At our History Society meeting on Thursday 19th March 2026, members once again enjoyed one of our regular monthly talks. We are fortunate to host a guest speaker on the third Thursday of every month, each bringing a fascinating perspective on a different aspect of history.

Our scheduled speaker, David Bartley, was unfortunately unable to attend the last Coffee Morning after his wife, who kindly drives him to events, was involved in an accident a few days earlier. We wish them both well and are pleased to say that we are looking to reschedule David to speak later in the year, all being well.

Thankfully, Steve Geale stepped in at short notice and proved to be a wonderful replacement. He delivered an engaging talk on wartime rationing and even brought along 72 rock cakes he had baked the day before, allowing members to enjoy an authentic and very tasty part of the presentation.

Although this was a slightly shorter talk than usual, Steve also shared fascinating stories from his time working in the Prison Service, giving us a second presentation that was just as interesting. Both talks were thoroughly enjoyed and much appreciated by everyone present.

Big Thank you to Ruth Williams for our very informative and enjoyable talk on “Staffordshire Gems”. We will definitely be having Ruth back for part 2.

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.

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.

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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. 

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The Annual Membership is due in January – £10 per person. We hope to keep the subscriptions at this level for at least next year.

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