Wednesday, January 02, 2013

The Church Stretton hotel fire, 1968


Ten days ago I promised to tell you the story of the closure of The Hotel in Church Stretton. But then real life took over - besides, it was not a story for Christmas.

The Hotel closed as the result of a fire in 1968 in which five people died. Two were members of staff and the other three were young boys from a family who were staying at The Hotel for a single night before moving to a house in the town.

As a South Shropshire Journal article looking back on the fire reminds us:
Back in the 1960s, there were no smoke or fire alarms in hotels. There was a notice in the corridor stating “in case of fire shout FIRE!”
There is a memorial to the boys who died in St Laurence's, Church Stretton. It was made a couple of years after the fire by the sculptor John Skelton, a nephew of Eric Gill.

No comments: