Come to a Talk
All talks take place on Tuesdays at Walton Village Hall, Green Gore Lane, Milford ST17 0LD and begin at 2.30pm. Admission for members of the centre is £4.00, visitors £4.50.
There is no need to pay in advance for our talks, you can simply pay at the door on the day. However, it will help us if you book in advance to advise us that you are coming, using the Talk Booking Form on the button below. If you do, we will give you a personal reminder that you have booked by email a couple of days before.
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2025 Talks Programme
Idioms And expressions - 9th December
A Talk by Steve Williams
I didn’t know how to describe this talk but, in the end, I decided to bite the bullet, get my act together and get something down in black and white. Don’t want to steal Steve’s thunder by letting the cat out of the bag but I only get to do this once in a blue moon and it’s not going to cost me an arm and a leg.
Who thought of all these expressions, and where do they come from?
Perhaps I’m barking up the wrong tree and you should take everything I say with a pinch of salt. The best thing you could do is turn up at Walton Village Hall on December 9th, let Steve Williams tell you himself and get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
Famous Folk of Staffordshire - 11th November
A Talk by Kath Reynolds
This is a talk by the always entertaining Kath Reynolds . The talks Kath presents are a reflection of her interest in people and in social history – usually within living memory. She is a collector and sharer of stories. This will be about some famous sons and daughters of Staffordshire.
John Brindley as the subject of a previous talk a few years ago. Some, such as Robert Peel, the former Prime Minister and founder of the British police force, you may have heard of but won’t be sure of the Staffordshire connection. Others, John Currie perhaps? You might think you’ve heard of – but he wasn’t a skater.
Still more – Mary Blagg, Fanny Deakin, for example, may be a complete mystery to you. Come along and listen to Kath reveal all.
Life Aboard The Jam Butty - 14th October
A Talk by Wild Life Preserves
A Preserver’s Year. This talk is delivered by Helen and Andy and covers preserve making, foraging, their life on the canals and the story behind The Jam Butty & Wild Side Preserves.
Wild Side is a business born from an enthusiasm for cooking, boating, waterways and hedgerows. It is run by Helen Tidy who was keen to combine her love of cooking with husband Andy’s enthusiasm for narrow-boating. Noticing that the towpath hedgerows were an overflowing larder of wild food, Helen began to experiment with making homemade preserves. Wild Side Handmade Preserves is the end result of these labours.
The business is called Wild Side, reflecting the foraged aspect of the ingredients, they are probably better known as The Jam Butty on account of the 27ft engineless boat that they tow behind their main narrowboat.
Every Night Something Awful - 9th September
A Talk by Dean Nixon
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II.
ENSA was the world’s largest ever entertainment organisation that included Gracie Fields, George Formby, Tommy Trinder, Noel Coward and Joyce Grenfell to name but a few. Despite many extremely talented entertainers working for ENSA, the organisation was necessarily spread thin over the vast area it had to cover. Thus, many entertainments were substandard, and the popular translation of the acronym ENSA was “Every Night Something Awful”.
This is a talk looking at how ENSA and other war-time organisations raised our morale in the dark years of 1939-1945.
As Churchill said to ENSA performers: “Your job is to sing while the guns are blazing.”
Staffordshire Gems - 12th August
A Talk by Ruth Williams
A whistle-stop tour of the county from north to south, stopping to look at some interesting places along the way some of which you will definitely recognise but others you may not be familiar with.
We commence our tour at The Roaches that iconic outcrop of gritstone and pause at Tittesworth reservoir, Mow Cop and Ilam making our way through a couple of villages to Cheadle and Pugin’s Gem.
A few miles from Cheadle is Tean with some interesting buildings. Through Alton, Croxden and Uttoxeter to look at the Conduit.
Did you know that we have the largest floating peat bog in Britain and where it is situated?
Looking east we see Tutbury and the Fauld Crater not far away.
Our county town is briefly featured as are one or two nearby villages.
Cannock Chase cannot be overlooked as it is an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Lichfield, Tamworth, Brewood and Enville all have sites to be explored and we conclude our Staffordshire visit at Blore Heath, site of one of the battles of the Wars of the Roses.
The Man Who Never Was - 8th July
A Talk by Andy French
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Andrew French will reveal the truth about Operation Mincemeat, the secret operation intended to deceive the Germans and allow allied troops to return to mainland Europe during WW2.
Discover the true story of this attempt to trick Nazi Germany into weakening Sicily’s defences in 1943, by making them think that the invasion was going to be in Greece. They used a dead man with fake papers, bringing about the phrase “The Man Who Never Was”.
However, the talk develops into a possible government cover up and conspiracy that still holds firm today. Original documents from 1943 are used to prove what really happened, turning this piece of history into a “personal one” – it has a direct French family connection.
Unpicking The Thread - 10th June
A Talk by Shaun Farrelly
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We are all so familiar with sewing machines that we probably cannot imagine a time when all sewing and dressmaking and tailoring was done by hand. The invention of the sewing machine changed all that and heralded the age of the clothing industry as we now know it.
Whether you’re a sewing enthusiast, a history buff, or just curious about how things work, this engaging talk will have you hooked. Who really invented the sewing machine?
Join us to find out – you might just be surprised!
RAF Stories - Women in Aviation - 13th May
A Talk by Jess Boyden-Juckes
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Jess will share stories of ladies as aviators, long before the first woman pilot (Julie Gibson) officially received her RAF wings in 1991.
Personal stories will give insight to unknown women who made a difference and without question saved lives.
Video clips where they share snippets of their life stories including one from South African born frontline paramedic, Jackie Moggridge, who flew with the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) as a pilot during the second World War flying 82 different types of war planes when the RAF wouldn’t allow female pilots!
51st AGM 2025 - 8th April
Followed by an Update on Shugborough
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As usual there will be a report from the Chair on the year’s activities and the Treasurer’s report, followed by the election of the committee and our donation to Shugborough from last year’s fund-raising.
We’re looking forward to some volunteers to join the committee and help us to organise events, so watch out for the nomination forms with the March news bulletin.
After this there will be an update on the Shugborough Estate developments from Hayley Mival, General Manager.
Non-members of the Centre are welcome to attend the AGM but they are not able to vote in the elections to the committee.
Admission to this meeting is free.
Trot on Regardless – 11th March
A Talk by Stefan Wild
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2023 marked the hundredth anniversary of the Mounted Section being created in Birmingham. What happened to the police horses? Where did they come from? What did they do? Perhaps more importantly, where have they gone? To find out more, come to this talk and join the ride with Stefan Wild through the brief history of police horses patrolling West Midland streets.
From Victorian ceremonial duties, to shocking scenes of 1980’s football violence, Stef tells the story of how a department evolved from a regimented, military style, male bastion, to a modern-day operational, inclusive unit. Brought to life through pictures, colourful characters, both equine and human, join us for a light hearted talk, using handed down tales, and personal anecdotes.
Stef served with West Midlands Police between 1972 and 2005, working proudly, as a mounted officer from 1979 until 1991. During retirement he has written several short stories for police and historical publications, before publishing ‘Longest Way Up Shortest Way Down’, a five-star rated book about his time with the horses which will be on sale after the talk.
The picture shows the Mounted Section in 1999 just before being disbanded.
Medical Detection Dogs, 11th February
A Talk by Aimee Atherton
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Learn how Medical Detection Dogs trains dogs to detect the odour of human disease, with the aim of developing faster, more efficient and less invasive diagnostics, that lead to better patient outcomes.
They are at the forefront of the research into the fight against cancer and other life-threatening diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and bacterial infections. Their Bio Detection Dogs are trained to find the odour of those diseases in samples such as urine, breath and sweat and the work has the potential to benefit millions.
They already apply what they know about the science of canine olfaction to benefit people by training Medical Alert Assistance Dogs to detect minute changes in an individual’s personal odour triggered by their disease and alert them to an impending medical event, helping them manage complex, life-threatening medical conditions and improving their quality of life.
From the moment the dogs come to them as puppies, they enjoy highest standards of care. They have a strict no kennel policy and all the dogs live in the homes of staff or fantastic local volunteers where they are loved and cared for as part of the family.
Crafting With Digital Cutters - 14th January
A Talk by Edward Holmes
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Find out what exactly a digital cutter is, what they are capable of, and learn how they can be incorporated into your crafting projects… From making greetings cards, to t-shirts, 3D papercrafts to Spirographs. In this talk, Edward will show you the different types of things that can be made using a digital cutter, with a live demonstration and, you’ll be able to create a favour box (using a pre-cut and scored blank).
He’ll discuss the pros and cons of using a digital cutter and, whilst some may consider it ‘cheating’, it’s just a modern tool, that allows you to create things that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
So come to this talk, and see if one of these machines could help to take your
crafting to the next level!
Talks From Our 2024 Programme
Mervyn's Christmas Box - 10th December
A Talk by Mervyn Edwards
As a man who first played Santa Claus at a department store at the age of 25 – he’s had a hard life – Mervyn ought to know something about the magic of the festive season. Hear what it is like to play Father Christmas whilst wearing your Mum’s blusher on your cheeks and Tippex on your eyebrows.
Come, all ye faithful, to a talk that looks at Christmas shopping, favourite toys, customs and a politically-correct Yuletide. Enter Mervyn’s winter wonderland of ice-skating on Rudyard Lake, White Christmases, Geordie Santas and Father Christmas’s nicotine break.
As Mervyn says, this talk is like a big, fat Christmas pudding: full of interesting ingredients and spice and guaranteed to make you rush to the toilet. Put on your best Christmas jumper and your fake antlers, and join Mervyn for some tidings of comfort and joy.
History With Dividends - 12th November
A Talk by Ned Williams
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The Co-operative Movement traces its history back to the 1840s, and most towns all over Britain were eventually served by a local co-operative society. Societies set about retailing – to meet a huge variety of needs, and rewarded customers with a “Dividend” – a sum of money returned to the customer in proportion to how much he or she had spent.
But societies wanted to be more than just retailers and this talk covers the variety of activities provided by Co-operative Societies.
Ned originally hailed from Essex but moved to the Black country at the age of eighteen. His many interests include railways, cinemas and theatres, film-making, the fairground and the circus, Black Country history and shops and other buildings. As well as giving talks, he has written a number of books on all of these subjects.