Unless otherwise stated here, our meetings take place at Sneydlands, Bryan's Lane, Rugeley WS15 2JS.

 

Have you paid your subs for 2026, which were due in January - £10.

 

Visitors will be charged £2.00 for each visit.

 

Please note that for all meetings at Sneydlands parking is available behind the Magistrates’ Courts. The barrier will be manned from about 7.10 till 7.25 p.m. The very limited parking at Sneydlands must be reserved for the residents, their visitors and the emergency services. 

 

 

Wednesday 16th September 2026                       

Sneydlands  7:30 pm

 

We will welcome Berenice Wilson whose talk will be based on her research on Anglo Saxon women 1050-1150.  Using the Domesday book as her main source she is able to piece together the life stories of the English women who managed to ride out the unexpected changes of the Norman Conquest, with their lands still intact.  Staffordshire examples are Godgifu of Madeley, who held a substantial group of holdings around Moddershall; Aki’s sister who may have been a hermit or nun at Stone and Lady Godiva who may have spent some time in Kings Bromley.   

 

 

 

Wednesday 21st October 2026                      

Sneydlands  7:30 pm

 

Following our lovely visit to Weston Park during the Summer, Society member, Thea Randall will give a talk entitled “A Classic Aristocratic Family?” about the 1st Earl of Bradford of Weston Park and his children as shown through their surviving letters.

 

 

 

Wednesday 18th November 2026   

Sneydlands  7:30 pm       

                                                     

“A Christmas Carol” is the title of a presentation to be given by Anita Fernandez.   Anita who is a member of the Dickens Fellowship will give a one women performance of A Christmas Carol.  She wears authentic Victorian costume and uses Dickens’ own script to illustrate many of the   Christmas traditions we still use.

 

 

 

Wednesday 20th January 2027   

Sneydlands  7:30 pm       

                                                     

AGM :  This is your chance to influence the way your Society is run.  Do you have any ideas for speakers or visits?  Please consider standing for election to the committee.  Nominations for officers and committee members must be made, in writing, to the Organising Secretary (Glenys Richards) at least 14 days before the a.g.m.  A nomination sheet will also be available at the November meeting

 

 

 

Wednesday 17th February 2027   

Sneydlands  7:30 pm       

                                                     

Dr Richard Totty will visit us to give is talk on the Bawdy Courts of Lichfield.  The talk centres around the role of the ecclesiastical courts

judgement on moral matters, including fornication, defamation and clergy discipline which led them to gain notoriety in the 17th century.  The salacious nature of the cases and the statements of witnesses earned them the moniker ‘bawdy’.  The court records cover over 350 years of cases from the diocese.

 

 

 

Wednesday 17th March 2027   

Sneydlands  7:30 pm       

                                                     

Dr Mark Knight is an historian, musician, parish councillor and chair of his local allotment society. He is the Senior Cultural Heritage Officer for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, leading projects in finding ways to protect our historic environment whilst enhancing the natural one, rooting the work of the wildlife trust in deep cultural context. His talk is entitled:

The Trent Valley Past & Present: connecting communities with their natural and cultural heritage.

 

 

 

Wednesday 21st April 2027   

Sneydlands  7:30 pm       

                                                     

We look forward to welcoming back Gill Sykes, whose subject for this evening will be “The History of working women of the West Midlands”, about the nail makers, chain maker, saddle makers and pottery workers