Landor (Local History) Society



Recent Society meetings:

PRESS  REPORT FEBRUARY 2011

It was a full house at the February meeting of the Society when David Barrett and Robin Mathams gave a talk on the history of the Trent Valley Railway Station. 

In 1845 an Act was obtained by the Trent Valley Railway for the construction of a line from Stafford to Rugby via Colwich, Tamworth and Nuneaton.  Robin spoke and showed diagrams of how the line was constructed.  The line was completed in February 1847.

David showed photographs of the Station and the Stationmaster's house and some of the railway workers.  He also compared older photographs with the way the Station looks today.

This was a fascinating talk, which appealed to all the local people who attended.
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PRESS  REPORT MAY 2011

 On Wednesday,  May  18th,  35 members were welcomed by Ben Phillips for a  visit to the Heath House at Tean.  

Ben commenced by talking about the history of the house which had replaced an earlier dwelling occupied by the Phillips family who bought the estate in the 1680’s.  This was followed by a tour of the gardens and the Orangery, built in 1824,  and incorporated into the design for the new house, gardens and surrounding landscaped grounds.

Supper was served and some members went to the top of the tower which afforded excellent views of the surrounding countryside.  A tour of the house then took place looking into the newly furbished bedroom and looking at the original furniture and wall coverings as well as artworks collected by the family over the years. The house has been featured on the programme “Country House Rescue” and is now a delightful place for Wedding Venues.

 The Red Cross has had a long association with the Heath House and during the Second World War was requisitioned by them as an auxiliary hospital.  Florence Nightingale was a visitor to the house after the Crimean War.  The house has also been used as a film location for the Miss Marple series and the film of the Hound of the Baskervilles.

This was a memorable evening spent in beautiful surroundings.
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PRESS  REPORT JULY 2011

On 20th July 2011, Philip Leason  conducted a walk around Stone.  He commenced by telling members that Stone was named after a pile of stones that were placed on the graves of King Wufhere’s two sons who were killed by their father in 665 AD because of  their conversion to Christianity.  This was followed by a visit to St. Michael and St Wulfrad church, built in 1753, partly on the site of the old Priory Church.

Members were then taken to the Jervis Mausoleum, within the grounds of the church, to see the graves of the Admiral and many members of his family.  Admiral John Jervis, born in Staffordshire in 1735, commanded the smaller British fleet at St. Vincent and, following the victory, he was created Earl St. Vincent.

After a walk around the town viewing some more notable landmarks the tour ended with a walk along the Trent and Mersey Canal which has played a vital role in the development of the town, with the Trent and Mersey Canal Company being formed in 1766 by Josiah Wedgwood and engineer James Brindley.  The murder of Christina Collins in 1839 at the “Bloody Steps” in Rugeley is a well known tale and members were able to see the statue along the canal at Stone which has been erected to mark her fatal journey at the hands of the boatmen who were taking her to London to meet her husband.

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PRESS  REPORT OCTOBER 2011

At the October meeting members were invited to give a talk of 10 minutes on a subject of their choice..  Seven members participated, giving talks on diverse subjects.  Jean Woollet spoke about her experiences as a child growing up in Rugeley during World War II and talked about the  two evacuee sisters who stayed briefly with her family.  Janice Barry read an extract from her father-in-law’s reminiscences of his childhood in Rugeley.  Barry Walker talked about  his interest and research into Victorian Kitchen Gardens and Ruth Robinson enlightened members about the hidden brooks of Rugeley.    Mike Pope gave an illustrated talk on quirky buildings including the bottle lodge at Tixall e and Roger Francis showed pictures of the demolition of the Post Office at Slitting Mill and removal of the George VI letter box.   Last but not least Margaret Neal talked about the Old Hall at Hawkesyard  and the Rugeleys.  This proved to be an enjoyable and interesting evening.

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PRESS  REPORT NOVEMBER 2011

The speaker at the November meeting was Alan Lewis whose subject was Charles II and the Legacy of the Royal Oak.    

Charles II was a relatively young man when his father Charles I was executed.  He went to Scotland to raise an army to fight Cromwell.  Although he issued a proclamation ordering all men between 16 and 60 to rally to his cause less than 16,000, mainly Scottish, came forward against 28,000 experienced New Model Army soldiers, Cromwell was assembling against him.

After the Battle of Worcester, which took place on 3 September 1651,  Charles was forced to escape Cromwell’s troops.  He fled the city in the company of Lords Wilmot and Derby and Charles Giffard.  On their advice he headed into south Staffordshire, a Roman Catholic stronghold which offered many hiding places.    Eventually arriving at White Ladies Priory on Giffards’s Boscobel estate the king was introduced to the Pendrell brothers who helped him disguise as a woodsman.  His long hair was cut, and he was  furnished with an old set of clothes.  Unfortunately they could not supply a pair of shoes that fitted as the King was ‘two yards high’.  He had to walk many miles in shoes with their sides cut out.  When Cromwell’s troops arrived to search the nearby woods Charles spent all day hiding in an oak tree with Colonel Carlis.  Fortunately he was not discovered and eventually with the help of loyal subjects was able to escape to exile in  France.

One legacy resulting from Charles adventures is that there are number of public houses called the Royal Oak.  The other important one is that after his restoration in 1660, Charles, created pensions, in perpuity, for those who had helped him such as Thomas Whitgreave and the Pendrell brothers.  However, Alan pointed out that though these pensions are ongoing they are not index linked!

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PRESS REPORT FEBRUARY 2012

David Barratt and Robins Mathams returned to a packed lounge to continue their talk on ‘The History of Rugeley Trent Valley Railway Station’ on Wednesday 15th February.

Robin spoke first about how the Trent Valley Line was opened in 1847 to give a more direct route from London to the North West of England.  The contractor for the original 50 miles of line was Thomas Brassey working in partnership with Robert Stepehnson and William Mackenzie.  The engineers were Robert Stephenson, Mr. Bidder and Mr. Gooch.  Originally the Trent Valley Line was owned by an independent company which started building in 1845.  While it was being built it was absorbed into the newly created London and North Western Railway (LNWR).

David Barratt continued the talk by relating the history of the Stationmaster House and showing pictures of how it has changed over the years since it was built.

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PRESS REPORT JUNE/JULY 2012

In June members had a walk around Eccleshall led by David Wilkinson.  This commenced with a visit to the Church of St Peters and then on to Eccleshall Castle followed by a stroll around the town looking at some of the historical buildings.

 The July outing on the 18th was to Bantock House Museum and Park, Wolverhampton.  Sue was the guide who told members that the
house had been built in the 1730s as New Merridale Farm.  It was extended and improved about the beginning of the 19th century and after having several tenants was bought in about 1864 by Thomas Bantock, a canal and railway agent.  His son Albert Baldwin Bantock, twice Mayor of Wolverhampton and also High Sherriff of Staffordshire in 1920, further improved the property following his father’s death in 1896.  On his own death, without children, in 1938 he bequeathed the house and park to Wolverhampton Corporation.  The house was renamed in his honour.

On the ground floor there are displays about the Bantock family and the way they lived, whilst upstairs the focus shifts to the men and women who shaped Wolverhampton and the industries they created.  Displays featuring locally made enamels, steel jewellery and japanned ware are on show.  The museum presents a more informal and imaginative setting where visitors are encouraged to sit on any furniture they can find.

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PRESS REPORT FEBRUARY 2013

The subject of the talk given by David Robbie at the February meeting was “J.R.R. Tolkein in Staffordshire”,

In 1915 Tolkein was commissioned in Lancashire Fusilier as Signals Officer and transferred to Brocton Camp.  

In 1916 he married Edith Mary Bratt and for a while they lived at the old Clifford Arms in Great Haywood and later St. John’s Presbytery.  Tolkein travelled to France and took part in the battle of the Somme.  He contracted Trench Fever and was invalided out of the army returning to Great Haywood to convalesce.  It is thought that he gained many of his ideas for his mythical tales from living in the area.

In “The Tales of the Sun and the Moon there is reference to the village of Tavrobel which has a bridge where two rivers meet, this being Essex Bridge.  In the same tale there is a gnome, Gilfanan, “whose ancient house – 'The House of a Hundred Chimneys' – stands
nigh the bridge of Tavrobel” - thought to refer to Shugborough.

Members were enthralled by David’s spellbinding talk.

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The Landor (Local History) Society serves Rugeley, Staffordshire and the neighbouring parishes.  We care for the heritage of the town of Rugeley and its surrounding area.
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