Stratford sub Castle Village Website
Salisbury, Wiltshire UK

Dr Martin Radford explores the extraordinary world of Arthur Ransome in his talk "Swallows and Amazons and the Russian Revolution, in the Reading Room, Stratford Road, SP1 3LL on Wednesday 11 November at 7.30 pm. Ransome was sued by Oscar Wilde’s lover, worked as a newspaper reporter in St Petersburg during the Russian Revolution and eloped with Trotsky’s secretary, yet we know him as the much-loved author of the “Swallows and Amazons” children’s books. The talk will be follo

‘Unsung heroes - Animals at war’ Speaker Phil Whitemore I’ve been lucky enough to have listened to many of Phil Whitemore’s talks and always found them engaging and informative and his presentation to the Stratford Guild on 14th October was no exception. Man’s close bond with many types of animals has developed over thousands of years, allowing humans to make use of an animal’s highly developed characteristics of smell, strength, hearing, flight and sight. A bond of loyalty b

The newly refurbished village noticeboard was officially unveiled on the 9 September 2026 before the first meeting of the new 2026-27 Guild season, by local councillor John Wells and Elizabeth Byford, a long-standing resident and currently the oldest Guild member. Witnessing the unveiling were Steve Mayall and his original build team, the current Guild committee, and Barbara Mayall (Guild Chair in 2016 when the noticeboard was erected). The Guild hopes the noticeboard continu

'Censored' - speaker Miranda Pender Norah James Miranda told us of the intriguing tale of Norah C. James (a late 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

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

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 –

The Pearly Kings and Queens – The other London Royal Family A presentation by Terry Ereira I had planned to write up Ian Budniak’s talk on the Spanish succession, but a last-minute health issue prevented Ian from attending. As always (and being a Londoner) Terry rose to the occasion and presented an interesting history of the Pearly Kings and Queens of London, and he didn’t need a microphone. Henry Croft, an orphan born and raised in St Pancras workhouse in 1861, left at 13

UPDATE - Unfortunately Ian Budniak could not attend the meeting. At short notice Terry Ereira gave a talk - The Pearly Kings & Queens - the other Royal Family. See a later Guild newspost to read the review. The next Guild meeting will be on Wednesday 13 May. It will begin with a short AGM which will be followed by a talk from the Chairman, Ian Budniak, about Britain’s involvement in the Spanish War of Succession during the 18th Century. The meeting will start at 7.30 pm in

Speaker: Dr John Sinclair Robson Warning - This review contains references to disasters and death, which some may find distressing. Forensic dentistry is not an occupation with which many people are familiar. Forensic pathology is better known as a result of programmes such as Silent Witness and, for those with longer memories, Quincy ME. Forensic dentistry is most often important in establishing the identity of victims of large-scale disasters where the nature of the injuri

March 11th 2026 “Script to Screen: A Costume Design Journey”, Speaker: Val Greathead We were given an entertaining introduction to the life of a costume designer, mainly in the TV industry, by our speaker this month. Val Greathead’s interest in costume design started at a young age. While in the Brownies she was given the lead role as Winnie the Pooh and decided to make her own outfit using the stuffing from the family’s cushions. She was not flavour of the month at home afte

John Handby Our speaker John Handby, has spent his whole career in computing and AI occupying a number of very senior executive and advisory posts. He opened his talk with a brief indication of the potential benefits of AI but spent most of his talk opening our eyes to the dangers inherent in the technology. We started with the good news: AI will revolutionise health care, allow drugs to be designed and manufactured faster, enable early diagnosis of diseases like cancer and h

Stratford sub Castle Guild 15 January 2026 “Local Disaster Management and Recovery” Speaker - Chris Manuel Thirty-four members and guests ignored the heavy rain outside and settled down for a 2 o’clock start to the first talk of the New Year. What a fascinating and informative talk it turned out to be on an organisation that many of us have never heard of before. Chris Manuel, the Community Resilience Lead Officer for Wiltshire and Swindon Prepared, a multi-agency local d

Brilliant Mini Beasts - Speaker Juliet ten Doeschate A fascinating introduction to the amazing and intriguing world of invertebrates including wasps, butterflies, ladybirds, flies and many more. Some are very familiar and common visitors to our gardens, but others are so tiny (a mere 3mm) and so well hidden that we are not aware of them. Juliet concentrated principally upon those which inhabit her garden of 2 acres which is half woodland and half garden. Many are parasitic fe

Forged signatures and how to detect them - John Jameson-Davis John stepped in when our booked speaker became ill and cancelled all speaking engagements. He answered our call while on holiday in Crete! John is a Questioned Handwriting and Document Examiner. His work mainly entails the examination of questioned signatures (those which have been challenged or doubted for some reason, perhaps on a Will, a passport, a bank or credit card or other document). He is also asked to l

The Guild's 2025-26 season began on Wednesday 10 September at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room, with a talk by Colin van Geffen entitled 'The Lady who saved the Nation'. Review follows: When Mr van Geffen began his presentation by asking the audience who had heard of Lucy, no one had. This did not surprise him. By the end of his presentation, however, it seemed amazing that the life and achievements of this remarkable woman seem to have disappeared from our history. Lucy was