Introducing his talk, Robin explained that he would be showing photographs of life in the countryside and in villages and market towns from the early 19th century to the end of the Second World War. All of the photos were gathered from private collections and most of them showed scenes from Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

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The earliest he had was a scene (posed because of the length of exposure needed) of men scything a hayfield near Ludlow castle, dating from 1847.  The latest showed women from the Land Army working in the countryside during WWII.  The talk was all the more interesting because Robin could name many of the subjects of the pictures (from farmers to thatchers to ratcatchers) and enliven the presentation with anecdotes. 

 

His audience could trace the development of farming methods from the age of the horse through to the age of the internal combustion engine via some fascinating illustrations.

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A lively question and answer session followed.