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Meeting programme

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month starting at 8pm

in the Old Pavilion, Recreation Ground, Wargrave, RG10 8BG

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If you would like to attend the meeting, please contact us so that we will know how many people to prepare refreshments for and how many chairs are needed
 

Wargrave Local History Society

2023 - 2024 meeting programme

Tuesday April 11th 2023

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Jane Burrell

Jane will give an overview of the CWGC from its founding and principles to the present day. She will illustrate this by showing the sites cared for in the UK and internationally, and explain how to find out where relatives are buried

Tuesday May 9th 2023

The History of Yeomanry House, Reading

Katie Amos

Set in the Castle Hill area of Reading, Yeomanry House was previously home to Berkshire Family History Society and the Berkshire Register office. Katie Amos will reveal the origin of its name, links to a school, the military and weddings

Tuesday June 13th 2023

Wycombe Unmasked

William Reid

Learn about the medieval welfare state and see the Wycombe remains; discover the bunker from where the US Army Air Force directed bombing operations over Europe in WW2 and hear about the first railway to arrive in town in 1854 designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Monday July 10th 2023

Local History Visit

Chiltern Open Air Museum

The museum contains a variety of buildings from the Chilterns area, from Reading northwards, that have been reconstructed on the museum site. We will have a guided tour, and then after our afternoon tea, there will be time to look again at items of particular interest

Tuesday September 12th 2023

History of Greyfriars Church, Reading

Malcolm Summers

Originally part of Reading’s Franciscan Friary, the church building has had a ‘chequered’ career, including being town hall, poor house and a prison. Starting with the medieval foundation, Malcolm Summers will tell the story of one of Reading’s oldest buildings

Tuesday October 10th 2023

Royal Blue coach services

Peter Delaney

Peter, the archivist for the Thames Valley and Great Western Omnibus Trust - who is also the society secretary - will recount the history of Royal Blue - from horse drawn carriages to the express coach services which ran to the holiday areas of the south and west of England

Tuesday November 14th 2023

Brunel and the Great Western Railway

Lionel Williams

Lionel Williams charts the years from the railways’ inception to the British Rail era. The talk looks at Brunel’s forward-thinking ideas and the legacy that he left, enabling the GWR to be one of the most progressive railways of its age

Tuesday December 12th 2023

Christmas Party Event

Lifting the Lid on Wargrave

Diane Evans

Diane Evans (née Ladd) will tell us about Wargrave through the eyes of a fourth-generation villager with stories of school and work in the village during the 1950s and 1960s. It's the place she will always call home

Tuesday January 9th 2024

Chalk, Caverns and Commandos

Rob Wallace

Rob will tell us of 100 million years of Reading’s underground history, from the creation of chalk in the area, to the opening of Emmer Green chalk mines in the 18th century, and the later uses of these underground chambers

Tuesday February 13th 2024

A History of Woodley

Ann Smith

Woodley grew from a village to a suburb of Reading in the 20th Century. It is famous for Miles Aircraft and the Aerodrome. Ann Smith will tell us about this and also reveal the earlier, hidden history of Woodley

Tuesday March 12th 2024

Annual General Meeting

© 2025 Wargrave Local History Society

Last updated: 5th February 2025

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