Worcester’s Industries in the 1950s
Sep 5, 2025 – Chris Wilkinson
Chris will talk about how Worcester City Council attracted many manufacturers and new factories in the 1950s and its effect on the local population.
Women’s Land Army During WW2
Oct 3, 2025 – Robin Hill
Robin will deliver a fascinating talk uncovering the vital role of the Women’s Land Army in keeping Britain fed and resilient during World War II.
Old Pubs & Lost Hostelries
Oct 31, 2025 – Richard Churchley
Richard will dive into the history of some of our oldest pubs and lost hostelries including the origins of their strange names and interesting stories.
SS Suevic – A Tale of Shipwreck and Survival
Dec 19, 2025 – Galen Bartholomew
The SS Suevic was a steamship, built specifically to service the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route. She ran aground in a storm near the Lizard Point in Cornwall 117 years ago, in 1907. 456 people were rescued by the RNLI over some 16 hours with no lives lost, still the largest number of people rescued by the RNLI in a single operation.
Galen is a keen family historian. Two of his relatives were amongst those rescued. His illustrated talk will describe how he pieced together an extraordinary story – how the Suevic ran aground; the dramatic circumstances of the rescue; the salvage and rebuilding of the ship (in what was the largest salvage operation ever undertaken at that time); and the Suevic’s final years as a whaling factory ship in the Antarctic, before being scuttled off Norway to avoid capture by German warships.This will also be our Christmas party with mince pies and mulled wine.
WW1 Patients at Powick Asylum
Jan 16, 2026 – Sarah Dentith (Ganderton)
Sarah presents research for the George Marshall Medical Museum based on a Master’s dissertation in Local History at the University of Birmingham, exploring First World War patients at Powick Mental Hospital near Worcester.
Using rarely accessed patient casebooks from the Worcestershire Archive, Sarah examines the experiences of both male and female patients, including local civilians whose anxieties about the war shaped their delusions and soldiers who imagined heroic wartime achievements.
By telling individual patient stories, Sarah recreates lost lives and highlights early approaches to mental health care, such as occupational therapy, music, and medication, offering insight into treatment at a time when mental illness was little understood.
The Origins of St Helen’s Worcester
Feb 13, 2026 – Heather Rendall
Heather will explore the history of St Helen’s Church on Fish Street, Worcester. It is believed the site of St Helen’s has been a place of Christian worship since at least the early 7th Century, predating the monastery which later became Worcester Cathedral.
During the Second World War, the church served as a soldiers’ club before an agreement was reached for it to become a branch of the county council’s Record Office in 1957; however, in 2003 it was revived by the congregation of All Saints Church as a place of worship, prayer and community events.
AGM & The Story of Shelsley Walsh Village
Mar 27, 2025 – Max Hunt
The society AGM will occur followed by a presentation by Max who traces the history of one of Worcestershire’s smallest parishes, from its Saxon beginnings, through a thousand years of quiet obscurity until it achieved international fame in the first half of the twentieth century as the home of the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, and Witley Court after it was bought by the Foley’s.
SWWERIAC 2026
Apr 18, 2026
WIALHS are delighted to be hosting the South Wales and West England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference 2026 at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings. Get set for a day of engaging talks from leading speakers and a chance to explore Avoncroft’s remarkable open-air collection. The museum, home to over 30 rescued and reconstructed historic buildings spanning seven centuries, provides a unique backdrop.
SWWERIAC 2026 Optional Off-site Visits
Apr 19, 2026
WIALHS have arranged special tours of Churchill Forge (10:00-12:00) and the Museum of Carpet, Kidderminster (13:30-15:00) as optional off-site visits as part of our South Wales and West England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference program. Members are welcome to attend even if they cannot make the conference.
Magical House Protection – The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft
May 15, 2026 – Brian Hoggard
Brian will be talking about material evidence of witchcraft beliefs that has been discovered in the fabric of buildings throughout the British Isles and far beyond. This is the story of those strange charms that are often found in old houses.