According to Vera Brittain’s acclaimed First World War memoir, Testament of Youth, ‘provincial young ladyhood’ in fashionable Edwardian Buxton was an oppressive hindrance to her feminist ambitions. Were Vera’s remorseless criticisms justified?

 Drawing on her extensive unpublished diary, a new biography tells a different story. Author Kathryn Ecclestone and Rebecca Williams, Vera’s granddaughter and daughter of politician Shirley Williams, discuss how Vera’s enjoyable, privileged upbringing in Buxton helped shape her views on marriage, motherhood and public service, and her evolution as a woman Shirley described as a ‘moral icon’.

This event is sponsored by Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust.

This event is on general sale from 14 April 2026

Priority dates are:

17 Mar – Directors Circle, Benefactors and Gold Patrons
24 Mar – Patrons
31 Mar– Gold Friends
7 Apr – Friends
14 Apr – Public and Next Gen