Find out about our mission and how to book a Forgotten Burton Story talk. Scroll down to find out more about us and how this project started.

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We want to raise awareness of some of the exceptional people who walked the streets of Burton upon Trent before us. ​One way of paying tribute to them is to raise funds that help people today in our Staffordshire town. Our vision is to bring the community together to enjoy and discuss stories from the past.

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Author and playwright Elaine Pritchard currently delivers a number of talks to groups and organisations including women's institutes and local history societies:

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* Fairground ride entrepreneurs Orton & Spooner put Burton upon Trent on the map for more than just beer in the late 19th century. Their colourful story includes lions and tigers and bears; the Boer War; the rise of the cinema and the D-Day landings. Royalties raised from Elaine's book about them, Labour of Love, and any talks she gives, goes to Burton & District Mind.

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* Forgotten Burton activist Vale Rawlings was famous across the country in 1914 after he stood up for striking factory girls in his home town. He also helped secure the first minimum weekly wage and maximum working hourse for brewery labourers. The outbreak of World War One saw him face a bitter battle as a conscientious objector. Elaine's book about him is called Friendship, Love & Truth and is available priced £15.99 by emailing valerawlingsprojectcic@gmail.com. All profits from the book, and the proceeds of any talks about Vale, go to YMCA Burton and SARAC (Sexual Abuse Rape Advice Centre).

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* World War One home front hero Lily Thomas was the widowed mother of a young daughter when she decided her little bit of war work would be sending food parcels to five Burton men held prisoner of war in German camps. She did not expect there to be many more local men taken prisoner. By the end of the war she had sent out more than 27,000 parcels. Talks about Lily also raise money for the YMCA Burton and SARAC.

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* Rebel Women is a talk that features suffragettes and other female campaigners and activists as well as women who started their own businesses or broke new ground in the world of work. It focuses on the Burton upon Trent area and proceeds go to the YMCA Burton and SARAC,

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* New forgotten stories are featured on this website's news page, or you can follow the Forgotten Burton Stories Facebook page.

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To enquire about booking a talk email Elaine at valerawlingsprojectcic@gmail.com

 

Elaine is happy to take on commissions to write and produce sketches and talks with dramatic elements based on the stories on this site. Recent events include Against The National Interest, a rehearsed dramatic reading by Elaine and three actors at Derby Museum as part of Derby Peace Week. It explored Vale Rawlings' time as a conscientious objector using actual words from letters and documents of the time. It also looked at the story of the Wheeldon family of Derby. 

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Coming up in 2027 is a similar event based on Lily Thomas and a unique time-travelling chat show written for Burton Civic Society.

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If you have an idea for telling a historical story through drama or comedy, please get in touch.

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