For his dedicated service and good works, Shropshire rural bobby Bill Williams got a gentle pat on the back from officialdom. For Alan Scriven, a Wolverhampton lad from an impoverished background whose life Bill transformed, it was a meagre reward.
"He should have got a knighthood" - Alan's tribute to rural bobby who changed his life.
"I think he should have been knighted," said Alan.
Bill Williams was a police officer based at Wistanstow near Craven Arms when in the late 1950s he founded the Long Mynd Adventure Camp near Church Stretton. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in its silver jubilee year.
Its initial aim was to give holidays in the countryside for deprived boys aged 11 to 14 from the West Midlands, primarily Wolverhampton and Birmingham, although later its catchment area broadened.
Alan first went to the camp in 1965 as a 12-year-old from Low Hill who had never been on holiday before. He was to become associated with it for the next 33 years, ultimately becoming the person in charge, called the Skipper.
Bill's many activities for the community also included charitable works, involvement with youth clubs, and reforming the defunct Bridgnorth Rowing Club when he was based in that town in the 1950s.
"Bill received in 1983 the British Empire Medal, which was the lowest award he could have received," said Alan, who lives in Bushbury.
