Summer Programme 2024
Tuesday 21 May: Visit to Ideal Standard, Old Road, Armitage WS15 4BT. Meet at Reception 10.15am for 10.30am start for approx. 1½ hours. No charge.
Ashley Spink will give a guided tour of the factory, plus giving us a potted history of the site going back over 200 years.
You will have to wear steel capped boots which will be provided. I NEED YOUR SHOE SIZE! Bring socks!
Thursday 6 June: Visit to Woodhouse Farm and Walled Garden. Woodhouse Lane, Fisherwick Estate. WS13 8QG. Meet at 6.pm for 6.30pm start.
Woodhouse is a 22 acre farm, previously part of the Fisherwick Estate once owned by Lord Donegal and designed by Capability Brown. A project started in 2009 with a battle to keep community access to the farm. The project has gone on to see the replanting of the walled garden which predates 1760 and was once one of the most prolific gardens of its time. There is a large collection of documents and pictures explaining the history of the site.
Tour, talk and refreshments £10 a head including tea, coffee and cake.
Wednesday 24 July: Walking Tour of Barton Under Needwood. Meet at the car park by Barton village hall, Crowberry Lane, DE13 8AF. Meet at 6.45pm for a 7pm start. Approx 1½ hours. No charge.
Historian and local resident, Steve Gardnerwill give a potted version of the complete history of the village, including tales of the ancient forest, murder, royalty and ghost stories, littered with facts and humour. Conclude the evening at the Middle Bell opposite the car park entrance on Main Street if you wish.
It is important that we have a firm indication of numbers for the summer visits.
For a booking form and more information including directions and/or maps etc. contact Helen Sharp on 01543 490873 or helensharp80@hotmail.com
RHS Open Afternoon September 14th 2024. 2pm – 4pm in Hill Ridware Village Hall
We will be displaying some of the photographs and documents that have accumulated from research projects undertaken by members of the group, including the history of the school, the local pubs, some local families, notable buildings and the pottery at Armitage to name but a few.
Please support this if you can and encourage some ‘younger’ residents of the locality to come and see what we are about.
Winter Programme 2023/2024
Monday 2 October 2023
AGM followed with a talk by Roger Field from the Peel Society based in Tamworth.
Roger is a trustee of the Peel Society which promotes the study of the life, works and times of Sir Robert Peel and
the Peel family and the establishment of the Metropolitan Police and evolution of the service in general
His talk is intriguingly titled ‘Peel and the Police – from Charlie to Bobby’.
Monday 6 November 2023
Lyn Tyler – The R.A.F. Airbase, Fradley
Lyn is a member of the Fradley Heritage Group. Her talk will focus on her research about Fradley airbase beginning
life as a maintenance unit, later becoming an Operational Training Unit where men from all over the
Commonwealth came to learn to fly. She will talk about some of the training accidents at the base, including the only
civilian death of local man, Arthur Salt. She will explain the involvement of the base in the 1000 bomber raids on
German cities during WW2.
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Monday 4 December 2023
Dr. Ann Featherstone – Here we are again: a (very) brief history of pantomime
Ann is a retired university lecturer and teacher as well as a writer. Her particular interest is the 19th century:
popular entertainment, theatre, music hall and circus
This talk explores the very earliest performances in the 17th and 18th centuries, the glory days of the 19th century
and modern times, taking in spectacular scenery, celebrities and Pantomime Dames on the way
Monday 8 January 2024
David Wood – 50 Years on the Roof: one man’s thatching history
David is the only remaining Master Thatcher in Staffordshire, and his talk outlines his life and work since his
apprenticeship as a young lad on leaving school. He will bring with him some of the tools he uses and also a sample
of materials.
Monday 5 February 2024
Cliff Kirby-Tibbits – The History of Jabez Cliff & Co 1793- 2011
Cliff is one of the 6th generation to have worked for the company founded by his forebear in the eighteenth century.
Cliff will talk about the family leather business spanning 7 generations. They were manufacturers of saddlery,
luggage, handbags, purses, sports balls, golf bags plus a myriad of other leather items. They were saddlers & loriners
to the late HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Monday 4 March 2024
Sheila Woolf – “Links with the Leighs – a tale of two counties.”
Sheila chairs the Stoneleigh History Society and is historian and volunteer guide at Stoneleigh Abbey. She has
published widely.
Since the seventeenth century the communities of Hamstall Ridware in Staffordshire and Stoneleigh in Warwickshire
have enjoyed a special relationship, owing to the Leigh family. This talk examines how their stories have intertwined
over the years – famously via the Austen and Cooper links, but with many other connections along the way.
Meet in Hill Ridware Village Hall WS15 3RJ.
7.30pm for 7.45pm start. Licensed bar or tea/coffee available.
Non-members are welcome. £2 per visit
For information on how to join please contact: Membership Secretary: Helen Sharp 01543 490873.