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.
Select image to display talk details and book a place
2025 Talks Programme
Trot on Regardless – 11th March
A Talk by Stefan Wild
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
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
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!
2024 Talks 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
This event is now closed
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.
Our Fifties House - 8th October
A Talk by Joanne Massey
This event is now closed
Joanne and Kevin often get people ask them about their vintage lifestyle. They love everything about the 1950s. The music, the cars, clothes, design and they have made their home a place to escape to from the modern world.
Ever thought what it would be like to DE-modernise a house? Well, that is exactly what they had to do when they moved into their present home. Joanne’s new talk is about the decor and style of the 1950s and how they achieved their time warp home.
They try to utilise everything from the era from their tea sets to their Prestcold fridge. Using photographs, Joanne takes you through how they achieved the look in their home and what it’s like to live in the past.
Tales From The Classroom - 10th September
A Talk by John Hibbs
This event is now closed
John takes us on an amusing stroll through a life in education, from student to teacher, to school inspector.
Educated in Winchester, London and Cambridge – “all the right places but perhaps the wrong institutions”, John leads us though a trail of education mishaps and learning that may strike you as familiar when you look back at your own schooling.
Hear about the two compliments he received in his 30 plus years in education. Learn what a school inspector, this one anyway, looks for during a school visit.
Sometimes thought provoking, always amusing, join us for an insight into a world we all lived through and probably never noticed.
The History of Telecommunications - 13th August
A Talk by Nigel Holmes
This event is now closed
Those of you that came to Nigel’s ‘Technology Through Time’ talk last year, may recall that he had always been interested in ‘how things work’, which is probably why he ended up working in telecommunications.
When he started work as an apprentice in 1975, telephone exchanges were noisy places, with electromechanical switches, and you could still make long distance calls via the operator. When he retired in 2018, all exchanges were digital and noise free, but in the process of being replaced, as they were now obsolete!
We all rely on communication and information technologies in the 21st century, but where did it all begin? How did we get where we are today? And, who was Almon B. Strowger? If you come to this talk, you’ll find out.
The Rugeley Poisoner - 9th July
A Talk by Dave Lewis
This event is now closed
Dave Lewis, author of ‘The Rugeley Poisoner’, explores the life of Dr. William Palmer whose effigy stood in Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors, London, for 127 years. In 1855 Palmer, a country doctor and owner of 17 race horses, at the age of just 31, was hanged in front of Stafford Prison before a crowd of over 30,000 people.
He had been found guilty of murdering friend and racegoer John Parsons Cook. The press, however, labelled him as a serial killer. Explore most of the suspicious deaths, ‘The Rugeley Tragedies’.
Not so much a ‘who dun it’ but a ‘did he do it?’
Through The Eyes Of A Magician - 11th June
A Talk by Peter Turner
This event is now closed
This is a fascinating & intriguing talk, light hearted, informative and delivered with humour, it is full of twists and turns. It’s definitely different!
There is a ‘Mysterious World’ out there and Pete will give you a taste of it on a fascinating journey of the unexplained. Using the ‘Science of Perception’ Pete will demonstrate how you can see something that is not there. I know, it all sounds a bit crazy, but seeing is believing, and until you experience the unknown in a logical world, it will open a new dimension on how you perceive the impossible. Also, you will discover the psychological mind games used by magicians to convince you that what you’re seeing is actually happening right in front of your eyes.
The Violin – May 14th
A Talk by Natalie Cummings
This event is now closed
This is the story of how Abraham, music tutor to the Tsar’s children, fled with his family and his violin from St. Petersburg to Odessa.to escape the Bolshevik revolution. The violin passes to his daughter, Rosa, violinist with the famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Arrested by the Nazis on Kristellnacht 1938 she is sent to Mauthausen Concentration Camp, and then to Auschwitz, where her musical talent sees her forced to join the Women’s Orchestra and saves her life.
Rosa’s brother Israel, inherits the violin after her death and finally it comes to his daughter, Natalie. Unplayable due to damage sustained during its arduous history, it remained silent for 30 years until it was famously brought back to life in the BBC’s Repair Shop.
50th Annual General Meeting - 9th April
Followed by an Update on Shugborough
This event is now closed
Although 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the Staffordshire Centre the pandemic means that this is our fiftieth AGM. 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. There will also be a vote on an important amendment to the constitution concerning opening membership of the Centre to non members of the National Trust. This follows feedback from the meeting that we held in August 2023.
After this there will be an update on the Shugborough Estate.
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.