Well, it seemed precious to him anyway.
The item in question clearly meant nothing to the workmen who were throwing everything onto the back of a lorry to be taken away.
This was, we think, about 1965, and the building being demolished was the Methodist Chapel at the junction of Beacalls Lane and New Park Road.
The site is today occupied by the Dulux paint decorator centre.
What had caught the attention of George Paget that day was a memorial stone, honouring Castlefields men who had been killed during the First World War.
George thought it was outrageous that a memorial stone displaying the names of the fallen could be thrown away as scrap. And he decided to intervene.
His daughters are today proud to tell of how their dad rescued the stone.
"I remember quite clearly that one day, amongst all the rubble, there were these men in suits and I asked Mum what they were doing," recalls Janice Oliver, one of George's daughters.
She and her sister, Christina Marshall-Clarke, are telling me the story.
"And Mum told me that these men in suits were de-consecrating the ground. They had to do that, apparently, so that the church could be demolished."
Janice, 70, and Christina, 65, told me that when their dad spotted the memorial stone, he asked the workmen if he could have it. He told them the stone shouldn't go. It should be preserved.
No-one had any objection to George taking the stone so he set about taking it home to his house in New Park Street.
"It was placed against the front wall of our house," said Janice.
"No-one would take it at the time. Even All Saints Church wouldn't take it at the time. There's a lot of protocol about what goes into a church, apparently."
Several years later, explains Christina, Father Maddox agreed to take it into the porch of All Saints Church in North Street.
Janice says: "It took about four men to carry it. It was ever so heavy."
Fast-forward to the present day and the memorial stone rescued by George Paget from that demolition site in the sixties now has a special place within All Saints Church.
"Father Michael Fish decided that they ought to get the stone cleaned up, especially now with all the commemorations going on to mark the First World War. So now it's all cleaned up and mounted on a small plinth. What's more there was a special service on August 4. At All Saints there was already a memorial board with about 90 names on it. And then they were able to add the memorial stone from the old Methodist church, and a speaker came to the service from the Methodist Church and read out the names from the stone."
So salutes all round, then, for George Paget who single-handedly rescued this memorial stone from obscurity.
By all accounts George was a real character and, clearly, Christina and Janice are very proud of what their dad did.
"He was a prison officer at the Dana, but he also kept pigs at the allotment in Castlefields," said Christina. "His favourite pigs were Spotty, Winnie and Patch and they were like pets to us.
"Dad was also a big friend of another Castlefields character, George Jones, the rag and bone man, who had a horse and cart."
Ah, yes. The old days in Castlefields. I was able to tell Christina and Janice that I well remember George Jones with his horse and cart, and I also remember walking home from the Lancasterian School and seeing the demolition of the Methodist church taking place.
Does anyone else out there remember the demolition? If so, I would love to hear from you - or indeed if you just want to share your memories of the old days.
email: philoncloudbase@gmail.com
Pictured below: Janice Oliver and Christina Marshall-Clarke, daughters of George Paget.
Phil Gillam's gentle novel of family life, Shrewsbury Station Just After Six, is now available from Pengwern Books in Shrewsbury, Waterstones, and from amazon.
