Stratford sub Castle Village Website
Salisbury, Wiltshire UK

The next meeting of the Stratford sub Castle Guild will take place on Wednesday 14 October at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room, Stratford Road, SP1 3LL when Phil Whitemore will be speaking on the topic 'Unsung Heroes - Animals in War'. From ancient times, animals have served the armed forces in wartime. The speaker will be explaining how they have been cared for and recognised with awards and memorials. Doors open at 7.15 pm and the talk will be followed by the usual tea/coffee/bi

After the overwhelming success of our August café, we made sure we had extra seating and extra cakes for our September café, which was the last for this summer season. Once again, we broke all records since we began in 2013, with proceeds amounting to £679 being donated to Old Sarum & Longhedge Pantry. What a great summer season we have had……………….. May I take this opportunity to thank everyone for continuing to support the cafés, whether helping, donating items or just com

Flowers from a wedding on Saturday 12 September remain at St Lawrence Church. Here are a few images of them taken this morning but to really appreciate them, do visit the church and 'Smell the Roses' for yourself - the scent is wonderful!

Five Rivers Leisure Centre will be offering free access to residents on Wednesday 16 September and Wiltshire Council is offering a number of promotional deals and inviting leisure centre users and local residents to take on a countywide one-mile challenge inspired by this year's theme, 'Powered by You'. Residents are encouraged to complete a mile using a treadmill, exercise bike, cross trainer, rowing machine or by swimming a mile in the pool, highlighting how every step, st

A reminder that from Monday 14 September onwards, residents will need to have booked a timed slot before visiting the Wiltshire Council recycling centre in Salisbury. Original Newspost 30 July Wiltshire Council has announced a pilot booking system at six Household Recycling Centres - including our nearest one, Salisbury. From Monday 14 September bookings will have to be made in order to visit the following Household Recycling Centres (HRCs): Devizes Lower Compton (near Calne

'Censored' - speaker Miranda Pender Norah James Miranda told us of the intriguing tale of Norah C. James (a past member of her wider family) and the obscenity trial of 1929. Norah was born in London in 1895, into a wealthy, but disjointed family. She was left with a very negative view of marriage. She was also deeply affected by a history of mental health in her family. Before taking up writing Norah had numerous careers including as a nurse during the First World War

A national charitable group, Ramblers UK, organises short 'Wellbeing' walks in the Salisbury area. Included in the current programme are these walks local to Stratford sub Castle: Thursday 17 September at 10.00 - meet by the footbridge near Five RIvers Centre A choice of a 60 mins or a 90 mins walk. Friday 18 September at 10.00 - meet at the café kiosk in the centre of Victoria Park 30 mins Details and joining instructions are here: https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/wel

"...... the "BUS LANE" wording itself requires a specialist hand-lining crew, and unfortunately this element couldn't be completed at the time as specialist resource was unavailable." extract from an email from the Highways Agency 2 September 2026 As highlighted in an earlier newspost, drivers should be aware that the bus lane lettering has not yet been fully reinstated. This is confusing drivers - in particular visitors to our city - who will assume all these lanes are av

News from Wiltshire Council "Current Government policy requires Wiltshire to plan for around 3,500 new homes each year, making it important that local people have their say on how the county develops. Growth is something Wiltshire needs to plan for, and local feedback will help to ensure new development supports communities and brings the right benefits in the right places. Find out more about the Wiltshire Local Plan and share your views at Salisbury Market – Tuesday 8 Septe

Friends of St Lawrence talk - Friday 2nd October at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room. Our speaker 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 where people not only tend to

The first meeting in the 40th year of the Garden Club is on Thursday 24 September 7.15 pm for 7.30 pm in the Reading Room SP1 3LL, opposite St Lawrence Church. Our speaker for this first meeting is Laura Hall - her talk is entitled “Creating Sustainable Wildlife Features in your Garden”. Laura is a gardener and garden designer – as many of you will know if you visited her lovely garden during the June “Open Gardens”. The meetings following this are: 29 October “Putting t

Please note that the mobile library will NOT be visiting Castle Keep, Stratford sub Castle on the scheduled date of 26 August. No reason has been given for the cancellation.

The latest Newsletter explains how essential watering of the plants and trees is being managed despite a hose-pipe ban imposed by Wessex Water on 19 August.

Early this morning, whilst photographing the Parsonage Farm swallows settlling on the telegraph wires, this large bird flew slowly and effortlessly past. The swallows weren't at all concerned by it. Following similar sightings reported on an earlier newspost, it is tempting to identify it as a White Tailed Eagle. (I will ask more knowledgeable people.) the odd markings in the lower part of the image are window reflections (taken from indoors)

One Network advises that Stratford Road between Waters Road and Castle Road is scheduled to be closed today with a diversion in operation.

Having reported that our household waste bin hasn't been emptied as scheduled today, this was the message received: Please leave bins at the kerbside until they have been emptied.

Our 6 September Café to be held in the Reading Room, Stratford Road SP1 3LL will be the last café of the summer season, so make sure you don’t miss out. The Café will be open from 2.30pm until 4.30pm. We will be stocking up on our famous cream teas, savoury alternative and delicious homemade cakes and there will be more bargains on our seasonal garden & kitchen produce table, and our pre-loved books table. (Cash payments only please.) Proceeds from our September Cafe wi

Read an update from the Highways Agency in a later newspost giving details of the work scheduled to take place in October 2026 to complete the road markings. Newspost 14 August 2026 The scheduled night-time closures at Castle Roundabout have now finished. However, this is a warning that the road has been resurfaced around Castle Roundabout but the lane markings haven't been completed. With heavier traffic driving through Salisbury than normal as a result of the A31 closure

The Village Noticeboard is now back in use. It is used by our local Groups to advertise their events and also - subject to space being available - for posters published by local charities and not for profit organisations. Printed posters can be left in the folder kept in the porch at School House, Stratford Road. Original Newspost dated 26 July 2026 As announced in the latest Parish Magazine, the Village Noticeboard is to be refurbished. It was built and donated to Stratfo

According to Royal Museums Greenwich, This will be the most 'coverage' seen from the UK and Ireland since the 1999 solar eclipse, The Royal Observatory Greenwich will be live-streaming this event, "we will be live streaming the eclipse using one of our modern telescopes, giving you a chance to watch this big event safely. Coverage will start live on YouTube and Facebook from 6.10pm." Here is a link to the YouTube stream: https://www.youtube.com/live/X_lWDBTZdrY Do you have a

2026 Reported sighting in or near Stratford sub Castle 22 August Tentatively suggested as a WTE See Newspost 6 August Another sighting of a Jersey Tiger moth Details added to the Fauna 2 photo album 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.or