We were delighted that Terry Sparrow, 91 years young, agreed to deliver the annual Richard Phillips Memorial Lecture.
Maureen Spinks began by reminding members about why we hold these lectures each year. It is now almost ten years since Richard died. It was Richard who was responsible for encouraging Terry to write a second edition of A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington, and it was Richard who applied to Worcestershire County Council for a grant for the cost of printing. In order to obtain a grant, it was necessary to have an organisation, and thus The Badsey Society was born.
Maureen welcomed Richard's son, Will Phillips, who was attending the meeting via Zoom from Nottingham. Present in the audience there were also members who had travelled from Cheltenham and London for the meeting.
Terry's talk followed on from his talk to the Badsey Society in May 2024, in which he recalled the history of Badsey up until the heyday of market gardening in the 1920s. He brought the story up to date with a talk entitled “Badsey 1934-2025 – The Changing Scene”.
Terry’s knowledge about his home village is encyclopaedic, and his stories and anecdotes really brought bygone days to life.
