The Trust is happy to arrange talks for groups. The following are the most common topics delivered:

400 Years of Stroudwater Textiles:

A resume of the story of local clothmaking it covers the processes, stories of some of the mills and the people involved. A good introduction to what went on in the mills. Slides. About an hour but variable.

A Brief History of Stroud:

A resume of Stroud’s development and some of the stories of the people involved. OHPs & Slides. About an hour but variable.

Men Behaving Badly:

This is a series of anecdotes from the archives. The first are about local misdeeds culled from the Court of Star Chamber in James I’s reign. The next is about the last local food riots in 1766. Finally the peculiarly local crime of slingeing – a weavers’ crime – is considered. OHP. About an hour but variable. This is informative narrative, no conclusions are drawn.

Into the Picture:

This interprets a fascinating painting housed in Stroud’s Museum in the Park. It shows a dyehouse of about 1790 at Wallbridge, next to the Thames & Severn Canal. The activities are explained and the properties in the background discussed. It is an in depth discussion of the industry in the later 1700s. OHPs & Slides. About an hour but variable. This can be twinned with a walk in Rodborough Fields covering the ground shown in the painting.

1830s Factory Employment:

Based on the Replies to the Factory Inspectors, 1834, and the Report on the Condition of the Handloom Weavers, 1839, this uses background information about the manufacturers to put their replies in context. It analyses their replies to consider their attitudes to their workers welfare and the debates about Factory Acts that were current. OHPs & Slides. About an hour.

Talks On Aspects Of Mills’ Histories:

e.g. Cam, Dunkirk, Ham, Longfords, Nailsworth mills. Most commonly Life & Times at Longfords or Ham & the Worths are chosen. These talks emphasise aspects of the mill story – Longfords concentrates on work in the mill up to about 1914, Ham on work and employees from 1900 to c.1930s. OHPs & Slides. About an hour but variable.

Talks On The Cloth Industry And Its Impact:

on e.g. Cam, Dursley, Minchinhampton and Wotton. These are mainly based on evening classes given in the towns and consider the towns in different eras. OHPs & Slides. About an hour but variable.

The East India Company and Stroud:

A local man was one of the founders of the East India Company and the connection continued and flourished until the Company ceased trading in the 1830s. This talk considers the impact on the local cloth industry. OHPs & Slides. About an hour but variable.