Beginning in early September, Nantwich museum will be starting a new series of talks. They’ll be on Wednesday evenings starting at 7pm. Tickets will be £5. Unfortunately there’s no relevant link to the museum site booking engine available at the moment.

Of particular local interest, on 6th October (1 hour)…
Made in the Old Medicine House: a century of patent medicine manufacture in an unlikely setting.
by Valerie White for the Blackden Trust
The talk will explore the kinds of medicines available to ordinary people who could not afford those prescribed by qualified practitioners. The family firm established by Samuel Johnson sold its products all over the country (and beyond) from the late 19th century until the 1960s from its “Factory” in Wrinehill. The business archive, now held by The Blackden Trust and examined by the speaker throws light on an era when most people would try a home remedy first, only calling the nurse, doctor or pharmacist when all else had failed.

Other talks include:

1st September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
Herbs and herbalism
Tracy Jones, Plant Heritage Co-coordinator Cheshire

8 September 2021, 7 pm (1.5 hours)
Pills, potions and poisons: an apothecary’s tale
Nicholas Wood, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, Fabio Parmeggiani, Politecnico di Milano and Helen Cooke, Nantwich Museum

15 September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
Renaissance and Early modern medicine; changes in medical and surgical practice 1500-1700
Nick Coles, Historical medicine educational consultant

22 September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
Tales from Chester Asylum
Claire Chatterton. Visiting Professor at the University of Chester, a Staff Tutor at the Open University and former Chair of the Royal College of Nursing’s History of Nursing Society

29 September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
When cholera hit Nantwich
Keith Lawrence, Nantwich Museum