear for the day...and if we were late home our parents would only be cross because we were being naughty, not worried sick incase we didn't get home at all.

I have not been to Prees for a long,long time and remembering now, I wonder why it was always seen as just somewhere one passed through to get from A to B....

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