The Strettons Podcast

it's been a long 18 months of producing an episode every Tuesday and we're feeling worn out from the effort. Sian and Pete look back over their time producing The Strettons Podcast, their favourite episodes and the people who will stick it their minds. Thanks for your support and encouragement and thanks for talking to us when we approach you in the street, in the hills and on the farms. You have...

Tony Madeley reflects on three generations of farming history, from his grandfather’s struggles in the 1930s to the gradual building of a livelihood at Eaton Manor. What emerges is not just a story of agriculture, but of resilience, risk, and the long view, where decisions made with caution and care slowly take root over time. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in t...

Jim Davies reflects on a lifetime in farming, from rebuilding Blackhurst Farm from dereliction to adapting through decades of change. With humour and honesty, he shares stories of family, hardship, and resilience, alongside memories of horses and travel, offering a grounded perspective on rural life and what matters most after nearly ninety years. If you know someone we should speak to for the pod...

Mark shares a life shaped by farming roots, family, and hard work, from milking cows by hand as a child to running a rural taxi business. He reflects on loss, including a fire that destroyed treasured vintage tractors, and the realities of modern rural life. With humour and honesty, he talks about family, local life, and looking ahead to a slower pace. If you know someone we should speak to for th...

This week we’ve been back up the hill to Picklescott where we’ve caught up with Nigel Morris, a third generation farmer at Wilrack Farm. Nigel tells us what it was like to grow up in a small village on top of a hill and what passed for entertainment for him and his friends. We talk about the challenge of early starts and the importance of resilience in order to overcome the challenges of low milk...

We have a bit of a laugh with the kids who will eventually become the custodians of this land we love. We’re back at the food bank in the Parish Centre to learn how the situation has changed over the last year. Then it’s the Gardening Club Show in the Silvester Horne Institute where we speak to exhibitors and visitors and we finish off this week, where we will all end up - in a cemetery but it’s a...

Stuart Wright is known to everyone in town as the owner of Wrights Estate Agency. He talks to Sian about how the family ended up in Church Stretton, the shops and people who were around then and about the time he went on a school trip to the Welsh coast which ended in disaster. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonsp...

We have been back to see Matt Johnson at Hazler Farm to hear how lambing has gone this year and what’s next in the farming calendar. And there’s some Victorian farming going on at Acton Scott Heritage Farm where visitors dance around a May pole like something you’d see in a jigsaw of times gone by! Church Stretton accordion band provide the music and the shire horses provide the raw material, and...

Keith Morris is well-known in the area as the undertaker. He tells us about growing up in Church Stretton, memorable moments with a burning hearse and the brotherhood of undertakers. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast https://buymeacoffee.com/...

This week we go up onto the Long Mynd to speak to Sioned Morris who's practicing for the stock judging competition at the local Young Farmers Club and then we join the Much Wenlock Fire Service as they carry out a practice drill in the centre of Church Stretton. Finally we are at Bowman Hill Farm in Plaish where the Butty Van is offering not just sausage and bacon baps and cups of tea but importan...

Ron Cox looks back on his life in Bucknell and then Ticklerton and Soudley where he still lives today. He tells us about his sporting life, his dancing days, his courting days and what he got up to with his brothers.  If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Suppo...

Anna Turner, the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire talks about how she tries to get members of the royal family to come to the county. There’s also an offer of help to give your award nominations the best chance of success. There’s also a round up of what’s in the area in the next few weeks to get you out of the house. Timings   Anna Turner 00:53 Arts Trail 21:46 What’s On 24:54 If you know someo...

Malcolm shares memories of growing up in rural Shropshire, attending school in Smethcott and joining the army at sixteen. He and his brother both served in Northern Ireland, where his brother was shot. After returning to Church Stretton, Malcolm turned from farming to growing flowers. He speaks movingly about the lasting grief of losing his son and explains how he became famous for his spectacular...

We catch up with lambing at Hazler Farm and watch as two lambs arrive in the world. The hills are alive with the sound of walking poles and we chat to a couple of visitors enjoying the area in different ways. A local scout is raising money for the jamboree in Poland and we’ve been to the tourism information exchange and networking event in Church Stretton. Timings   lambing  01:14 Vox po...

We’ve all sat on one of Mick Boulton’s coaches at some time, many of us in our school days. In this chat, he tells us how he loves driving the school bus, the joy he gets from meeting the guests staying at his hostel at Bridges and early life growing up in the fields and brooks around Cardington. Is it true he lived in a hut on the Long Mynd? Listen to find out. If you know someone we should speak...

We’ve been to our local livestock market at Bishops Castle to speak to some Church Stretton farmers and the auctioneer to see what trade’s like for store cattle. Then we catch up with some very excited cubs at the Scout Hut where they are preparing for their night hike on the Long Mynd. Ticklerton Village Hall has a full events calendar for the spring and summer. The Rotary Club has money to...

Robin Lloyd is a familiar face to those who use the Ring and Ride service but how much does anyone know of his life? In this interview we learn what it was like to go away to boarding school at seven and a half, what he spent his money on when his horse won the Grand National and what brings him the most pleasure these days. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in tou...

We're back at the repair cafe with volunteers from Stretton Climate Care so save households appliances from going into the skip. Then it's Acton Scott with Alex from Caring for God's Acre during their Love Your Yew Week. We finish with an interview with a trustee of Friends of Conakry Refugee School in Guinea to learn what they're doing over in West Africa. Timing Repair Cafe 00:49 Love you Yew we...

David Cooke talks to us about his life growing up in Ratlinghope and the fun that was had there in his youth. He shared his childhood with an inspiring German prisoner of war who worked on the farm and could turn his hand to anything, even making him a snooker table as a Christmas present. As a young boy, he walked to London with his rucksack to have a look at some football stadiums. If you know s...

We're off to Prolley Moor to see the best honesty shed in the county run by Lexi Morris. Then we've got the first in our lambing special - looking at scanning the ewes. And finally we're at All Stretton Village Hall where they cast of the annual panto - The Princess and Pea - are having a final dress rehearsal. And there are. a handful of events to finish up. Timings   Honesty Box 00:49...

Francis Acton lives at Acton Scott Hall in Acton Scott and manages the 1000 acre estate which includes the Acton Scott Heritage Farm. He speaks to Sian about the responsibility of looking after the estate, and the expectations which come with being the eldest son and the importance of retaining the knowledge and skills of Victorian farmers. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, p...

We’ve been chatting to some young girls starting on their guiding journey and seeing what happens at their meetings. We've also been to the Parish Centre to see the mess left behind by the holme oak which crashed through the roof during the most recent snow storm. And to satisfy our obsession in this country with home ownership and house prices, we talk to two estate agents who operate in the town...

Sian wound her way around the lanes of Frog’s Gutter to go and see Peter Philips who lives off-grid in a cottage which was marked as unfit for human habitation when he moved in. Peter talks about the joys of living off-grid in peaceful surroundings near The Bog, and the changes he’s seen in the area since arriving over 50 years ago. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please ge...

Sian talks to Evelyn Vaughan from Edgton who still farms age 88. Evelyn talks about her childhood, the loss of her mother and husband and a lost opportunity to become a professional singer. Her animals have inflicted numerous injuries on her but she still love them unconditionally and if you want more stories about the winter of 1947, you won’t be disappointed! If you know someone we should speak...

Acton Scott is more than a working Victorian museum, it's a living breathing tight-knit village. Merle Wilson describes growing up without basic amenities, the death of her mother and farming with her father. She paints a picture of a supportive vibrant community in which people look after for each other and work to continue the spirit of the community. If you know someone we should speak to for t...