2023-24 Winter Programme

In 1908 number 42 Friar Street was owned by Richard Cadbury. From at least 1911 he used it as a bakery, shop, and coffee house. Here his Tudor Coffee House sold a cup of coffee and a bun for 1d and encouraged the reading of the bible whilst they were consumed. He also held adult learning classes, once again using the bible as one of the source texts. As a Quaker he did not approve of the consumption of alcohol, so when the adjacent Cross Keys Inn became available, he promptly snapped up number 40 and number 38, closed the pub and amalgamated it with number 42 into what is now known as Tudor House.

But who was Richard Cadbury, what was his background, why did he come to live in Worcester and how did he become the owner of the three properties of Tudor House as well as two Mission Halls, various dwellings in the city and several “recreation grounds” for the use of the poor?

Have you ever wondered why there are so many science / technical people and businesses in Malvern? David will explain the secret development of radar and provide the background to the move of the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) to Malvern during WWII.  He will also describe the impact on Malvern and explain how and why that initial presence and work has evolved over the years.

Mark is Chairman of Chance Heritage Trust and will present a brief history of the Chance Brothers (their glassworks was on Spon Lane, Smethwick) and their achievements followed by an overview of the Trust and its purpose. He will then move on to the challenges and progress made in regenerating and repurposing the Chance Glassworks for the benefit of the local community followed by a question-and-answer session.

The Chance Brothers firm was established during the Regency Period and became the largest glassmaker in the world. A century later, the company had supplied more than half of the lighthouse lenses worldwide and played a significant, albeit often uncelebrated, role during the Great War. However, it eventually passed out of family ownership into the hands of a rival. Henry Chance is descended from both of the firm’s founders. His picture-led presentation describes how an enterprise started from a single glass furnace in Smethwick to becoming a byword for scientific innovation and a trailblazer for workers’ welfare and philanthropy. It ends with a description of the work of the Trust which has been set up to save what remains of the old glassworks.

Jacob is from Rock Davidson Associates, who are historic building conservation consultants, based in Malvern. He will discuss local case studies in building conservation with industrial or agricultural former uses.