When it was announced that the traditional Six of One Summer Work-In was to be held in Shrewsbury it immediately grabbed my attention, as Shrewsbury is renowned for its architecture ( which appealed to me ) and I felt this would be a good opportunity to view the many fine buildings as well as attend the Work-In. My enthusiasm was further sustained by another announcement, in that the Work-In would also play host to numerous smaller events, to provide a whole afternoon’s entertainment. With this in mind, Jo Eldridge and I decided to make a full weekend away in Shrewsbury, for the weekend 10th and 11th August.

Upon arrival in Shrewsbury on Friday 9th August, we first decided to find the venue of the Work-In in relation to the Guest House we were staying at. The Work-In venue was the Brooklands Hotel. This was easy to find, mainly in view of some clear and easy directions prepared by Alan Beale. The Guest House was within walking distance of the Brooklands Hotel so we decided that if the weather was fair on the following Sunday morning, we would walk rather than take the car. That way, I could have a drink or two at the Work-In.

Later that evening, we went for a drink at the Dun Cow, a local pub situated near the Abbey. For me, this pub had long held my attraction; the Shrewsbury Group used to meet there and once used this as a location for their 1995 film “ Village Of The Damned”. Also, I had heard of many legendary stories about the huge meat pies served there. However, you should always be careful for what you want, you might get it; the barmaid curtly told me that no food was available, and the interior had been completely stripped out to bear no resemblance of its former glory. The local beer was OK, but at the thought of having to endure live music played by three old rockers well past their sell-by date, we called it a day there and then, and went for a pizza in the town centre instead.

After breakfast on the Saturday morning, we went for a walk into the town centre to the Tourist Information office, where I bought a map featuring a historic walk. We were able to see many interesting buildings, including some remarkable conversions. After a good cup of tea and a sandwich, we ventured into the Castle, and then down by the river, crossing over the Welsh Bridge, and then over an amazing suspension bridge which bounced like a trampoline. The renowned Flower Festival was in the process of being set up; this must be quite an event as I was later advised that the Festival was not taking place until the following weekend and already a lot of work was being done towards it. The ornamental gardens at The Dingle and the avenue of trees adjoining the river were both delightful. Finally, after crossing the English Bridge, we visited the Abbey, which was very interesting.

With a few hours remaining before the evening, we took the car out to Atcham to view the Mytton and Mermaid Hotel which was frequented by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis when he used to travel from London to Portmeirion. I understand Sir Clough bought the Hotel at one point, and there is evidence of his architectural styles in the front elevation, such as false windows, statues, ornamental urns and topiary.

Upon our return to Shrewsbury, we went for an evening meal before joining several Six of One members for far too many drinks in numerous pubs. Special credit must go to Geoff Lake for working out which pubs to visit, Nick Bennett for recommending several good varieties of the local real ales and Joanie Lake for the lift back to the Guest House.

Sunday started with a late breakfast, followed by a leisurely perusal of the Mail on Sunday. Shortly after 11 o’clock, we started walking from the Guest House to the Brooklands Hotel, arriving approximately half an hour later. The precise location of the Work-In was easy to find; a traditional free-standing Village sign had been placed outside the door of the function room, with a newly-created ”Six of One “ arrow pointing inside. Various members of the Shrewsbury Group were actively fine-tuning the technical aspects of the event; a large stereo widescreen TV and DVD player were being set up in one corner, four rows of chairs were being set out in front of two large tables, a soundcheck of various musical items was in progress and, most importantly, a vast quantities of tea, coffee, biscuits and crisps were being placed on a table adjoining the well stocked bar. By 12 noon, approximately 40 members had assembled and the Work-In duly commenced.

As its name suggests, the main purpose of the Work-In is to do some work, namely the packing of the Society magazine, together with all the coloured inserts and News Updates which every member receives. This kept 25 or so members very busy for just over an hour, but to keep us all going, the sounds of the Sixties were being played, in addition to Geoff Lake’s running commentary of the history of Shrewsbury and the names of various celebrities who live in the local area, such as Roy Wood and Michael Palin.

No sooner had this ended when the first of two quiz papers devised by Rob Beale were circulated. This consisted of a series of 51 pictures taken from the entire Prisoner series, all you had to do was identify which episode each picture was taken from. No more than 3 pictures per episode, and 2 tie-breaking pictures were thrown in case there was a draw. If this sounds easy , think again; some of the pictures featured obscure characters who are only on screen for a few seconds, several characters appear in more than one episode and occasional scenes are even repeated throughout the series ! You had all afternoon to fill in the answers, which was just as well as I’d probably still be puzzling over it now if it was not for the time limit. A special credit must go to Rob on this, as a lot of time had been spent on the computer down-loading images from the DVD’s onto the framework of the question paper, with very professional results.

After approximately half an hour of this, a Work-In guest was announced, this being Stephen Paul Davies, a Six of One member who had recently had published his “Prisoner Handbook”, as reviewed in Free For All Issue 3. Stephen was interviewed by Rob with regard to his background, motivation for writing the book and future projects. A question and answer session followed shortly after, with some lively questions regarding the proposed Prisoner film. Stephen stayed on after the questions had finished to sign copies of his new book, as well as other books he had written.

Back to the picture quiz, but then a second quiz was announced, this time it being a musical quiz based on recognising 60 television programme themes, taken from the Sixties to the present day. Some were easy, several were obscure and many I’d never heard of. This was spread out over 3 sessions throughout the afternoon, and provided a refreshing diversion from the tortuous picture quiz ( which at times was driving me mad ). Not that the musical quiz was at all easy, my frustration being exacerbated by the fact that 2 CD’s of the same music ( with a few exceptions ) had been played in the car during the journey from Hastings to Shrewsbury on the Friday before. Many thanks again to Rob who must have spent ages recording all the segments used, as well as compering this particular event.

After the first 30 of these musical excerpts were played, it was time for a visual treat, this being a DVD of the Danger Man episode “ View From The Villa”, where John Drake visits an Italian location as part of his latest assignment. The location used was, of course, Portmeirion, and whereas I had not seen this episode for some fifteen or so years, it was good to see it again. Portmeirion still looks magical even when not in colour, something I have appreciated from numerous black and white photographs I have taken in the Village within recent years.

Another 20 musical themes followed this. But before we could relax, it was time for another quiz ( and for me, the best part of the Work-In ) namely the Prisoner Weakest Link. Following the success of the excellent Who Wants To Be A Prisoner Millionaire, as staged twice at last year’s Convention, various members of the Shrewsbury Group decided to mount a different Prisoner competition, based on the Weakest Link. Debs McDougall, wearing a traditional No. 6 blazer and thin gold rimmed glasses, presided over the quiz, looking very much as if she’d scare Anne Robinson! Five members took part; Dave Cox, Richard James, Glenies Macairnes, Ian French and myself. Rules were just like the TV programme; simply answer the questions and at the end of each session, vote for the weakest player, the player with the most votes leaves and the players are gradually eliminated one by one to reveal a winner.

Round 1 was, for me, relatively straightforward and I answered all my questions correctly. Several others were not so successful and after we had all voted, Dave was eliminated. Round 2 was a little tougher, I think I dropped one or two questions but I knew I was not the weakest player. After a second vote between the players, Ian joined Dave on the spectators bench, leaving Glenies, Richard and myself to fight it out. And then my luck ran out.

Round 3 questions were, for me, a nightmare, I think I only got one right. To make it worse, both Richard and Glenies were effortlessly answering questions as correctly as day followed night. During the voting, I knew I would be going out there and then, and as I couldn't vote for myself, I decided to vote for the strongest player remaining, i.e. Glenies, who usually wins every Prisoner quiz going at every Convention I have attended. My vote for Glenies went in, Glenies voted for Richard, and Richard – what a star – voted for Glenies! As Debs reminded us, its votes that count and Glenies was out, but not before Debs announced what I ( and a few others knew ) in that I was the weakest link that round ! Now it was down to just Richard and myself.

By the end of Round 4 I had received my just desserts and Richard won this fair and square. However, I was both lucky and pleased to come second, for which I received a rarely seen A4 photo of Alexis Kanner, taken during the filming of Living In Harmony. Richard, as winner, received the 2003 Prisoner Slow Dazzle Calendar. Special thanks should be given to Debs McDougal for making the quiz a success, as well as all others who had made staging the quiz a reality. Geoff later remarked that he was pleased with the competition, as it had never been tested or rehearsed prior to the Work-In. The competition is very likely to be refined in time for next year’s Convention, so this should make a good event for participants and audience alike.

The final 10 questions of the musical quiz were read out, followed by further time on the picture quiz. Whilst this was going on, the DVD player was once again in action, this time showing American trailers for all 17 episodes. After these had been shown, everyone exchanged their two quiz papers with one another for marking and the answers were read out to reveal the winners.

Prizes were then awarded. A further quick question and answer quiz was held, to get rid of several other prizes, with Glenies winning several bookmarks; I myself won a Bruce Springsteen cassette which, ironically, I was on the verge of buying in a shop a few days before.

General conversation followed, and everyone present agreed that more Work-In’s should be held with additional activities to follow, to make a good afternoon out. Max Hora proposed a round of thanks to the Shrewsbury Group for all their efforts in making the event a success, which was followed by a hearty round of well-deserved applause. It is possible that next year’s Summer Work-In will be a similar if not bigger event, which should be really good.

After the clearing up, Jo and I went for a quick pizza, followed by one last drink in the town centre with Geoff and Rob and Mandy Beale, during which we discussed plans for next years’ Convention.

After breakfast on the Monday we departed back to Hastings, but took time out during our journey back to look around the picturesque village of Ironbridge, which itself is well worth a visit.

In concluding this article, I would like to thank all members of the Shrewsbury Group for their hospitality over the weekend, in particular to Geoff Lake and Rob Beale for the substantial amount of time spent in making the Work-In such a tremendous success, a credit to them both.

Alan writes:
I'd just like to add my thanks to those of Andrew. It was nice meeting up with the Shrewsbury gang once again and we had a great time. Thanks for looking after us and hope to see you again soon!