Tea & Talks
Taking place on Tuesdays, our Tea & Talk sessions bring you local, well-known speakers to deliver a series of talks on a variety of specialist subjects.
All talks start at 2.00pm and are 45mins – 1 hour, with tea served afterwards.
Join us at Stanwick Lakes to enjoy a natter and a brew!
All ticket types include free parking for the duration of the event.
You can choose from:
£8.00 – ‘A Tea & Talk’ includes the talk and a voucher for a hot drink at our café.
£10.50 – ‘A Cream Tea & Talk’ includes the talk and a cream tea.
£16.00 – ‘A Two Course Lunch & Tea’ includes the talk, lunch and a hot drink.*
£18.50 – ‘An Afternoon Tea & Talk’ includes the talk and a full afternoon tea.
*If you opt for our two-course lunch offering alongside your talk, this is served before the talk at 12.30pm.
Group discounts are available for groups over 10, with limited spaces available.
Tea & Talks 2025
Programme & Booking
Tickets will become available below. Alternatively, please book your space at the reception desk in the Visitor Centre or email info@rftrust.org.uk.
The talk
Tuesday, 14th January, 2pm
History of the Pork Pie
An overview
Pork Pie Heaven: The history of Edward Parsons and Sons, an illustrated talk about a fascinating local business.
From humble beginnings during the Napoleonic Wars, the business transformed during the Victorian period under Thomas and later his son Edward Parsons to develop the business as a bakers, butchers, provision merchants, grocers, beer retailer, farmers, coal and salt merchants in the High Street, Irchester.
In due course they became known for not only their pork pies, but sausages and meat pastries. In the 1920s they developed a depot in London to supply large stores such as Fortnum & Mason, and Harrods. The business was a county supplier of Pork Pies during the Second World War and finally closed its doors sixty years ago in January 1965.
This talk will look behind the scenes of the factory, its owners and workers, and the company involvement in the wider community.
The speakers:
Jon-Paul Carr
Jon is the owner of History Book Corner, historian, author, talks and tour organiser, historical researcher
The talk
Tuesday, 28th January, 2pm
Wellie Wombles and their impact
An overview
Wellie Wombles came into being during the first covid lock down in February 2021. When we walked a great deal more locally by way of exercise and as a result saw a great deal more litter! So much so that we started litter picking as we walked, then inspired by others across the county, Freddie decided to make use of social media to form our own group. This talk will go into detail about how Wellie Wombles started and its impact on community and the local area.
The speaker:
Freddie Harris
Freddie is the lead for the Wellie Wombles litter picking group establish four years ago, that has now grown to include Rushden, Irchester, Higham Ferrers , Great Doddington and Irthlingborough.
The talk
Tuesday, 4th February, 2pm
Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition
An overview
This talk explores The Endurance Expedition 1914-1917, The epic Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. They were aiming to be the first to cross the Antarctic on foot a distance of 1500 miles. However their ship – The Endeavour – sank leaving 28 men stranded on the ice. This is the Greatest survival story of all time. Six of the men crossed 800 miles over the roughest ocean in the world. Three of them crossed uncharted mountains, which was thought to be an impossible feat, when they reached civilisation. They would not have achieved this without Ernest Shackleton.
The speaker
Rev Graham Bell
For all scheduled event including future talks – visit our What’s On page.