
Excavating Milestone Ground, Broadway
Come and hear the story of an exciting excavation which traces the habitation of Broadway from prehistoric times, through Roman settlement into the time of the Anglo-Saxons. Jamie Wilkins, Archaeological Project Officer, Explore the Past, Worcester, will talk on the subject. His enthusiasm for the dig and what it has revealed so far is tremendous. Milestone Ground is important both in terms of Worcestershire and nationally, and its finds will be part of archaeological research for some years to come.
SANDYS-LUMSDAINE, Leesa (1936-1985) – artist with a Wickhamford Connection
Leesa Sandys-Lumsdaine died in Jedburgh, Scotland, on 20th December 1985. Her connection to Wickhamford is that her mother, Joyce Sandys-Lumsdaine, and two of her siblings, bought Wickhamford Manor form George Lees-Milne in 1947. Joyce, her brother Patrick George Leeson and sister Cynthia Murial Batty paid £10,400 for the Manor and six and a half acres of land (see Leeson Family at Wickhamford Manor).
Vale Gardens Ltd - the end of an era
It’s the end of an era for Vale Gardens Ltd. The company ceased trading at 3pm on Wednesday 26th November 2025. Another company is taking over the site. Before the entrances/exits/signage/boundaries visibly change, Jeff Nice, who took the photos in the 2008 and 2021 survey, went along to take some photos.
BANNER, Frank (1881-1956) - Wickhamford Licensee and Market Gardener
Frank Banner was a Licensed Victualler and Market Gardener in Wickhamford and various entries concerning him appear on the Badsey Society website. This article brings all of that information together and, with other details of his life, makes an interesting biography of the man.
LLOYD, George (1886-1955) – hovel dweller of Sands Lane, Badsey
In the 1939 Register for Badsey (a census taken shortly after the outbreak of war of all civilians living in Great Britain and Northern Ireland), a 53-year-old single man by the name of George Lloyd was listed as resident on A Jones & Son’s Land, Sands Lane. He was living in a hovel (demolished many years ago) on his employer’s land.
Why was he living there? What were the circumstances that led him to a hovel in Badsey? Read on to find out his story.
MARSHALL family (1866-1994) – their connection with The Wheatsheaf Inn
A recent article on the website about The Wheatsheaf Darts Team of 1949 has prompted Terry Sparrow to write to us to correct a misunderstanding. Thomas Henry Marshall (1898-1979), always known as Harry, was never the landlord of The Wheatsheaf, although his father, also Thomas, certainly was. Terry provides us with more details about the Marshall family.
Friday 11 November 1955 – Death of George Lloyd, aged 69
BADSEY – LATE MR G LLOYD
BBC Programme on the Vale of Evesham, 1940
At a visit to the Badsey Society stand at this year’s Flower Show, one of our members, Daphne Gisbourne (née Salter), mentioned that she owned a script of a BBC broadcast about market gardening that had been aired in 1940. Tom Locke went to visit Daphne and took digital images of the 26-page transcript which may be seen below. The script had originally been sent by the BBC at Birmingham to Sidney Gisbourne of 10 Blakes Hill, North Littleton, Evesham. Sidney Gisbourne (1900-1963) was a market gardener and was Daphne’s father-in-law.
Saturday 6 April 1940 – A revised BBC Broadcast about fruit-growing in the Vale of Evesham
Fruit-Growers on the Air
On Saturday afternoon, April 13, Robin Whitworth is producing a feature programme which he has arranged in collaboration with Charles Gardiner, Clerk to the Evesham Rural District Council and author of a number of radio plays in the Worcestershire dialect. It will be broadcast in the Home Service programme at 3 o’clock and recorded for overseas broadcast at a later date.