Probably not a butterfly hidden in this image, but a dead leaf.. Over the past few days, several butterfly enthusiasts have visited Stratford sub Castle hoping to obtain a clear sighting of a Hairstreak butterfly thought to be resting in a tree near Parsonage Farm, Stratford Road. You may have seen the visitors standing patiently at the roadside with binoculars focused at the upper branches of the tree. Meanwhile, a beautiful Jersey Tiger moth came willingly into our house ye

Save the Date - Friends of St Lawrence talk - Friday 2nd October at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room. Our speaker for October will be Clare Waddell, who many of you will know as a fellow resident of Stratford sub Castle. Clare is a dietitian at Salisbury District Hospital and has worked in the field of nutrition for more than 30 years. Clare's talk is titled "Can We Make Stratford sub Castle a Blue Zone?". For anyone unfamiliar with the term, Blue Zones are regions of the world wh

One of our readers has sent these five images with the comment - "I took these photos to capture the impact of the dry summer and heat waves of 2026. Feel free to use them if you think it would serve as a good record on the website." The images above were taken on 21 July 2026. I have stopped counting how many days there have been since there was any significant rainfall in Stratford sub Castle. The photo below - taken from Mill Lane bridge today - demonstrates the low water

The 'Lost & Found' page has been updated again, this time with details of a shopping bag found in the Reading Room carpark. https://www.stratfordsubcastle.org.uk/lost-found An earlier post: Have you lost a key? Details on the website's Lost & Found page https://www.stratfordsubcastle.org.uk/lost-found

We had a lovely sunny day for our July café, which meant we had a lively, busy time, with proceeds amounting to £514 being donated to the Mothers' Union – Virtual Baby Project. With the usual choice of outdoor or indoor seating, these visitors chose the indoor option. More images are in the 2026 Cafés photo album - see link below. We are hoping our luck holds for our August café on Sunday 2 August, open from 2.30 - 4.30 pm, so that you can continue to enjoy our delicious

2026 Reported sighting in or near Stratford sub Castle 23 July Jersey Tiger moth see the second part of this newspost 14 July Queen red-tailed bumblebee Image added to Fauna 2 photo album 3 July Japanese knotweed - not good news.. Details in the newspost 22 June Another brood of swallows fledged today https://www.stratfordsubcastle.org.uk/newspost/parsonage-farm-swallows 8 June Three cygnets On the west bank of the Avon, close to the boardwalk, image below. 5 June A brood of

After a summer break, our 2026-27 season will begin on Wednesday 9 September. Full details of our new programme will be published in the September edition of the Parish magazine and here on the village website. The Guild is a friendly group that meets on the 2nd Wednesday** of each month from September to June for a varied programme of talks and social events. Recent topics have included ‘The Woman who saved the Nation’, ‘Responding to Disasters’, ‘Artificial Intelligence –

Image KMOC Keepers Cottage is too far away to have taken part in the recent Open Gardens event but is within easy walking or cycling distance of Stratford sub Castle. This colourful image was sent to the website today. In April 2024 a sink hole appeared in the triangular field on Old Sarum slopes. Salisbury City Council put barriers around it and the hole was subsequently filled. However, it is still visible and hollyhocks and other wild flowers are now flourishing in it,

The AGM of the club was held on 25 June in Judy & Charles Villiers garden, in a welcome shady part! The meeting was attended by 19 people. The Programme Secretary's report given by Jeff Long showed that attendance at meetings remained 25 – 35. The programme for the year had been well received and enjoyed. The Open Gardens had been a success as previously reported. Jeff is standing down from the role of Programme Secretary and as a committee member, but has booked all speak

Image - NGS Little Durnford Manor SP4 6AH will be opening the gardens (but not the house) to visitors on Sunday 12 July between 2 pm and 5pm. Owned by the Earl and Countess of Chichester, the grounds offer a family-friendly opportunity to explore wildflower meadows, walled gardens, river gardens - and to see the ever popular camels, alpacas, llamas, pigs, pygmy goats, horses, ponies and sheep that graze next to the gardens. Admission to the gardens is £5 per adult, accompan