A big thank you to Ruth Williams for a truly informative and enjoyable talk on “Staffordshire Gems.”
Ruth treated us to a fascinating and entertaining morning, shining a light on some of Staffordshire’s lesser-known places — many of which were new discoveries for our members. Among the highlights was her account of the Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the Wars of the Roses, fought in September 1459 near the Shropshire border.
It was a thoroughly engaging presentation, full of interesting insights and local history brought vividly to life. We are delighted to be welcoming Ruth back for a second instalment, and look forward to her return visit in November.
Guest Speaker – Anthony Poulton Smith – Explores the History of Watling Street
Members of the Local History Society were pleased to welcome guest speaker Anthony Poulton Smith to our recent coffee morning meeting.
Anthony delivered an engaging and thought-provoking talk on the history of Watling Street — one of Britain’s most famous historic routes. Long believed to have been a Roman road, Watling Street has traditionally been associated with the Roman occupation of Britain and the network of straight, engineered roads for which they are well known.
Anthony Poulton Smith
However, during his talk, Anthony revealed evidence suggesting that the route may in fact have Anglo-Saxon origins, challenging the commonly held assumption of its purely Roman beginnings. His presentation offered fresh insights into how our understanding of early transport routes continues to evolve through ongoing research and historical interpretation.
The subject sparked great interest among those attending, and the talk was thoroughly enjoyed by all. As always, it was wonderful to see members gathered together for another informative and friendly morning of local history discussion.
We would like to thank Anthony Poulton Smith for sharing his knowledge and expertise with us.
AGM
We had a good AGM. Reports were given by the Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chairperson and myself. We’d had a good year and felt there was no need to increase subscriptions. As the year goes on, we want to do more with open days and open evenings. Pam is looking into doing another trip, this time in the summer.
We lost some members last year I’m sorry to say, these wasn’t due to losing interest in the Society, but from illness and sorry to say death, who will be sadly missed in the Society. We are seeing new faces at different events, with more members joining each month. Coffee mornings with guest speakers are a big hit, with more members attending each month.
We’re now into a new year with the Society. We’ve been going now for 17 years and a few months into our reign. Pictured here, a photograph from local resident of Park Lane that build a 10-feet snowman. It became a great attraction in the village, back in January. With many people visiting the snowman to take a selfie with him.
Christmas Chairman’s notes from Winter Magazine 2025
Christmas is now on us, the year has been one of the warmest this century and it’s been great, I’ve never wore shorts so much, if fact I was still wearing them in October. Mind you, we haven’t met January yet and winter. The short days are with us and makes us very reflective on what has gone on during the past year. Members of our Society have passed away including my own son. Life is very precious as we get older, so we hang onto memories but strive to carry on daily life.
We had a great day out at Chester for the winter market, all thanks to Pam for organising the trip. The October Open Day went down well, our theme was mining with new articles that were donated to the society. We met many new people. Many thanks to all that attended.
Even though I tried to step-down within the society earlier in the year, I’m standing firm as Chairman for the moment. I want to thank all of our members for the support throughout the year. We’ve had some great speakers throughout the year and look forward to welcoming more in the new year. Every month we are getting more members joining and coming to the Coffee Mornings, it’s a great opportunity to catch up with everyone. Also thanks to the Committee for their help over the year and their dedication to the society and our members.
Winter Magazine is now available to members as part of their membership. Non-Members can buy the magazine for £2 from a member of the committee.
Our Christmas Social – Coffee Morning was a great success. The room was packed with Christmas spirit. There was mince pies with tea and coffee, for the cost of £3 per person. Plus we had raffle with some great prizes. Thank you Tim Rooney for the entertainment. A good time was had by us all. Happy Christmas everyone
