This performance presentation by Julie Ann Cooper reveals the inspiring and pioneering life and quest of Florence Nightingale. The Nightingale Lantern Light became a symbolic beacon of hope and vital transformation which continued to beam brightly across the world long after Nightingale’s death in 1910, and is as relevant today, as it has ever been.

Photo: Henry Hering (1814-1893) - National Portrait Gallery, London

Famed through folklore, immortalised through myth, Hereward the Wake has been depicted as an all action-hero of Anglo-Saxon descent (but he could have been half Danish!)

His adventures and escapades were recorded in prose and verse within just 40 years of his death, which was unusual.  But just WHO was he? Max Keen (pictured) sorts the myth from fact; the legend from reality. All in costume from the 11th Century of course!

Our forebears revelled in bull-baitings, cockfighting, boxing matches and abominable drunkenness; especially in the Black Country, as we discover in this talk by Mary Bodfish. The boozy, bloody amusements of the working classes rose and fell – and something remains of them today.

Historian and geographer Simon Briercliffe tells the history of the Black Country after the Second World War, tracing the change from wartime austerity to industrial boom. His talk is based on his book of the same name, (see photo) which stemmed from research for the Black Country Living Museum’s major new development, also called Forging Ahead.

The Wise Woman will take us on an historical and hysterical journey, as she advises on sexual problems. Tudor and mediaeval practices will be interpreted. Pamela Manning’s Wise Woman will make us glad we live in the 21st Century. Not for those who may be easily offended. Funny and historically accurate!

We join the Tudor Court, which will appoint a Lord of Misrule to oversee our Christmas merry-making and festive entertainment.

Gloriana are a West Midland-based group performing dances of the Mediaeval and Tudor periods. They perform for a love of dance and history together with a passion for historical costume.

Join Lynda Sharpe on a journey back in time to Victorian London where the body of another murdered woman has been discovered. Listen to the stories of their lives and death. Who is Jack The Ripper and will he ever be caught?

Photo: One of a series of images from the Illustrated London News for October 13, 1888 carrying the caption, "With the Vigilance Committee in the East End". This specific image is entitled "A Suspicious Character".

Phil Clayton takes a look at our past from a walker’s viewpoint, finding Stone Age tracks, Roman ways, packhorse routes and turnpike roads in the present landscape.

Sir Ernest Shackleton was the epitome of a polar explorer. His first expedition was with Captain Scott who in 1903 sent him home resulting in a rift between the two men. Shackleton made an unsuccessful attempt for the South Pole in 1907. He returned to the Antarctic in 1914 to lead an ambitious expedition to cross the Antarctic continent. His ship Endurance became trapped in ice resulting in the most incredible struggle for survival in history. Shackleton would lead 28 men to safety after an 800-mile voyage in a lifeboat. Andrew Lound tells his story accompanied by music, images, video and sound effects.  All the drama and fight for survival is here in an uplifting retelling of the famous voyage.