Historians should be aware of their own history. Members of the Dugdale Society noticed in the second decade of the twenty-first century that they were approaching the hundredth anniversary of the Society’s foundation in 1920. Everyone agreed that this milestone should be recognised, and various proposals were debated, but it was soon decided to award prizes to students and independent researchers, and to hold a conference. This event was intended to be a festive celebration of past achievements, but also an appraisal of the present state of historical studies of Warwickshire, aimed both to attract local people and to inform a wider public. Our resolve to embark on potentially costly events was encouraged by a generous bequest from our genial and always supportive president, Sir William Dugdale, who had died in 2014. After more discussion the theme of the conference was agreed: contributors would be invited, from the perspective of their periods and specialisms, to consider different aspects of the history of Warwickshire studied during the century 1920–2020, and explain how and why interpretations had changed. So the conference was called Warwickshire’s Changing Past, a deliberately ambiguous title covering the unfolding events and processes over the centuries, and the perception of those developments by modern scholars. Potential speakers were asked to send in proposals for papers, with the intention of including a wide range of contributors. A committee had the difficult task of selecting contributors from the many proposals submitted. In order to accommodate as many topics as possible the time allocated for each speaker was reduced to the minimum. A programme was decided and publicised.

The conference was to be held in May 2020. In March the final preparations were being made. So many people wished to attend that we were forced to put some of the applicants on a waiting list. Then COVID-19 arrived, and the conference had to be postponed. Eventually it was held as a virtual event in May 2021. All of the speakers making substantial contributions to Warwickshire history participated, and the event attracted more ‘attenders’ than would have been possible had there been a ‘face to face’ occasion. Another advantage of the new technology was that there was more time for comments and questions, enabling speakers to improve their subsequent written papers to take account of points raised. The technology worked well, thanks to the staff of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.