Sunday, July 1

Introducing WME Shropshire...

The next piece of the WME jigsaw has now been slotted into place with the launch of WME Shropshire earlier this week. The gallery has been in the offing for absolutely ages, so it was about time it sprung into life - and finally it has. As with all new WME galleries, we're dealing with a handful of photos and a limited number of collections - but a start is a start after all.

So what have we got? Two of my favourite Rail Rover stations make an appearance, Ludlow and Church Stretton, with a couple of introductory photos for each. Church Stretton gets further prominence with a local collection, currently featuring the Kings Arms pub and the local library. There's room too for an Exploring Hampton Loade collection containg two ferry related photos - it was so foggy that day I couldn't get much else!

The good news as regards Shropshire is backed up by a bit of development elsewhere too. Also benefitting from extra Rail Rover content is Exploration Extra, with a variety of photos joining RR2006 - there's a couple of station signs at Beeston, a look at the number 6 bus outside Derby Station, a view of Derby Station itself, a photo of a train at Long Eaton, and there's even a local (non-transport) shot of Crewe Market. Solid progress there I think.

There's Rail Rover related stuff to report on WME Staffordshire and WME Warwickshire too. Staffs gets an Exploring Stafford collection looking at Victoria Park and the Rose & Crown pub, whilst Warks goes one better - two new collections, Grand Union Canal (featuring bridges 40 and 41 in Leamington Spa) and Stratford-upon-Avon Station, with a boat at Bancroft Basin thrown in on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal for good measure.

With all this Rail Rover stuff looking at places further afield, there is a danger that the main West Midlands galleries might suffer a bit of update starvation. To counter this, there have been some additions, although whether they add anything new is debatable. WME Dudley gets another entry for Exploring Lower Gornal, but it is yet another view of the post office, and its a similar tale on WME Coventry where the 17 bus makes its umpteenth appearance on Coventry by Bus. The 17 is at least joined by the 702 though, adding Arena Tesco to the list of locations covered and ensuring Travel de Courcey makes it onto the operator's chart too.

After the recent struggles to make any kind of update, these new additions are encouraging signs that things are slowly getting back up to speed, and the arrival of WME Shropshire is the icing on the cake. I have to say I am now going to be taking another break from the site, but its nothing to worry about this time - I am simply going on holiday to East Anglia for a week or so, and can do so safe in the knowledge that WME is in much better health ready for when I get back.

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