The sun shone on the afternoon of 26th July, the occasion of the 122nd Badsey Flower Show.  The Show was officially opened by Badsey Society member, John Dallimore, this year's recipient (jointly with brother, Will, who died in December) of the Tony Jerram award. 

Members enjoyed a gentle stroll around the village which began and ended at The Wheatsheaf. Fortunately, the searing heat of the previous few days had abated, so it was a much more comfortable temperature.  Alan Tutton led the walk, pointing out the QR codes along the way, and explained about the sites of Badsey’s two mills.

Jane Neill who, for the past few years has been writing the "Nature Notes" column in Community News, gave an illustrated talk to us about the flora and fauna to be found in Badsey and Aldington.  She stressed that you don't need to go far afield in order to see a large variety of creatures.  We all came away thinking that we need to slow down on our walks and take time to look at our surroundings.

We were delighted that Terry Sparrow, 91 years young, agreed to deliver the annual Richard Phillips Memorial Lecture.

Badsey Community Sports & Social Club

"Witchcraft In Worcestershire: The Archaeological Evidence" proved to be a very popular talk with 38 members present in person, 12 on Zoom, and 19 non-members in attendance, who all came to listen to Wayne Perkins' talk.  Wayne, an archaeologist and former pupil of Evesham High School, had visited the village in April 2022 and gave a talk in St James’ Church about the historic graffiti that might be found there.  

At the 23rd AGM, 42 people were in attendance.  Maureen Spinks was re-elected as Chairman and Shirley Tutton as Secretary.  No one stepped forward to take on the role of Treasurer, so there is still a vacancy. Tom Locke, Jane Neill, Alan Tutton, Gill Woods, Helen Green and Andy Higgitt were re-elected to the Committee.  

Twelve people attended an "Explore the Past" tour at The Hive, Worcester, organised by Shirley Tutton.  The group started with the Historic Environment Record, and Teigan, who led the session, was excellent. She had preloaded the page for Badsey on the computer and dealt with all the queries knowledgably and efficiently.

Dr Stephen Roberts, who was Director of the History of Parliament Trust in London and is a vice-president of the Cromwell Association and active in the Worcestershire Historical Society, gave a short but fascinating talk about Quakers in the 17th century, with particular reference to the local area.  In 1655, during Oliver Cromwell's rule, life in Evesham was shaken by an episode of disorder and agitation when Humphry Smith, a leader of the new sect called Quakers, visited the town.