On the trail of Wilfred Owen - PART 2 - Oswestry

Following our trip around Shrewsbury, the road led us a few miles away, to Oswestry. This is where Wilfred Owen was born on 18th March 1893 to Tom and Susan Owen. 

At the time, the family was living in Plas Wilmot - Susan Owen's family home and this was the first place we headed for. 

Once we found it, the first thing I noticed was the name of the property, carved into the stone, which tops the entrance to the driveway. Seeing it - being near it felt incredibly special. 


























Having found the place, Mike and I were cautious, not wanting to upset the occupier but we were very lucky - the current inhabitant couldn't have been more helpful and welcoming. Once I had explained that I was fascinated with the life and poetry of Wilfred Owen and that I wanted to see the house in which he was born, he invited us to view the English heritage plaque, which is displayed on the rear of the building.

In the back garden, we were shown the plaque and a large conifer, which was planted by Wilfred's grandfather and which now towers way above the height of the house. I liked the house very much. It's a quirky building, but very English. 

As we stood in the garden, absorbing the atmosphere, I was even more blown away, when we were invited to look inside the house. 

Bless him - the current occupier showed us the whole of the house, telling us what would and would not have stood at the time when Wilfred was there. 

Most exciting of all, we were able to see the bedroom, in which Susan Owen had given birth to Wilfred 120 years earlier. The room was quite plain but had a vaulted ceiling, which was unusual and attractive. I wondered if Susan Owen had any idea, at that moment, quite how important her newborn baby would become.

Next stop on our way was Oswestry Church, My guidebook informed me that there was a memorial bench in the churchyard in Wilfred's memory. After quite a lot of searching, we found it - a beautiful bench, inscribed with Wilfred's initials, his date of birth and the date of his death. Above it is a metal plaque, which bears more details about Wilfred, along with the full text of two of his poems - 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and 'Futility' as shown below. I found this to be my favourite of all the monuments to Wilfred, which I have seen thus far. 

 


As we left Oswestry, a slightly stranger tribute to Wilfred revealed itself to me. It seemed that the Wetherspoon pub chain have named their Oswestry pub chain after Wilfred. It was rather unexpected, so I stopped to have a look. 




 

The pub was much nicer inside than it appears from the outside and within it are four displays, which give details about Wilfred himself and about World War One. 



So, all in all, Oswestry was well worth visiting, especially if you are interested in finding out about Wilfred Owen's life.

On the trail of Wilfred Owen - PART 1 - Shrewsbury

Regular readers will already be aware of my massive admiration and love for the amazing poet Wilfred Owen. His poetry is cleverly written and genuinely beautiful, despite the subject matter and his honesty about his experiences has inspired me more than I could possibly express in words.

On the Trail of the Poets of the Great War - Wilfred Owen by Helen McPhail and Philip Grant is a fantastic book, which I bought back in 2010. I was on the trip to Ypres and the Somme, in which I also drove up to Ors, where Wilfred is buried (see my post about that trip). It has proven invaluable in locating some of the places which were important in his life. I haven't yet located all of them yet but I hope to get round all of them eventually. 

Last August, my friends Anna and Ralph married at Craig Y Nos Castle in South Wales. It was a beautiful wedding in a really interesting Victorian gothic setting, all watched over by 19^th Century opera singer and former owner of the castle: Adelina Patti.

Once the celebrations were over, Mike and I decided that it was the perfect opportunity, being in the West Country, to find some of the places where Wilfred and the Owen family had lived. One hastily booked Travelodge later, we were off to Shrewsbury in my old 1991 Fiesta.

Shrewsbury Abbey

Shrewsbury really took us by surprise. A beautiful old town, it sits in a meander of the River Severn in Shropshire. It is full of amazing tudor buildings and balances its history with the modern world really well. We both fell in love with this little town immediately. Everywhere we walked, I couldn't help but imagine that Wilfred had walked the same paths, and looked at the same sights. It felt really special.

The first place we visited was the ancient abbey. An imposing structure of red sandstone, it stands in an unwalled graveyard, which almost feels like a park.

Symmetry

At the far end of the graveyard is 'Symmetry', a granite monument in remembrance of Wilfred Owen. It was designed by Paul de Monchaux in 1993.

On one side, is a quotation from Owen's poem 'Strange Meeting' and the structure is designed to echo the tunnel, which is referred to in the poem. It is a beautiful monument.

Within the Abbey is a memorial to the men of Shrewsbury, who gave their lives in the Great War. Wilfred's name is marked by a poppy.

The Abbey itself is beautiful and its staff were very friendly to us. 

Not far from the Abbey, in the Monkmoor area of the town, are the two houses in which Wilfred and the Owen family lived in, after moving from Birkenhead in 1907.

1 Cleveland Place (Now in Underdale Road)

 The first house – 1 Cleveland Place – is no longer known by that address, having become part of Underdale Road but, under a thick layer of decaying white paint, the former address is still just visible, carved into the pillars at the end of the path. 

The house itself, mid terraced and three stories tall, is fairly imposing but pleasing on the eye. 

The Owen Family lived here from 1907 until 1910.

Mahim

Mahim – the last place Wilfred's parents lived before he died, is a beautiful house – semi detached with a large bay window and attic room. It is located at number 69 Monkmoor Road.

As I stood there, I looked up at the dorma window jutting from the roof and I could just imagine dear Wilfred sitting at that window, head stooped towards his desk, writing poetry and letters, studying his books and honing his craft. 







Mahim bears a plaque in recognition of the fact that Wilfred lived there from 1910-1918.

 

I must say that I didn't track these places down unaided. My guide book was fantastic, providing detailed and accurate directions, which made it really easy to find what I was looking for. 

Other places I located, using the guide were Wilfred Owen Close, Shrewsbury Station, where Tom Owen (Wilfred's father) worked and also the former site of Shrewsbury technical school, where Wilfred attended school. 

Shrewsbury Station

Former site of Shrewsbury Technical School

St Julian's Church

Finally, we found St Julian's Church, where Wilfred's mother was an active member of the congregation. The church contains a roll of honour for the war dead of the congregation, where Wilfred is named.


 

I loved discovering Shrewsbury and finding the various locations which featured in Wilfred's life and the monuments erected in his memory. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Not About Heroes - Westacre Theatre - AMAZING!

"This book is not about heroes. English poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds, or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion or power, except War." - The opening of the preface, written by Wilfred Owen, for the publication of his War Poems. 

Earlier this week, I discovered, through the Wilfred Owen Association, that the play 'Not About Heroes' by Stephen Macdonald would be performed in various locations across the country. Better than that, one of those performances was to take place in Norfolk - an easy but lengthy drive from my home - at the Westacre Theatre. 

I went along with my mum - Lesley. As I navigated the country lanes to find the theatre, I had absolutely no idea what to expect and I was a little worried, hoping that my hero - Wilfred - would be portrayed sensitively and accurately. Whatever ideas were flying through my mind, I couldn't have predicted the experience I was about to have. 

The Play

 

In 1917, war poets and soldiers Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon were both in-patients at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh, where they developed a close friendship, rooted in their love of reading and writing poetry, their belief in the futility of the war and a need to tell the truth about it. Indeed, after Owen's death on 4th November 1918, just a week before the Armistice, it was Sassoon, who arranged for the posthumous publication of Wilfred's war poems.
 
Not About Heroes by Stephen Macdonald tells the story of Siegfried and Wilfred's friendship. based around the letters and poems of both poets. As a result, the story is portrayed sympathetically, accurately and with just enough humour.

The Westacre Production

As for the production. I have one word for you - WOW. 
 
Before I describe the experience of this genuinely brilliant production, I must tell you that, with the exception of the director - David Connor, the four main people involved in this piece of theatre took part, courtesy of the Westacre Theatre Bursary Awards scheme which enables drama undergraduates to work with the in house theatre company during the summer season. As such, it was, essentially a student production.

The production, designed and directed superbly by David Connor, who had clearly researched the period and protagonists in great detail, demonstrated equally excellent set construction and decoration, lighting and sound design and operation by Mel Kirwan and Merlyn Salter, which was genuinely impressive, recreating the atmosphere of the time very well, through a wide variety of staging and lighting techniques. 

The most impressive aspects of this production were, by far, the performances of Ross Chandler as Siegfried Sassoon and Oliver Parkes as Wilfred Owen. It was clear to me that both of them had researched the men they were portraying in great detail and I am absolutely sincere in saying that both their performances moved me to tears. So incredible were their performances that they captivated the audience and eclipsed everything else in the auditorium.

Ross Chandler articulated his role, as upper class, privileged Sassoon, superbly and with excellent comic timing. He came across as every bit the well to do, stiff upper lipped but ultimately kind man Siegfried Sassoon was. Chandler balanced the facets of his character believably through his voice, mannerisms, posture and expressions, never losing Sassoon's essential 'Englishness', yet allowing just enough of his real emotion to show through.

Oliver Parkes, as Wilfred Owen, was wonderful. He managed to express every aspect of Owen's complicated character with real dignity, sympathy and sincerity, showing the physical and emotional effects of shell shock, expressing Wilfred's emotional intensity, balancing this with his shyness. I have read a lot about Wilfred Owen, his character and his life, and I genuinely found this performance to be completely faultless. I know that Wilfred himself would have been moved and impressed by Parkes' portrayal of him. 

Both Ross Chandler and Oliver Parkes showed immense talent, the maturity of their performances belying their years. They showed genuine commitment to the roles with which they had been entrusted. My mum and I were both really impressed. 

 The Theatre

The Westacre Theatre is a beautiful building, in a serene countryside location. It is a great surprise in the middle of the Norfolk countryside. The people on the door and behind the bar could not have been more friendly, accommodating or kind. My mum and I have never experienced such fantastic hospitality in a theatre.

And finally ...

So all in all, my mum and I both felt that 'Not About Heroes' at the Westacre Theatre was by far the best performance we had ever had the pleasure of seeing and the experience offered by this little theatre and the people at its heart was second to none. Was it worth the long drive? Absolutely.

Long time no see!

Wow. It's been a while since I last managed to get onto here. 

It's not been the easiest 13 months and honestly, I can't believe it's been such a long time. 

I have many things to share with you in the coming days, which I hope will prove pleasing, starting with a shedload of Wilfred Owen related posts. The centenary of World War I and the events which have been arranged as a result of that, combined with visits I have made to places where he lived, worked, etc, have resulted in this. I hope you will enjoy it all. 

Annie. :-)