Wargrave Local History Society

1998
April 14	Laureen Williamson	Bodging and Other Woodland Crafts Laureen gave a fascinating look at lost local crafts.
May 12	Judith Hunter	The Making of Slough From a hamlet to a modern town.
June 9	Tim Allen	The Eton Rowing Lake Excavation Tim, from the Oxford Archaeological Unit, told us of the current archaeological work.
July 14	Armine Edmonds	Historic Walk of Sonning
September 8	Peter Delaney	Wargrave from the 11th to the 20th Century A look at the history of our village.
October 13	Sue Read	Touring the Victorian Thames
November 10	Doug Noyes	How Reading has Changed An audio-visual presentation covering the Friar Street, Market Place, and Broad Street part of Reading.
1999
January 12	Joanna Power	Warren Row A history of the Church and the village.
February 9	Luke Over	The Province of Wealdham Another in our series about the surrounding communities, covering Shottesbrooke and White Waltham.
April 13	Steve Capel-Davis	Locks and Weirs Tracing the history of locks and weirs on the River Thames
May 11		Visit to the River and Rowing Museum, Henley on Thames Talk by the Curator, Jane Bowen.
June 8		Historical Walk - The Loddon A guided walk as part of the 1999 Wargrave Village Festival.
September 14		Down Memory Lane Wargrave residents reminisce; an event of the Wargrave Millennium Village Festival.
October 12	Brian Boulter	Town Museum to Heritage Centre. The Maidenhead Heritage Centre
2000
January 11	Peter Halman	At the heart of an Empire The changing scene in the Thames Valley during Victoria's reign..
February 8	Peter Delaney	Madam Tussaud is buried in Wargrave, Question Mark Some pitfalls that beset the unwary researcher.
April 11	Ben Ford	The Oracle Excavations Ben was part of the archaeological team on the site in Reading, so was in a unique position to tell us of the rich history of this area
May 9	Sue Branfoot	The Nineteenth Century Church Sue - distantly related to George Gilbert Scott - has made a special study of nineteenth century churches
June 13	Selina Avent	Living History Some houses at Crazies Hill and their owners.
July 9		A Visit to Dorney Court A private conducted tour of this famous Tudor house.
September 12	Dr Jill Eyres	Local geology The basis for all our local history, affecting the development of settlements, agriculture, industry etc, is the ground on which we live
October 10	Brian Eighteen	Water Mills on the River Loddon Brian returns with a slide presentation, from the source of the Loddon to the Thames at Wargrave
November 14	Professor E Collins	Historical Issues Local Historians Might Address Professor Collins, President of the Berkshire Local History Association, will explore how our local history relates to the wider community
2001
January 9	Geoff Brooks	The Berkshire Fire Brigade With special emphasis on the Wargrave Fire Station
February 13	David Burfitt	Hurley Another in our series about nearby villages. David is one of the authors of the recent book on Hurley
April 11	Trevor Ottlewski	Berkshire Beyond The Obvious A presentation in which Trevor spoke about a variety of lesser known sites in Berkshire, including some very local examples.
May 8	Dennis Johnson	Brickworks in Berkshire A history of the brick and tile industry that operated from the brickworks of Berkshire
June 12	Village Festival	Walks / Exhibition / Fete / Parade
July 8	Society Visit	Police Museum Visit This year we were able to visit the fascinating Police Museum, set in delightful grounds at Sulhamstead.
September 11	Luke Over	The Railway Comes to Maidenhead We welcomed back Luke to tell us about the early history of the Great Western Railway in our area.
October 9	Down Memory Lane	Crazies Hill Memories This year our Down Memory Lane looked specifically at the Crazies Hill, Cockpole Green and Upper Culham part of the parish.
November 13	Tina Marinos	Wokingham Tina spoke of the history of this old and interesting local town .
December 11	Alan Copeland	Christmas Party Alan entertained us with a presentation of "Curiosities on your Doorstep"
2002
January 8	Angela Spencer-Harper	Dipping into the Wells Angela spoke about the history of the Chiltern villages of Stoke Row and Highmoor
February 12	Sheila and Patrick Rooney	Fires of Windsor Castle The 1992 fire was the latest of several that Sheila and Patrick told us about, as well as the restoration work that was then needed.
April 9	Ted Wallington	The Air Transport Auxiliary Ted talked about this important war-time group, which had its base at nearby White Waltham.
May 14	Jane Bowen	Henley from the Wargrave Road Jane (curator of the River and Rowing Museum) talked about the museum, its history and development, and plans for the future. The A'Bear family gathering Around 80 members of the family held a reunion.
June 18	Society Visit	Whitchurch Silk Mill An afternoon visit to this working survival of the industrial revolution
July 23	Peter Symons	Wargrave and Shiplake Regatta A talk about the history and running of this important village event.
September 10	Matthew Williams	Huntley and Palmers A talk about this important and famous local business.
October 8	Prof. Michael Fulford	Silchester Professor Fulford talked about this Roman town (the nearest to Wargrave) in the light of the current excavations.
November 12	Ken Goatley	Wokingham Past and Present Ken showed us part one of this history of this local market town, with present day views as well as old ones
December 10		Christmas Party
2003
January 14	Ken Goatley	Wokingham Past and Present Ken showed us part two of this history of this local market town, with present day views as well as old ones
February 11	Angela Spencer-Harper	Dipping into the Wells - (Pt 2) Angela returned to tell us more about the history of the Chiltern villages of Stoke Row and Highmoor
March 11		Annual General Meeting The President, Lord Remnant, led a discussion on changes in Wargrave over the last 50 years.
April 8	Trevor Ottlewski	Timber Framed Buildings Trevor talked about the design of these buildings, and the tools and methods used in their construction
May 13	Rosalind Adams	Walton Adams This local family of photographers - Walton, Marcus and Gilbert Adams - were noted Royal photographers, as well as recording local subjects - and for a while lived in Wargrave.
June	Historic Walks	Historic Village Walk As part of the Village Festival, the Society organised two walks, one of them followed by supper and a quiz in The White Hart.
July 8	Outing	Taplow Court A private afternoon visit.
September 9	Brian Eighteen	Rural Life Brian returned to talk to us this time about rural lives, illutrated by views from old postcards.
October 14	Theo Ziffo	The Motor Industry in the Thames Valley Theo spoke about the history of some of the motor manufacturing companies that have existed in this area from Dagenham to Oxford.
November 11	Bruce Maidment Tom Berman	Hennerton and the Backwater Bruce and Tom told us about this peaceful area of the village.
December 9	Christmas Party	Christmas Party Members met over a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie to view some interesting slides of previous Society visits from Geoff Brigg's collection.
2004
January 13	Margaret Houlbrooke	The History of the Suffragettes Margaret has made a special study of the Suffragettes (who - reputedly - caused the fire at St Mary's Wargrave in 1914)
February 10	Bob Whiteley	The Woodclyffe Almshouses Bob has researched the Almshouses, and shared with us their history and what previously occupied the site
March 9	AGM	The Annual General Meeting Followed by a chance to look at a number of objects and photographs relevant to our village history, brought by our members.
April 13	Geoff Briggs and David Bounds	Henley Ancient and Modern Geoff & David showed us one of their special audio-visual presentaions, this one concentrating on the local market town of Henley
May 11	Colin Henwood	Traditional Boatbulding on the Thames Colin is a boatbuilder specialising in traditional Thames boats, and told us about some of the historically interesting boats of the River Thames.
June 8	David Nash Ford	The A’Bear Family David talked to us about his research into the history of the A’Bear family, who lived in Wargrave for over 600 years.
July 7	Outing	An outing to the Pendon Museum followed by tea at Dorchester Abbey and a chance to hear about the recent archaeological and restoration work.
September 14	Ann Bushnell	The Piggott Infant School The School moved about 40 years ago from Victoria Road to Beverley Gardens. Ann (Headmistress for much of that period) shared with us her memories of the school, at both sites.
October 12	Patrick Fennessey	The Skiff Rowing Association Patrick told us about skiff and punting activities on the River Thames.
November 9	Sandra Swan	The Wargrave Surgery Sandra told us about the changes that occurred in her time as one of our village doctors
December 14	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2005
January 11	Margaret Railton	Waltham St. Lawrence Margaret told us this time about the neighbouring village of Waltham St Lawrence
February 8	Ron Smith	Edwin Lutyens and his Two Ladies The famous architect, Edwin Lutyens had several Wargrave connections - both of his work and people he knew.
March 8	AGM	The Annual General Meeting Followed by another of Geoff Briggs' excellent tape/slide presentations on the village.
April 12	Jean Debney	What's In a Name? Jean, a well known family historian and broadcaster, spoke to us about the meanings of members' surnames
May 10	Michael Bayley	The Survival of Lowland British Words and Phrases Michael told us about the spoken language, as used by local farm workers, 100 years or so ago.
June	Wargrave Village Festival	Historic Village Walks on June 7th and 12th Festival Fete and Parade on June 18th
July 12	Local History Visit	An Outing to Milestones Museum at Basingstoke
September 13	John Dearing	Hymn Writers Connected with Berkshire John told us about several of the local hymn writers - with a chance to sing some of their work!
October 11	Margaret Houlbrooke	Decades of Discipline Margaret told us about life in the workhouses and the punishments therein, with examples from local institutions.
November 8	Alan Copeland	Curiosities in the Chilterns Alan returned to show us more of the "unusual" - this time in the area from Reading, Windsor, Amersham and Beaconsfield.
December 13	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2006
January 10	John Gimblett Ian Small	The Commonwealth War Graves Commission John and Ian told us about their records of those who "died in the service of their country".
February 14	Maurice Owen	Wargrave's Gardens and Gardeners Maurice recounted his memories of the grand gardens of Wargrave and some of the characters who lived and worked there.
March 14	A G M	The Annual General Meeting Followed by a chance to look at a number of objects and photographs relevant to our village history, brought by our members.
2006
April 11	John Chapman	Postal History of Reading John spoke about the development of the postal services with examples from the Reading area
May 9	Paul Lacey	Thames Valley Traction Paul told us more about the ‘local’ bus company, in the 1920s and 30s this time.
June 13	Edward Fox	Wheelwrights as a Rural Craft Edward is a skilled wheelwright, and told us about this now rare rural craft
July 11	Local History Visit	A special conducted tour of Eton College , including the College Chapel, College Hall Upper School and Lower School and the Museum of Eton Life
September 12	Colin Hennell	Metal Detectors - History beneath our feet. Colin explained the ways in which a metal detector can help us discover some of our history, the legal position, and showed examples of what can be found.
October 10	Andrew Hutt	Dovecotes and Pigeon Lofts of Old Berkshire Andrew explained the history of pigeon keeping, dovecotes and pigeon lofts in Berkshire, based on evidence from the surviving buildings and historical records.
November 14	Brian Boulter	The Stagecoach Era Stage coaches used to carry people on longer journeys along the Bath Road, and Brian returns to tell us about this way of travelling. Unfortunately Brian had to cancel this visit to speak to us. Instead, the meeting was a slide programme consisting of a brand new set of "Images of Wargrave Then and Now".
December 12	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2007
January 9	Tony Weston	Secrets of the Box Tony inherited a family writing desk - and within a secret compartment were documents dating from the 1820s.
February 13	The WLHS Team	"Researching Your Ancestree" Maybe you have been watching "Who Do You Think You Are?" on television, or have been wanting to find out who your ancestors are, or build your family tree. But how do you get started? What are the 'practical problems'? What are the 'traps for the unwary'? The Wargrave Local History Society presented an introduction to the process of tracing your family history, with practical advice and illustrated by examples of interest. There were ideas on how to get started, what kind of records are useful, where to look, etc given by members who are actively involved in this kind of research.
March 13	A G M	The Annual General Meeting Followed by a slide programme consisting of the second part of the new set of "Images of Wargrave Then and Now".
April 10	Tony King	Victorian Shopping Tony took us on a shopping trip as it would have been in Victorian times.
May 8	Laureen Williamson	The History of Housework Laureen came back to talk to us about the way domestic tasks have changed over the years
June		Village Festival The Society conducted a Local History walk on 13th June, and participated in the Festival Parade and Fete on 23rd June.
July 10	Local History Visit	Visit to Highclere Castle, near Newbury. The home of the Earl of Carnarvon with grand rooms, pleasant gardens and a museum relating to Howard Carter's Tutankhamun discoveries.
September 11	Cameron Floate	Policing the Village Cameron was our village policeman in the 1950s and 60s, and shared his memories which are an interesting comparison with the present day.
October 9	Pam Cardy	Sheeplands Farm and Farm Shop Pam told us about the development of the farm and the farm shop, which have been part of the village for 44 and 26 years respectively.
November 13	Trevor Ottlewski	Wokingham's Town Halls The present town hall in Wokingham is not the first, and Trevor told us about the history of the earlier building as well as the present one.
December 11	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2008
January 8	David Embling	History of English Furniture David is an experienced cabinet maker, who specialises in restoring English furniture, and he told us about this, illustrated by examples he has worked on.
February 12	Joan Dils	Victorian Earley In another of our series about the communities around Wargrave, Joan talked about the area that is now modern housing, as it was in the 19th Century.
March 11	A G M	The Annual General Meeting A small amount of business followed by "an item of special local interest" - a first view of some of the Postcards from The Bird Collection
April 8	Dr Jill Greenaway	Secrets from the Depths Jill Greenaway, from the Museum of Reading, told us about items from the Thames water collection.
May 13	Jill Wallace Gabi Bolton	Caversham Park Two representatives from BBC Monitoring told us about the history of this large imposing house overlooking the Thames and the work of their unit there.
June 10	Tony Barker	The Wargrave News Will be 30 years old this year, and Tony, who has been involved in its editing and managament, told us of the history and development of our "village newspaper"
July 8	Local History Visit	Visit to The Vyne Sherborne St. John - the National Trust 16th century house and grounds with its Tudor Chapel.
September 9	Brian Boulter	The Stage Coach Era Stage coaches used to carry people on longer journeys along the Bath Road, and Brian returned to tell us about this way of travelling
October 14	Michael Pooley	Shiplake Lock Island "Comments on an unusual way of life" - Michael spoke about the unique way the Islanders enjoy the open air, river and locality of Wargrave and Shiplake.
November 11	David Lee	Wessex Film and Sound Archive David brought films from the Wessex Film and Sound Archive, including some local items, to show us.
December 9	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2009
January 13	Peter Johnson	Hare Hatch Peter was for many years the Farm Manager for Bear Place Farm, and spok about aspects of the history of Hare Hartch, and the possible lines of local rivers in thr area
February 10	John Ratings	Memories of a Vicar One year on from his retirement, John recalled some of the events and activities in the village with which he has been associated.
March 10	A G M	The Annual General Meeting A small amount of business followed by "an item of special local interest" - a trip "Down Memory Lane" with some long term residents of the Village.
April 14	Angela Spencer-Harper	The Old Place Angela returned to tell us this time about historical artefacts found in south-east Oxfordshire, as recorded in her latest book.
May 12	Stephen Loyd	Ruscombe Wood Stephen told us about the natural history and conservation work being done in Ruscombe Wood.
June 14/27	Village Festival	The Wargrave Village Festival The Society again providied an Historic Walk of Wargrave , on June 14th, and took part in the Village Festival fete day.
July 14	Local History Visit	Milton Manor House This year we have an exclusive visit to an elegant 18th century house built by Inigo Jones for Bryant Barrett, lacemaker to King George III. The house is set in a splendid garden location with two lakes and enjoyable woodland walks, and we have arranged for a special guided tour and tea for Wargrave Local History Society.
September 8	Martin Bishop	Bats, Balls and Biscuits The Huntley and Palmer's biscuit factory cricket team is the focus of this look at the social and economic history of the company workers, and the development of cricket locally.
October 13	Sarah Charlton	Berkshire Manorial Records Berkshire had over 350 manors, and records survive for over 250 of them - a useful source for family and local history of the communities over which their landowners had legal control. Sarah is the project officer indexing the Berkshire and Buckinghamshire manorial documents and told us about them and how to locate them.
November 10	Bill Bookless	Wargrave Scouts The Wargrave Scout Troop was formed in 1909 (one of the earliest in the country), and so is celebrating its centenary this year. Bill nad Nigel Board spoke on some aspects of its history and current activities.
December 8	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2010
January 12	Ted Fox	My Life as a Countryman Ted has worked in the countryside all his life and shared some more of his memories with us.
February 9	Dick Bush	A stroll through my life as a farmer, and the work of a Parish Council Dick (and his family) has farmed in Wargrave; he is also chairman of the Wargrave Parish Council and will give an insight into its work.
March 9	A G M	The Annual General Meeting After normal business, a presentation was made of some of the contents of three Victorian Photo Albums of Harriette Cooke Smith.
April 13	Maureen Fennemore and Judi Rowlands	How to source and prepare costumes for Wargrave Theatre Workshop productions. Maureen and Judi gave us an insight into how they research and produce the costumes for the Wargrave Theatre Workshop’s productions in the village.
April 27	Stephen Loyd	Walk of Ruscombe Woods Stephen will take us on a walk to discover many of the flora that grow in this protected woodland.
May 11	Geoff Horsnell	Shiplake Lock Geoff gave us an insight into his role as a lock-keeper on the Thames.
June 8	Michael Parsons	Brakspear Brewery Michael - who was Managing Director at the brewery - told us of the history of this famous local firm.
July 7	Local History Visit	Science Museum at Wroughton This year we arranged for a visit to the rarely open Science Museum site at Wroughton, including the large object store and archives there.
September 14	Marshall Barr	The Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals Marshall Barr - chairman of the Berkshire Medical Heritage Centre - told us about the history of the principal hospital for our area.
October 12	David Poynter and Chris Wood	The Robert Piggott Junior School David is a former Headmaster of our village junior school, and recounted some of his memories from his time on School Hill. Chris Wood worked with another former Headmaster, Adrian Downton, and recalled that period as well.
November 9	Tony Weston	A Woman in Wax Tony told of Madame Tussaud and the famous waxworks
December 14	Christmas Party	Christmas Party "What do you think this is?" questions - and some answers.
2011
January 11	Duncan MacKay	The Secret Thames Duncan - who worked with the Environment Agency - will tell us about less obvious aspects of the Thames.
February 8	Trevor Ottlewski	History of Domestic Lighting Trevor returned to give us another of his informative - and illuminating - talks.
March 8	A G M	The Annual General Meeting
April 12	Tony King	The Old Bath Road Tony returned to give us another of his presentations, this time taking us on a journey along the historic Old Bath Road from London as far as Reading.
May 10	Gerry Westall	Suttons Seeds Gerry was a long term employee of Suttons Seeds, and showed us two films about the work that went on there - one of the 3 'B's' of Reading.
June 12		Village Festival - Historic Village Walks Once again, as part of the Wargrave Village Festival, the Society offered a chance to walk the historic centre of the village, and hear about the people, places and events of time past. Umbrellas were essential!
July 5	Local History Visit	Stonor House This year we had a private guided tour of Stonor House - a fascinating collection of medieval buildings behind a Georgian facade in Oxfordshire, and home of the Camoys family for 850 years.
September 13	Peter Smith	The Royal State Coaches Peter has made detailed scale models of the Royal State Coaches, and uses these to illustrate the characteristics and uses of these magnificent carriages.
October 11	Geoff Brooks	Memories of Cockpole Green Geoff was born and brought up in Cockpole Green, and shared some of his memories of time past in this part of our parish.
November 8	Derek Brown	Consuta Derek told us about the work of the Consuta Trust, of which he is a trustee which has restored to working condition the old steam launch built to umpire rowing races at The Henley Royal Regatta.
December 13	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2012
January 10	Rob Needham	Wargrave Bells and Bellringing Rob is involved with bell ringing locally, and told us about the history of the Wargrave church bells and the art of bellringing.
February 14	Marion Pope	Memories of my time in Wargrave Marion has long been involved in village life - from Scouting to the Bowls Club, and her long service on the Parish Council, and she recounted some of her memories of village life, and how it has changed, over that time.
March 13	A G M	The Annual General Meeting
April 10	John Coulson	The Crofton Beam Engines The water supply to the Kennet and Avon Canal is provided by the Crofton Beam Engines. They are the oldest surviving such engines still doing the task for which they were built - the one built by Boulton and Watt this year celebrating its 200th anniversary. John gave us an insight into their fascinating story.
May 8	Ann Armstrong	Life in the Land Army Ann told us about her experiences as a member of the Land Army during World War II.
May 16	Ann Griffin	Historic Walk around Cookham
June 12	Ann Griffin	Cookham Paddock 2005 Excavation An archaeological excavation took place in 2005 of the paddock adjacent to Holy Trinity Church at Cookham, and Ann with Joy Blake told us about the discoveries made there.
July 3	Local History Visit	Fawley Hill Railway and Museum This year Society members visited the museum and railway of Sir William McAlpine, at Fawley Hill, for a private tour, followed by afternoon tea in the station.
September 11	Geoff and Val Beckett	Berkshire Lady Fliers Geoff and Val presented stories photographs and paintings of lady aviators in Berkshire.
October 9	Prof Ted Collins	Horses on and off the Farm Professor Collins, who is the President of the Berkshire Local History Association, explored the ways in which working horses were used both in the agricultural setting and within towns.
November 13	Clive Williams OBE	The Nabobs of Berkshire Clive, author of the recent book on the subject, told us about the Nabobs of Berkshire - merchants of the East India Company who subsequently returned to Britain, and mostly settling in the Thames Valley, where they built large mansions - many of which still survive in Berkshire.
December 11	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2013
January 8	Brian Armstrong	Experiences of a Rowing Coach Brian is a coach for the England Rowing team, and spoke about his involvement with them - including the preparations for the 2012 Olympics.
February 12	Aldon Ferguson	Local Airfields Aldon is an aviation historian, and enlightened us about local airfields in Berkshire - the not so well known as well as the well known ones .
March 12	A G M	The Annual General Meeting; 1840 Tithe Map & Terrier Following the formal part of the meeting, a presentation by Philip Smith on the history of his house in the village, and people who had lived there, was shown, and then Peter Delaney and Richard Lloyd showed how the Wargrave tithe map and its associated terrier (together making the earliest fully detailed survey of the village) and the 1841 census could be used to discover much about the village's inhabitants and the use of the land at that time.
April 9	Michael Aris & Neville White	The The Duke of Wellington's Country House at Stratfield Saye The Duke of Wellington is famous, of course, as victor at the Battle of Waterloo. His 'reward' from the country for doing so enabled him to acquire Stratfield Saye, as his country home and Michael and Neville recalled both the history of the man and the house.
May 14	Leslie Grout	St George's Chapel, Windsor Leslie, a local historian and 'Blue Badge' guide to Windsor Castle, shared his detailed knowledge of St George's Chapel with us. (It was his 'specialist subject' when he won Mastermind!).
June 22		Village Festival History Exhibition A chance to see items from our archive, showing how the village has changed over the last hundred years or more, on display in the Woodclyffe Hall.
June 23		Village Festival - Historic Village Walk As part of the Wargrave Village Festival, the Society again conducted a walk in the historic village centre, to hear about the people, places and events of time past.
July 10	Local History Visit	Hughenden Manor This year we will visit Hughenden, home to the 19th century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. We can also find out about the top-secret war-time activities there, and - being a WLHS visit - we will then have afternoon tea in the Manor Tea-room.
September 10	Mildred Cookson	The Life and Times of a Miller at Mapledurham Mildred, who is involved with the Mills Archive Trust, was the miller at Mapledurham, the only still working water mill on the Thames, for many years, and so uniquely qualified to tell the story of milling there.
October 8	Norman Rees	Experiences as an ITN Reporter Norman was an ITN reporter, and he recalled some of his experiences reporting from many of the world's troublespots, and also for many years as ITN's Washington correspondent.
November 12	Dr. Elise Fraser	The Archaeology of Silchester Silchester is the site of a large Roman settlement, and Elise is the finds manager for the archaeological excavations there. She can, therefore, give us a special insight into life in the Roman town.
December 10	Christmas Party	Christmas Party Including excerpts from George Beck's Diary and "old and new" photographs of the changing face of Wargrave.
2014
January 14	Fred Freeman	Life as the Village Chemist Fred was for many years Wargrave's pharmacist, at first in the High Street before moving to Victoria Road, and recounted some of his memories serving the village.
February 11	Patsy Roynon	History of Loddon Drive The area around the mouth of the River Loddon was developed during the 20th century, and Loddon Drive resident Patsy escaped from the floods to tell us about the history of Loddon Drive and the houses there.
March 11	A G M	The Annual General Meeting Following the formal part of the meeting, presentations by Philip Smith on the history of the Woodclyffe Allotments and by Geoff Briggs on the Silver family of Wargrave and Magic Lanterns were shown, followed by a video of the recent flooding of the Rivers Thames and Loddon, by kind permission of the Henley Standard.
April 8	Elizabeth Hazeldine	Fillets Court and the Families who Passed Through the Estate Elizabeth told us about the history of Fillets Court at Henley - the location of a house from the 14th century which is now the site of Phyllis Court.
May 13	Caroline Stanford	The Work of the Landmark Trust Caroline's illustrated talk about the Trust's work and latest projects. Based at White Waltham, it has been saving historic buildings at risk for nearly 50 years, restoring them to the highest standards and giving them a new future by letting them for holidays, and now cares for almost 200 amazing buildings and sites across Britain and beyond.
June 10	Mark Stevens	Broadmoor Mark is senior archivist at the Berkshire Record Office, and has made a special study of the Broadmoor Hospital, and shared with us the history of this special institution.
June 25	Local History Visit	Bentley Priory Bentley Priory is an 18th century house built on the site of an Augustinian Priory, and was the Headquarters of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain in 1940. We visited the newly opened museum there, set up as a permanent memorial to those who served in the Royal Air Force and fought in the Battle.
September 9	Joan Dils	Tudor and Stuart Feasts Well known local historian Joan returns to tell us about life in Tudor and Stuart Berkshire, based on the contemporary accounts of events and festivals.
October 14	Barbara Askew	The Windsor Fire Restoration Following the disastrous fire at Windsor Castle in November 1992, there was a major project to restore the building to its former glory, and Barbara showes us howthis was achieved.
November 11	Dr. Christina Hill-Williams	The History and Role of the High Sheriff of Berkshire Christina, as a former High Sheriff of Berkshire, gave us a personal insight into the history and duties of this ancient office.
December 9	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2015
January 13	Trevor Ottlewski	Purpose-built Villages Not all villages are old established like Wargrave, and Trevor told us about some of the villages that were specially created by wealthy philanthropists in the last 200 years
February 10	Peter Hearn	Hennerton from Eggs to Golf Balls Peter told us about the ways in which the family business diversified from farming to a successful golf club.
March 10	A G M	The Annual General Meeting
April 14	Dr. Phillada Ballard	Culham Court Culham Court stands in what was the northern part of the parish of Wargrave (although now within Remenham), and Dr Ballard has made a special study of the property and its owners, and enlightened us about its history over several centuries.
May 12	Sheila Viner	Water Mills on the Thames andLoddon Sheila is actively involved in the Mills Archive Trust, and in the history and restoration of water mills. She told us about many of the mills that used to exist along our two local rivers
June 14	Local History Walk	Village Festival The walk took us around Mill Green, Church Street and the High Street, when stories about some of the historic buildings and their occupants were recounted.
June 17	Thomas Plant	Village Festival Well known antiques expert Thomas Plant - familiar to many from several television series - gave us an insight into his work as an antiques and collectables valuer and auctioneer. As part of the Wargrave Village Festival, this took place in the Woodclyffe Hall.
July 14	Local History Visit	Bletchley Park This year we spent the day visiting Bletchley Park, home of the codebreakers during WW2. There is an extensive range of buildings, and the displays include the 'Bombe' used to help crack the Enigma code.
September 8	David Ward	The Geology of Bowsey Hill David described the structure of Bowsey Hill, rising to the east of the village - its soil and the rocks beneath us, which affect the crops that grow, the minerals available for buildings, and so on, which are the foundations of our local history.
October 13	Roy Sheppard	The History of Postcard Collecting Roy is a local postcard collector and dealer, and leading member of the Reading Cigarette Card and Postcard Club and will tell us how postcard collecting began, and how it has changed over the years.
November 10	Anthony Poulton-Smith	Berkshire Place Names Anthony is the author of a recent book on Berkshire's place names, their origins, meanings, and how they have changed.
December 8	Christmas Party	Christmas Party A celebration of Christmas customs over the millennia
2016
January 12	Phil Davis	Families and Aspects of the History of Hennerton Phil has been researching the history of the house at Hennerton, and some of those - notably the Rhodes family - who lived there. Their lives impacted on more than just the local area, and Phil shared with us what he has discovered about six such characters.
February 9	Ann Griffin	Large, Dark and Handsome - The Revd James Austen Leigh of Knowl Hill Ann has gathered together aspects of the Austen Leigh famiily of Scarletts, Kiln Green (with its connections to Jane Austen) and the building of St Peter's Church in Knowl Hill.
March 8	A G M	The Annual General Meeting Review of the year, followed by John Fryer reminiscing on his life in Wargrave before and just after the War.
April 12	Ann Smith	100 Years of Reading Shopping Ann is one of the librarians at Reading Central Library, and has made a study of shops and shopping over the past century, and told us of their history, the changes in shopping habits.
May 10	Valerie Alasia	Henley Workhouse - the Story of Townlands Valerie, a Henley local historian, told us about the history of, and life in, Henley's Workhouse.
June 14	David Williams	The Work of the Finds Liaison Officer Thousands of archaeological objects are discovered by metal-detector users and members of the public every year. These finds can tell us about the past - how and where people used to live and the types of objects they made and used. The Portable Antiquities Scheme ensures these are recorded, which is the work of the Finds Liaison Officer, and David is the person responsible for East Berkshire (and Surrey), and told us of his work, and some of the items discovered.
July 12	Local History Visit	Chawton This year we visited Chawton, once home of Jane Austen (Jane's aunt and uncle had lived in Wargrave and another relation was vicar of Wargrave). In the morning, we have a guided visit to Chawton House, an interesting house, housing the Chawton House Library, and then after a break for lunch, we visited the Jane Austen House Museum in the afternoon.
September 13	Peter Delaney	Wargravians and World War 1 The village war memorial records the names of those who died during the war, but they were not the only villagers involved in 1914-18. We heard about some of those who died and some of those who survived the conflict.
October 11	Sue Hourigan	The Preservation of Archive Records Sue is the conservationist at the Berkshire Record Office, and told us about the ways in which the archives are preserved for the future.
November 8	Barbara Ratings	My Experiences as a Vicar's Wife from Germany Barbara shared some of her recollections of life at the vicarage - from her perspective of one who was not familiar with the vicarage, let alone English village life. What were the expectations in 1971? Cucumber sandwiches on the vicarage lawn? How did she learn what to do with "church hankies"? Whatever was she expected to reply when asked by a parishioner "Is Father in?" Are Anglicans Protestants or Catholics? Why could nobody she asked in Germany tell her what the Church of England was about?
December 13	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2017
January 10	Daniel Wood	Boats of the River Thames Dan - who grew up in Wargrave, and worked on the river - recounted some of his experiences of times on the river.
February 14	Graham Jones	The Lambourn Valley Railway The railway branch through this part of Berkshire was not promoted by one of the 'big companies'. It had a special kind of traffic from the start - and a different special kind of traffic at the end of its life. Graham told us about the life of railway and some of the people associated with it.
March 14	A G M	The Annual General Meeting Following the Annual General Meeting, Peter Symons spoke about the history of the Wargrave and Shiplake Regatta.
April 11	George Rawlinson	Wargrave 535 George, now operations director for the RNLI, grew up in Wargrave, and shared some of his memories of the village at that time with us.
May 9	Peter Trout	Airships Peter told us about the early history of airships
WARGRAVE VILLAGE FESTIVAL
June 11		Historic Village Walk
June 15	Thomas Plant	"More about Antiques" (Click here for information on ticket availability for both these events)
July 19	Local History Visit	Kingston Bagpuize This year we had an afternoon visit to Kingston Bagpuize House, an interesting manor house and gardens that was also featured in the television series Downton Abbey
August 10	Local History Walk	Wallingford As an additional 'social' event, we will have a guided afternoon walk of historic Wallingford
September 12	Wendy England and Judy Palmer.	The Berkshire Women's Institute There have been several branches of the WI within the parish of Wargrave, and within the County as a whole their history stretches back a century or so
October 10	Martin Andrews	Fox-Talbot in Reading William Henry Fox-Talbot is famous for his pioneering work on photography. What is less well known is his connection to the Reading area, and Martin told us about the town's place in the development of photography.
November 14	John Harrison	Living Heritage John leads the team of bell ringers at All Saints, Wokingham, and he told us about the social history of bell ringing and the lives and times of ringers in an English market town from the 18th century to the modern era.
December 12	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2018
January 9	Mick Pope	Activities around the Recreation Ground Mick has belonged to a wide variety of sports teams within the village, and recounted some of his memories of Wargrave's sporting and other leisure activities on the Recreation Ground
February 13	Catherine Sampson	Berkshire Churches Catherine gave us a glimpse at some of the many historical, unusual and sometimes hidden churches and churchyards, including some of our most historic small churches, in and around Berkshire and the people associated with them.
March 13	Peter Halman	A Stroll in the Park The story of England's royal, private and public parks.
April 10	Clive Williams	Shire Hall Remembered Clive was the County Secretaqry and County SOlicitor for the Berkshire County Council, and explained some of its history and operation
May 8	Peter Delaney	Robert Piggott and the Wargrave Schools An illustrated presentation about the local schools by the Society's Secretary, a former master at the Piggott School.
June 12	Ian Wheeler	Fairmile Hospital - a Victorian Asylum Ian is the author of the recent book on Fairmile Hospital, at Cholsey, which from 1870 to 2003 provided for Berkshire patients with mental health issues.
July 11	Local History Visit	Dorney Court This year we visited the Tudor mansion, parts dating from 1440, and home to the Palmer family for well over 450 years
September 11	Joe and Joy Haynes	Wargrave Theatre Workshop Joe and Joy told us about this now well established part of the village community, founded in 1975, along with the first Village Festival.
October 9	Paul Lacey	Smith's of Reading Smith's distinctive blue and orange coaches are well remembered, andlocal historian and author Paul Lacey told us of their history.
November 13	David Lewis	Old Windsor - The history of Old Windsor - the longer-established neighbour of better-known New Windsor with its castle.
December 11	Chrismas Party	Christmas Party.
2019
January 8	Audrey Curtis	Twyford and Ruscombe. Audrey, secretary of the Twyford and Ruscombe Local History Society, is author of the recent book about these two neighbouring villages, and told us of the people, places and events associated with them.
February 12	Graham Horn	History and Restoration of the Kennet and Avon Canal The canal was a busy means of transport, linking Reading to Bath, and Graham told us of its history, from its inception to its heyday, its decline and subsequent restoration.
March 12	A G M	The Annual General Meeting.
April 9	Brian Armstrong	Leander Club This meeting took place at The Leander Club, which was formed in 1818. Brian recounted the main events of its 200 years history, and following that, Society members were given a tour of the Club.
May 14	Dr Stephanie Duensing, and Dr Ceri Boston	Wargrave Churchyard Excavations Stephanie was the archaeologist for the Wargrave Churchyard excavations in early 2018, whilst Ceri made the analysis of the bones that were discovered, and they will tell us something of their work and conclusions which can be drawn from the finds about mediaeval Wargravians.
June 16		Historic Village Walk
June 18	Thomas Forrester	'The Magic of the Auction ' An evening with the Auctioneer Thomas Forrester (formerly Thomas Plant).
July 10	Local History Visit	Selborne This year we visited the Gilbert White House (Gilbert White's 18th century book on the Natural History of Selborne is a classic) and gardens, and the adjacent Oates Museum (about the Victorian explorer Frank, and Lawrence's expedition to the south pole), followed by afternoon tea, of course.
September 10	Mark Puddy	History of the NHS The NHS was founded just over 70 years ago, and village doctor Mark explored an aspect of its history for us.
October 9	Linda Humphrey-Evans	Caversham Court and its Gardens, and the families who lived there Although now-a-days only the Thames-side gardens remain, the origins of Caversham Court date back to the 12th century. We heard something of the history of the site, and also of the families who lived there.
November 12	Diana Coulter	Sonning: The History Explored Through 10 Buildings Diana, who has long been involved with the Sonning and Sonning Eye Society, told us of the story of our neighbouring parish by considering the history of 10 specific buildings.
December 10	Christmas Party	Christmas Party. Followed by Recollectons & Ramblings from Tim Hodges.
2020
January 14	Aldon Ferguson	The Role of Women at Danesfield and Phyllis Court in Photographic Interpretation in WWII. Danesfield was the centre of interpretation for all Allied aerial photography in Europe in WWII, and Aldon shared with us his research into some of the vital work that they carried out.
February 11	Catherine Sampson	Georgian Cooking Local historian Catherine made a return visit, and this time she gave us an insight into the recipes used in the Georgian era.
March 10	A G M	The Annual General Meeting. Annual Meeting and a diip into the Society's Archives