ALL FUTURE EVENTS FOR THE BADSEY SOCIETY HAVE NOW BEEN POSTPONED FOLLOWING THE GOVERNMENT'S GUIDELINES.

WHEN WE HAVE A MORE STABLE SITUATION WE WILL ADVISE EVERYONE OF THE NEW DATES.

KEEP WELL.

During the night of 25th October 1960 two river craft collided resulting in a massive explosion.  Alan Tutton described this event and also talked about the ship wrecks that can be seen along the lower reaches of the River Severn.

Many thanks to Alan for putting himself forward to give the first Badsey Society lecture via Zoom.  As a result of the talk, several members have been to Purton to see the wrecks for themselves.

The first Council houses to be built in Badsey were those on the west side of Synehurst, beginning to be occupied from July 1920 onwards.  Maureen Spinks invited people to take a trip down memory lane as she described some of the first people to live there, many of whom were the families of returning soldiers. 

A good number of the original tenants remained living there for the rest of their lives, and some houses saw long associations with the same family, with tenancies being taken on by children and grandchildren.  

Alan Tutton gave an introduction to decoding and transcribing old handwritten documents.

Sarah Moody of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission gave a fascinating talk about the history and work of the Commission which works across the globe to ensure that the 1.7 million men and women from the Commonwealth who lost their lives in the two World Wars are not forgotten. Sarah concluded her talk with photos of the cemeteries where some of our WWII soldiers are buried.

David Ella began his fascinating talk by looking at the earliest records of roads around Badsey from parish boundaries described in Saxon Abbey Charters.  He showed us some of the maps from the 16th-18th centuries which first featured Badsey and the roads around the village, including the map used by both sides in the English Civil War.  Two historic routes from Worcester to London passed close to Badsey; these changed direction over time.  A third unexpected route also passed through Badsey.

The 19th AGM of The Badsey Society was held on Friday 12th February 2021 via Zoom because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic; 59 members were in attendance, representing over a quarter of the membership.  The same officers were re-elected:  Maureen Spinks as Chairman, Shirley Tutton as Secretary and John Sharp as Treasurer.  The same Committee was re-elected:  Will Dallimore, Ian Gibson, Tom Locke, Jane Neill, Alan Tutton, Gill Woods.

The fifth Richard Phillips Memorial lecture should have taken place in April 2020 but, due to the pandemic, had to be postponed.  Amelia (known as Mia) Bennett gave a talk on DNA and Family History.  This was a subject of great interest to Richard.  He was an early adopter of the use of DNA in family history and 11½ years ago gave a talk to the Society.  In her talk, Mia explained, in simple language, how DNA testing works and how it can be used to answer all sorts of questions about family history.

For thousands of years, ordinary people have worked small plots of land:  for subsistence, for profit, for pride, and for pleasure. The archaeological traces of this activity are scattered through the soil. Rob Hedge of Worcestershire Archives and Archaeology Service explored the history of allotments and household gardens, and gave an introduction to types of archaeological artefacts that are commonly found while tending the land:  what they are, what they tell us, and how they got there.

Nina O’Hare of Worcestershire Archives and Archaeology Service gave a talk on the recent excavation of Roman settlement alongside the Broadway Brook in Offenham.  She explained what the archaeology reveals about who lived there, what was going on nearly 2000 years ago, and how this site fits into the wider landscape.  In September, Nina’s colleague, Jo Pine, who was Director of Excavation, will talk about the actual dig.