News Archive

2022

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2022

Buddhist monks and Quakers praying in open fields in front of a herd of cows.
  • Beach of Sanctuary – Dave Traxson and Rosemary Fox (Wolverhampton Meeting) on their Meeting’s summer breaks and holidays for local sanctuary seekers
  • Friends Join Peace Walk – Lichfield and Stafford Friends join Buddhist peace walk.
  • Testimony to the life of Christine Miller by Roger Oldfield (Stafford Meeting)
  • From Lichfield to Malaysian Borneo, the Wilson’s New Life – Anthony and Anne Wilson, KampOng campus, Tenghilan, Sabah (formerly Lichfield Meeting)
  • Safeguarding – update from David Morgan (Stafford Meeting)
  • Stafford Open Day – update on the outreach event
  • Vigil for South Africa: Children in Detention (1989) – a selection of readings from the Vigil
  • Whither Religion? – Rob Horton (formerly of Stafford Meeting) on Western dualistic thinking about religion
  • Julian Meeting in Stafford – Maggie Jeays (Stafford Meeting)
  • God Language – Gayle Yeoman (Stafford Meeting)
  • Deciding About a Car: a moral dilemma – Helen Buckroyd (Lichfield Meeting)

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2022

Two images side by side, Left is Sue and Bill Walley. Right is Rosemary Crawley.
  • Striving to increase understanding of abuse and improve safeguarding in our Area Meeting – David Morgan (Stafford Meeting)
  • Testimonies to the life of Bill Walley: Bill Walley and Quakerism by Sue Walley; Bill Walley a full life by Frank Farnworth (a lifelong friend of Bill)
  • Our Dear Friend Rosemary Crawley – a testimony by Friends at Lichfield Meeting
  • Quaker Discipline – Stephen Petter (Wolverhampton Meeting) reflects on the continuing need for discipline
  • Grief: A reflection on a path we do not want to go down but cannot avoid – Rhoda Wharton (Lichfield Meeting)
  • Charlotte Mew: The Trees are Down – a poem with commentary by Richard Harris, former Bishop of Oxford
  • Invasion of Ukraine – John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting)
  • 2 Requiems for Ukraine – Nigel Peckett (Stafford Meeting)
  • All Change! Making Paths on Shifting Ground – Alison Crane (Cheltenham Meeting, formerly of SAM)
  • Alfie – tribute to canine member of Stafford Meeting by Maggie Jeays

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2022

Hazel Ball, Stop HS2 Staffordshire
  • The future of our Meeting Houses – discussion points for Area Meeting in May 2022
  • In our Area Meeting:
    • Two dear Friends – notice of the deaths of Rosemary Crawley (Lichfield Meeting) and Bill Walley (Stafford Meeting)
    • Anne and Anthony Wilson – notice of emigration
    • Safeguarding – David Morgan appointed Safeguarding Officer.
  • Staffordshire Quaker History – update from research team including the acquisition of photocopied records from the County Records Office.
  • World Religion Day in Leek – account of event hosted by Leek Meeting by Steve Thompson of the Ba-ha’i group.
  • Our spirituality
    • Life Force by Annette White (Stoke Meeting)
    • Becoming More Human by Richard Ashwell (Wolverhampton Meeting)
    • Beyond Buildings by Gayle Yeomans (Stafford Meeting
  • How should we bear witness
    • Except from ‘Some Fruits of Solitude (1693) by Williams Penn
    • What do Advices and Queries Say
    • Expressing Opinions to Fellow Quakers by Stephen Petter (Wolverhampton Meeting)
    • From Peace in Communion to Peace in Palestine by Peter Kent-Baguley (Leek Meeting)
    • Quakers on Earth Matters: Actions not Words by Jim Kinnibrugh (Stone Meeting)
    • Reaching out on Earth Matters – a talk given by Rob Horton (previously of Stafford Meeting) to the AGM of Sustainability in Colwich & the Haywoods
    • Effective Protest – Target the Offender by John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting)
    • Understanding What ‘The Law’ Stands For by Anthony Wilson
    • Civil Disobedience: Resisting HS2 by Hazel Ball (Stop HS2 Staffordshire)
    • Facing up to Veganuary by Rosemary Fox (Wolverhampton Meeting
  • Adam Curle’s Quakers

2021

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2021

  • Ecological Justice: On the way to Glasgow
  • A weekend at Glenthorne
  • Remembering Hiroshima as the UK plans rearmament
  • Hats and things – Maggie Hunt (Leek Meeting) with the tally of things made for local charities.
  • Letter from Sally Phillips, former member of Stafford Meeting
  • Angela Glendenning – these excerpts from ‘Settling’ a project exploring migration to Stoke on Trent tell some of the life story of Angela, an attender at Stoke Meeting since 2003 and founder of ASHA
  • What is ASHA? – about the Stoke charity working with asylum seekers and refugees in North Staffordshire
  • Ecological Spirituality: An Area Meeting Exploration – Damon Hoppe (Stafford Meeting) led a session on the spiritual roots of the Earth Testimony; Changing ourselves, changing the word – various inspiring quotes
  • Ecobricks workshop at Leek Meeting House – an account of the workshop by Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting)
  • Ecological Living: Slightly greener – Peter Moore (Leek Meeting) on greening his home; Tender plant care by John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting)
  • Violence against women: Are Quakers missing in action? – John Babb (Wolverhampton Meeting) reflects on the peace testimony in relation to violence against women; When women should set the agenda by John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting).
  • A warm welcome to flexible Meeting for Worship by Anne Orme (Staffordshire Area Meeting

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2021

  • Sculptor – Rosemary Barnett (Stone Meeting) on her life as a sculptor and designing the Quaker Service Memorial.
  • Spiritual Activist – the life and work of Alastair McIntosh, activist for social and environmental change by Rob Horton (formerly Stafford Meeting)
  • Crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale – an early pioneer of X-ray crystallography and a dedicated peace activist on the 50th anniversary of her death. By Shirley Torrens (Stoke Meeting)
  • Greenpeace Sea Captain Jon Bideford – Testimony to his life by Janet Baker (Lichfield Meeting)
  • Prison Chaplain – by Maggie Hunt (Leek Meeting)
  • Death of Lorna Farmer, former Stoke Meeting Clerk by Shirley Torrens (Stoke Meeting)
  • An Exacting Mistress (book review) – Antony Barlow of Croydon Meeting talks about his book based on the correspondence between his parents, Joan and Ralph, during the two years when Ralph was Deputy Director of the Friends’ Ambulance Unit.

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2021

  • Colin Mortimer: Over 90 years a Quaker by Eunice Mortimer (Stoke Meeting)
  • Remembering Peter Turner of Leek Meeting
  • Poems for our Times – White Chestnut by Sandra Chamber (Stafford Meeting) in remembrance of Holocaust Memorial Day, A Beginner’s Poem by Eileen Langford (Stoke Meeting), The Hill We Climb by Keith Berry (Wolverhampton Meeting), Gerberas by Andy Collins (Leek Meeting).
  • Deep Adaption, Biodiversity and Sustainability – A concern for Area Meeting. Including: diagram on Deep Adaption used by Damon Hoppe (Stafford Meeting0 in a talk to AM, Wild about Cannock Chase by Roger Oldfield (Stafford Meeting), Trent Talks by Rob Horton (Stafford Meeting), Recycling the Unrecyclable by Anne Orme (Stoke Meeting), Sustainability and Chocolate by Peter Kent-Baguley (Leek Meeting).
  • Our Brush with Covid by Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting)
  • Prayer Old and New

2020

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2020

Photograph of the separation wall at Bethlehem with graffiti reading MERRY CHRISTMAS WORLD FROM BETHLEHEM GHETTO
  • Living Beyond Covid – Reflections on lockdown: flowers, a bench and peace by Annie Egerton (Leek Meeting); Return to Meeting in Wolverhampton by Lisa and Peter Stedman (Wolverhampton Meeting); What sort of pandemic is this by John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting); Invitation to Lichfield Meeting on Zoom; No right or wrong by K.B.W-P (Stafford Meeting); The search for the new normal: mutualism by Richard Ashwell (Wolverhampton Meeting); What have you been reading in lockdown? by Alison Samuels (Wolverhampton Meeting); Dear Friends, old and new by Jenn Pardue (Stoke Meeting) and The illusion of victory (a poem) by Jenn’s grandson, Arthur Romain, age 11.
  • Recent work of peacemakers – how a schools-based project, Peacemakers, is coping with Covid-19 by John Babb (Wolverhampton Meeting)
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem – Peter Kent-Baguley (Leek Meeting) on the pervasive militarisation of Israeli life and the work of the feminist New Profile group who campaign to eliminate it.
  • Words of Encouragement – extracts from a leaflet sent to Quaker prison chaplains for distribution to prisoners registered as Quaker, submitted by Joan Gripton (Stafford Meeting and chaplain at Stafford prison)
  • The Experience of Racism – Helen Lockwood (Stone Meeting) reviews “Talking about skin”, a memoir by Rosa L Carter, AKA Rosemary Crawley (Lichfield Meeting); Why is racism a priority for peace churches? a paper presented to the European Church and Peace conference by Rosemary Crawley (Lichfield Meeting)
  • Deep Adaption & Sustainability – Damon Hoppe (Stafford Meeting) elaborates on his article in the October 2019 edition of Staffordshire Quaker
  • Area Meeting Governance – recommendation from Trustees that our Area Meeting should register as a charity by adopting the model Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governing document.

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2020

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2020

2019

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2019

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2019

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2019

2018

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2018

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2018

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2018

2017

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2017

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2017

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – Hope and Inspiration Supplement February 2017

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2017

2016

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2016

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2016

2015

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2015

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2015

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2015

2014

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2014

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2014

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2014

2013

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2013

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2013

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2013

2012

Stafford Friends’ Trip to Dolgellau – December 2012

A group of Friends walk the Quaker Trail
Friends walk the Quaker Trail

Stafford Friends’ Trip to Dolgellau – exploring the history of early Quakers in Wales

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2012

Holding Leader to Account: Sustainability and Nonviolent Social Change in Kenya – October 2012

Laura speaking at a Quaker gathering
Laura (right) speaking at a gathering of Qauker peace-buildings in Africa

Holding Leaders to Account: Sustainability and Nonviolent Social Change in Kenya – A workshop at Stafford Meeting led by guest speaker, Laura Shipley Chico from Kenya

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – July 2012

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2012

2011

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – December 2011

Visit to the Historic Quaker Site at Shallowford – July 2011

The historic Quaker farmhouse

Visit to the historic Quaker site at Shallowford – Stone Friends visit the historic farmhouse and Quaker burial ground.

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2011

Cruising the Trent-Mersey – June 2011

Children wave from the barge as it rises in the lock

Cruising the Trent-Mersey – Stone Meeting spend a day cruising the Trent Mersey canal in a narrowboat from Stone to Barlaston and back

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2011

2010

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – June 2010

6 Friends pictured at Easedale Tarn with mountains in the background
  • Celebration – Stafford Quaker Albert Adams celebrates his 96th birthday
  • Stone Meeting at Glenthorne: Rolling Stones – by Joan Holland and Janet Mason (Stone Meeting)
  • A global call for compassion – Janet Mason (Stone Meeting) urges Friends to sign the Charter for Compassion, launched in Cape Town last month
  • Outreach – a collection of articles for Quaker Outreach Week
    • Outreach has many forms – Transition garden by Leek Meeting; A Julian Meeting by Nigel Peckett (Stafford Meeting)
    • Outreach: we can all do it – by Joan Holland (Stone Meeting)
    • Outreach: Quakers on show – Leek Quakers at the Leek Show; Wolverhampton Quakers at the Wolverhampton Show
    • Outreach: the printed word in Leek – Who are the Quakers; Quaker Testimonials; and Earth and Environment; all by Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting)
    • Outreach: the printed word in Leek – by Jane Health (Leek Meeting)
  • Quakers respond to climate change – Rob Horton (Stafford Meeting) on various Quaker initiatives on climate change, including the Global Change Consultation.
  • Houses for the Earth – Beatrice Lance (Uttoxeter Meeting) on the Hockerton Housing Project, 5 eco houses near Southwell Nottinghamshire.
  • Networking for peace: QPSW Conference – David Morgan (Stafford Meeting) reports on the Quaker Peace and Social Witness Conference
  • Part of a large family: Quaker Life Conference – report by Maggie Jeays (Stafford Meeting)
  • Staffordshire Friends in print – a review of “Spirit Rising – Young Quaker Voices”, a collection of poems, prose, pictures and photos from young Friends from around the world by Gayle Yeomans (Stafford Meeting)
  • “Collected Poems of Charles Morgan” – Peter Holland (Stone Meeting) has put together this collection which is published by Scarthin Books.
  • Virtual Testimonies – Anthony Wilson (Lichfield Meeting) on the pros and cons of virtual activism
  • Church bloopers – a selection of bloopers from church bulletins or announcements

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – February 2010

Photo of Paula Knight of Lichfield Meeting at 'The Wave' on 5th December 2009
  • The Wave – photo of Paula Knight at the demonstration in London
  • Digging for Transition in Leek – Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting) talking about Leek’s involvement with the Transition Town movement.
  • Three Dear Friends – Thanks for the life of Clarice Dawson by Joan Holland (Stone Meeting); Testimony to the life of Carol Woodings by Jane Heath and Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting); Testimony to the grace of God in the life of Dennis Gripton by Staffordshire Area Meeting; The Depths of the Silence by Gayle Yeomans (Stafford Meeting); Look Well to This Day, a Sanskrit poem.
  • Language in Quaker Outreach Materials: Seeking to Reflect Diversity – Agreed minute at a meeting between Staffordshire Area Meeting and Quaker Life on 20th November 2009, regarding the use of God language in Quaker outreach materials.
  • About Faith: Inner Peace – article first written for Spark Local Inter-faith magazine by Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting).
  • Sufferings: New centre and a richly varied community – report on the September 2009 Meeting for Sufferings by Shelagh Robinson (Stone Meeting).
  • Quaker Prison Chaplains Conference: Dealing with loss – report by Beatrice Lance (Uttoxeter Meeting) and Grace Jordan (Stone Meeting).
  • Zero Growth Economics: Making it happen – report on the weekend conference at Woodbrooke by Paula Knight (Lichfield Meeting) who is our representative to the Zero Growth events.
  • More than meeting on Sundays – a roundup of the groups F/friends are involved with outside of Quakers.
  • Bags of Useful Things – about the project to produce supplies for the Women’s Refuge in Hanley and how to contribute by Linda Skellam (Leek Meeting).
  • Witness in Lichfield’s Streets – Anthony Wilson (Lichfield Meeting) on the Interfaith event at speakers corner. The topic was “A matter of life and faith – creation, climate change and Copenhagen”.

2009

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – October 2009

Photo of people from different faith goups including Maggie Jeays from Stafford Meeting (centre).
Members of local faith groups at the July 7 Interfaith event. Maggie Jeays (Stafford Meeting) centre.
  • Friends and Faiths – Remembering July 7: Stafford Friends attended an Interfaith Event for the anniversary of the 2005 London bombings; Engaging with Islam – Berry Dicker (Lichfield Meeting) on attending an Islamic Conference in Wolverhampton; Inside SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education for Staffordshire: Bill Walley (Stoke Meeting) on his role as the Quaker representative on SACRE and his input into the revision of The Religious Education Syllabus for Staffordshire.
  • Something in the Air: Leek Quakers and Other Free Thinkers – Joan and Peter Holland (Stone Meeting) write about the talk given by Nigel Tringham, the editor of the Victorian Country History of Staffordshire.
  • Children and Young Friends – My Pilgrimage to Swarthmore Hall by Freddie Essex (Stafford Meeting); My Experience of Junior Yearly Meeting by Henry Exxex (Stafford Meeting); Cadbury, Here we Come by Olivia Wilkes (Stone and Stafford Meetings) and Jenny (Stone Meeting).
  • What do we have to say about the Earth? – Climate Change – Responding to the challenges by Rob Horton (Stafford Meeting) and John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting); Zero Growth Economy Conference at Friends House on 26 September 2009 by Win Sutton (Wolverhampton Meeting); Support for Local Events: Some suggestions for cross AM working by John Nicholls (Wolverhampton Meeting).

2008

Staffordshire Quaker Newsletter – July 2008

Panel from the Quaker Tapestry entitled Meeting Houses Overseas
  • Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) – Anthony Wilson (Lichfield Meeting) summarises a talk by Zee Zee Heine who spent 3 months as an Ecumenical Accompanier in Palestine / Isreal.
  • Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) Annual Conference: Peace, Justice and the Environment – Chris Francis (Stoke Meeting) and Paula Knight (Lichfield Meeting) report back on their attendance at the conference
  • Tools With a Mission – Fred Stainthorpe (BMS World Mission in the Congo) talks about the work of TWAM, a Christian Mission which collects, refurbishes and sends all manner of tools to many parts of the world
  • The Quaker Tapestry – Staffordshire Friends’ visit to see the travelling exhibition of the Quaker Tapestry at Chester Cathedral.
  • Death and the Right to Die – report from a Wolverhampton Meeting discussion group which considered the issues from a Quaker perspective.

2007

Our Weekend at Woodbrooke – March 2007

Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre viewed across the lake

Our Weekend at Woodbrooke – Stone Friends enjoy a memorable short-weekend of leisurely activities, including an evening bonfire,  at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Selly Oak, Birmingham. 

2006

Our Lakeland Weekend – March 2006

A group of Friends pose for the camera.

Our Lakeland Weekend – Stone Meeting stay at Glenthorne Quaker guest house in Grasmere