The 24th Annual General Meeting of The Badsey Society, was held at Badsey Community Sports & Social Club. Maureen Spinks was re-elected as Chairman, Shirley Tutton as Secretary and John Waters as Treasurer. Tom Locke, Jane Neill, Alan Tutton, Helen Green and Andy Higgitt were re-elected to the Committee.
At the conclusion of the business section, the winner of the Tony Jerram Award was announced as Marlene Atkinson.
After a short break, Alan Tutton gave a talk about using AI to transcribe old documents.
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Chairman’s Report 2026 – Review of 2025
February 2025
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 was still a vacancy. [NB – John Waters bravely volunteered a few months later to take on the job, for which we are very grateful.] Tom Locke, Jane Neill, Alan Tutton, Gill Woods, Helen Green and Andy Higgitt were re-elected to the Committee.
At the conclusion of the business section, the winner of the Tony Jerram Award was announced as Will and John Dallimore. As a tribute to Will, who died on 27th December 2024, his film about Doug Deep (first aired at the AGM in 2013) was shown. John was not present at the evening but I was able to present him with the award the next day.
After a short break, Alan Tutton gave a talk about “Lantern Slides of the Middle Eastern Campaign of WW1”. The Chairman's review, the Doug Deep film and the WW1 lantern slides talk was repeated via Zoom the following evening.
March 2025
"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.
April 2025
In April, we were delighted that our very own Terry Sparrow, 91 years young, agreed to deliver the annual Richard Phillips Memorial Lecture. 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”. Richard's son, Will Phillips, attended the meeting via Zoom from Nottingham. Present in the audience there were also members who had travelled from Cheltenham and London for the meeting.
May 2025
At the beginning of May, we participated in the VE Day commemorations in St James’ Church. We are grateful to the Parish Council for having provided £125 towards this event.
A visit to Stourbridge Glass Museum and Red House Glass Cone at the end of May was enjoyed by 28 members. We learned about the origins of glass making in Stourbridge, discovered the tools glass makers used, and explored the museum’s extensive glass collections, some dating back 400 years. Thanks to Shirley Tutton who organises all our trips.
May/June 2025
Our May talk was given by Jane Neill who, for the past few years has been writing the "Nature Notes" column in Community News. 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.
And in June, Nina O’Hare from Worcestershire Archaeology and Archives gave a fascinating talk about the 2022 community excavation at New Farm, Norton, which investigated millennia of stories buried within the landscape.
June 2025
Later in the month, 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.
July 2025
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. There was a lovely atmosphere, families having fun, lots of exhibits in the marquee, and good entertainment. At the Badsey Society stand, we welcomed many visitors, including Robin Sladden, great-grandson of Sir Julius Sladden, one of the founders of the Flower Show back in 1888 and James Archer, great-grandson of John Henry McDonald, a former Headmaster of Badsey Council School.
One of our many Badsey Society members who dropped by was Daphne Gisboure (née Salter), whose father, Edgar Salter, appears in a photo of The Wheatsheaf Darts Team 1949, which had recently been donated to the Society.
At the end of the show, Robin Sladden was invited to present the cups.
September 2025
On a rather showery September morning we set out for a visit to Hartlebury Castle, just south of Kidderminster, home to the Bishops of Worcester for over a thousand years. On arrival we were treated to tea and coffee served in china cups and delicious cakes in a beautiful room. We were particularly impressed by the Hurd Library which was founded by Bishop Richard Hurd in 1782.
Autumn 2025
In September, Galen Bartholomew gave a fascinating talk about how the SS Suevic ran aground in a storm off the Lizard Point in Cornwall in March 1907. The RNLI rescued 456 people in appalling weather conditions. This is still the largest number of people rescued by the RNLI in a single operation. Another ship also ran aground on the same night and the RNLI saved a further 155 lives. Not a single life was lost in either rescue. Galen had a personal interest in the story as he found out only a few years ago that his great-grandmother and great-aunt were amongst those rescued from the Suevic.
In October, Doug Smith, a retired History teacher, spoke about the Popish Plot, a fictitious conspiracy that emerged in 1678, alleging that Jesuits were planning to assassinate King Charles II in order to place his Catholic brother on the throne.
Despite it being an absolutely foul day, and still raining when a number of members bravely walked along Brewers Lane in the rain, we had nearly 40 people in the room and 13 people on Zoom for Alan Tutton's presentation about the evolution of Badsey from 1066 to the present day.
December 2025
We enjoyed an excellent day out to Gloucester. We were welcomed with coffee and cookies before splitting into two groups for tours of the cathedral and the crypt. A buffet lunch was served in the Parliament Room, then members were free to explore the city on their own.
We had a welcome return visit from Shepherd’s Crook Folk Choir who came to sing for us in St James' Church. This followed immediately after the annual Christmas carols outside The Wheatsheaf, organised by the Parish Council. Members enjoyed tea/coffee and mince pies before the concert began at 8 pm.
Website
The Badsey website continues to go from strength to strength with many new articles added over the last year. The scope of the articles is wide-ranging, so just go to the Home page and dip into some of the pages. I love the knitted postbox toppers outside the Spar, so will continue to feature them on the Home page as new ones appear.
Farewells
We are sad to record the death of several members. Our sincere condolences to all their families.
- Valerie Magan (1947-2025), who lost her battle with cancer on 14th March, was Secretary of the Society from 2012-2018. Valerie moved to Badsey in the 1970s. In retirement, she became very active in the Society. She compiled a photographic diary of events in 2009 which is in the Archive, conducted much research, particularly on law and order in the area, and enjoyed taking a prominent role in the Whit Walks which used to be held. She also helped to produce the documentary film, “The Market Gardener”. During our WWI project, Valerie, being a fluent German speaker, managed to locate the descendants of Johann Rosskopf, the German prisoner of war at the Manor House who died of flu in 1918 and was buried at Badsey. Also during the WWI project, Valerie took part in our Sladden letter-reading evenings, playing the part of the Official Voice.
- John Douglas Poulter (1927-2025) was born at The Lodge, Wood Norton, then moved with his to The Drifford, Murcot Turn, at the start of WWII. After school, in Evesham and Bristol, John attended Harper Adams Agricultural College and then took a sponsored trip to New Zealand where he worked for the Government for two years. John’s father bought Pitchers Hill Farm, Wickhamford, in 1947 and John eventually returned home to work there. The family bought Wickhamford Mill and Farm in 1964 and John moved there where he carried out repairs to the water mill and weir. He managed to get the water wheel turning again and was always pleased to show it in action to visitors. The photo shows him at the Mill when he hosted a Badsey Society visit to the Mill. John died at home on 22nd August 2025.
- Colin Hatfield (1942-2025), who died of cancer at the end of last year, joined The Badsey Society in 2009. He wanted some old photos of Badsey and discovered many on the Badsey website, which led to him joining the Society. Originally from Birmingham, Colin and his wife, Beryl, who lived firstly in Redditch, then decided to make their home in Badsey some 47 years ago. Colin was a quantity surveyor, working for W A Cox. He had helped to build the bungalows in Binyon Close which is when he first thought that Badsey would be a good place to live. He would frequently take home produce from the market gardens which he had been given by some of the workers on the building site. And then he saw the house in Chapel Street for sale which they decided to buy. Beryl describes him as a quiet but content man who loved photography and loved his garden.
- Sue Cole (1950-2026) died on 7th January at Cavendish Park Care Home. Sue joined the Society in its foundation year and was a member until ill-health forced her to resign. Sue originally trained as a primary school teacher and, on moving to Badsey in 1988, did supply teaching at a number of schools in the area. She started a Beaver pack in Badsey and, for many years was a much-loved Brownie leader. Sue was a Churchwarden at Badsey for many years, and decided to train to be a reader in 2006. At her memorial service held at Badsey this lunchtime, where I know a number of you were present, the church was full of people wanting to show their appreciation for all that she has done for the village over the years.
In summary
It has been another good year for The Badsey Society. We have a large membership and a healthy bank balance, so we look forward to more successes in the year ahead.
Maureen Spinks, February 2026
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2025 Accounts
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Here is a Powerpoint presentation of the Review of the Year:
