Stratford sub Castle Village Website
Salisbury, Wiltshire UK

Dates for your diary - News from RIchard Death I will be leading two free Guided Nature Walks this summer. Saturday 6 June: Devenish Nature Reserve, Little Durnford. Starts 2pm, expected to last approx 2 hrs. Includes steep climb up approx 90 steps. Meet in Reserve carpark off Beech Walk SP4 6AJ What3Words valley.regard.constants Image Google Maps Monday 29 June: Avon Valley Nature Reserve close to 5 Rivers Leisure Centre. Starts at 2pm, expected to last approx 2 hrs. More-o

The next Garden Club meeting will be on Thursday 30 April at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room, Stratford Road, Stratford sub Castle SP1 3LP. Our speaker is Ruth Kerr and her talk is entitled “A wander without wellies”. Using a presentation of images and sounds, she will take us for a verbal walk along old routes in the UK, exploring their heritage and some of the flora and fauna living in our countryside. This will include a nature table display of skulls, feathers & taxidermy.

The South Mobile Library visit to Stratford sub Castle due to take place tomorrow, Wednesday 25 March, has been CANCELLED. The next scheduled visit of the mobile library to Stratford sub Castle is Wednesday 8 April (Route M week 3).

These images were taken this morning near Castle Keep by Lesley Brown who has kindly agreed to share them with the village website. Are they Roe deer or Muntjac? How to distinquish Roe deer and Muntjac Source Cairngorm Reindeer ( text & images below ) Roe The dainty roe deer is another of our native deer species, and perhaps the one you are most likely to spot in woodland and gardens right across the UK, with some individuals becoming incredibly tame due to living in close

If you use this route to access the Castle Hill Country Park, Ford, or further afield, note that it will be closed for resurfacing from Monday 30 March to Thursday 2 April. Expect delays along Castle Road on 30 & 31 March as there will be temporary two-way traffic lights on Castle Road to provide safe access for maintenance vehiciles.

Salisbury Reds and Wiltshire Council launched 30 brand-new electric buses at Salisbury Market Place today, Friday 20 March. As passengers board one of the double deckers in The Stonehenge Tour livery they pass a photo of Old Sarum. KMOC Original Newspost from 14 March Join Us to Celebrate the Arrival of Our New Electric Buses We’re excited to invite the community to join us in celebrating this major investment by Salisbury Reds and Wiltshire Council. On Friday 20 March, we

Image: Richard Death 12 March 2026 Little Egrets first bred in the UK in 1996 on Brownsea Island but they have extended their range and we have hosted a pair in Stratford for many years. However, I was amazed to see a small flock of 9 Little Egrets on Thursday 12 March. One or two Egrets are no longer a surprise, but 9 was totally unexpected. Has anyone else seen this number? As soon as I realised what I was seeing I dashed to get my camera and tried to hurry gently (?) to av

Update released by National Highways on 12 March (the day after the lights at Castle Roundabout were reinstated) ..... More details https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-west/a36-salisbury-corridor Earlier News from 11 March. There are now working Traffic lights at Castle Roundabout. At 2.45 pm traffic was backed up Castle Road beyond the junction with Stratford Road and northwards into the distance. Stationary traffic across this junction was delaying traffic exi

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

In addition to the diversion whilst Waters Road is closed, Salisbury Reds has alerted passengers to a further diversion due to the closure of Wyndham Road. Details below. So don't worry that you may have got on the wrong bus, just trust the driver!

Updated 8:42am on 9 March 2026 "Groundwater levels in the Salisbury Plain are beginning to recede. Levels are still high, flooding of fields and roads is still possible. Levels remain reactive to further rainfall. Where groundwater is near the surface, intense rainfall will lead to surface water flooding. We are closely monitoring the situation. Residents are advised to prepare property resilience measures and ensure that pumps are working where they have been installed . Thi

UPDATE On the BBC website (but not yet on Wiltshire Council's site) is a news report dated 5 March that the appeal against allowing 315 new houses to be built on the Old Sarum Airfield site was dismissed: "Plans to build hundreds of homes on a former World War One airfield have moved a step closer to reality, after the High Court rejected a challenge by Wiltshire Council. The council argued the circumstances surrounding the development of Old Sarum, near Salisbury, had chang

This work has now been completed and the cones and traffic lights have been taken away by Wessex Water. Today cones were placed near to the Reading Room on Stratford Road to advise 'No Waiting' in this area. Tomorrow - Friday 6 March - WessexWater has permission to install ltemporary traffic lights, whilst work is undertaken. Source: One Network

The road surface on Stratford Road around the area shown on the map image is due to be repaired by Wiltshire Council on 9/10 April. One Network provides details of expected works and the current information includes the information that traffic lights will be in operation to control traffic. UPDATE This pot hole near the church reported in February, has now been repaired (Image 14/3/26).

Image: Bartlett Tree Experts The March meeting is on Thursday 26 March 2026 at 7.30 pm in The Reading Room. Our speaker will be Dr. Jonathan Banks with a talk is entitled “Trees in the Garden”. Jonathan is from Bartlett Tree Experts , based in West Parley, Ferndown. They predominately work with domestic trees. As many of us have trees in our gardens this should be most informative. We look forward to seeing you! Jeff Long, Programme Secretary – 01722 324421 The Garden Club's

This event has now taken place - many thanks to all those people who bought tickets. If you're free on Friday 6 March at 7.30 pm, please support the fundraising talk organised by The Friends of St Lawrence Church. This will be our first fundraising event in 2026, a talk in the Reading Room by Spencer Bull a British Army veteran who was medically discharged in 2017, following an MS diagnosis. Spencer is an accomplished INVICTUS Games athlete who will share through his talk ‘Re

The good news is that no properties have been flooded during the recent weeks of abnormal rain and river levels. There has been some flooding to the playground on Fisherton Rec and to the cyclepath, both are which are being addressed by the project team. - read the details in the February 2026 Newsletter. Extract from the February 2026 Newsletter The complete Newsletter is available to download below:

Wiltshire Council is providing free practical one-to-one help for users of mobile phones, tablets, ipads, and laptops. Various dates and times are available. Contact Salisbury Library to book an appointment with a volunteer 01722 434437.

One of our readers has sent these two images to the website with the comment: " While by Stratford Road we saw an enormous bird being mobbed by a persistent and angry sea gull which was dwarfed in size by the larger bird. The larger bird then flew out over the river and on towards the opposite side of the valley towards Devizes Road, still noticeable in the sky with the naked eye even over such a large distance. The sheer size of it along with the long and slow wing movement

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

UPDATE On the BBC news today " Louvre Museum crown left crushed but 'intact' after raid." Source - BBC News This is the Crown that contains the Regent Diamond https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010103121 Known to us as the Pitt Diamond. KMOC Original newspost of 19 October 2025 The Louve has now listed the jewels stolen and the crown of Empress Eugenie was lifted but damaged and left behind. Le Parisien has confirmed the Regent Diamond (before 1717, the Pitt Diamo

The next meeting of the Stratford Garden Club will be on Thursday 26 February – 7.30pm in the Reading Room, Stratford Road SP1 3LL. Carefully placed rocks and planting around the pond. Image Leigh Clapp Hampshire Life magazine Our speaker will be Graham Bowyer and his illustrated talk is entitled “ An introduction to the Gardens of Japan ”. On the tour of the gardens we will discover the connection between gardens and the landscape. Graham has visi

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

A notice displayed near the boardwalk gives details of a Conservation Group that has been formed to help with maintenance of the Avon Valley Nature Reserve. The Salisbury Wildlife Group would welcome volunteers over 18 years old to their planned activity days in January, February & March. See the notice at the bottom of this page. Whilst working at the Reserve, volunteers have the opportunity to observe and record wildlife for example this saprophytic fungi Variable Oysterl