What&#x27;s on in West Stratton

Sun 12 Apr16:00St Margaret's(4.7mi)

Messy Easter

St Margaret's is putting on Messy Easter and, honestly, we reckon it's worth a look. Their site has the full story.

via St Margaret'sCurated

Sun 12 Apr18:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Evensong

Rev’d Jo Criscenti

Thu 16 Apr19:30The Royal Logistic Corps Museum(4.8mi)

Talk: Hampshire's Part-Time Soldiers

ROSE, CASTLE AND CROWN: HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT’S CITIZEN SOLDIERS This talk, based on the book written by Colonel (Retd) Patrick Crowley MBE DL, explores a unique history of the part-time soldier of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, from the time of the militia, yeomanry and volunteer, through to the Territorial Army and today’s Army Reserve. This is all placed in the wider context of the British Army’s history. The book tells the fascinating story of citizen soldiers woven through times of war and peace. It begins nearly 500 years ago with the raising of a militia that repulsed the French invasion of the Isle of Wight and continues with an examination of volunteers and the subsequent birth of the yeomanry in the late 18th century. Drawn from towns, villages and hamlets across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, volunteers have served at home and in numerous territories abroad: including the former Ottoman Empire, Burma, Siberia, France, Belgium, the Balkans, as well as post-9/11 Afghanistan and Iraq. Rose, Castle and Crown underscores the challenge and sacrifice that all military volunteers, throughout history, have had to make balancing the needs of service with family demands and their main civilian employment.

Free! (worth double-checking)

Talks & LecturesHistory & Heritage

Local History Advice Surgery

Meet a local expert at Wokingham Library who can answer your queries about the history of Wokingham borough.

Fri 17 Apr09:30Wokingham Library(5mi)

via Wokingham LibraryLocal gem

Sat 18 Apr09:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Foundations for the Future - St Mary's Micheldever is your church

Page 2 Reordering LeafletCome along to an informal meeting at the church for an opportunity to learn more about proposed improvements to the church building.

Sat 25 Apr09:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Foundations for the Future - St Mary's Micheldever is your church

Come along to an informal meeting at the church to learn more about proposed improvements to the church building.

Sat 2 May09:30St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Churchyard Spring Clear Up

All are welcome to help with the churchyard spring clear-up. Just pop in when you can between 9.30 and 12.30pm. Please come and help prepare the churchyard for the year ahead. Sweeping, mowing, tidying etc. Don’t forget to bring sturdy boots and gloves. Light refreshments provided.

Mon 4 May10:00The Royal Logistic Corps Museum(4.8mi)

Friends of King Alfred's Buses Running Day

We are delighted to be supporting the Friends of King Alfred’s Buses on their upcoming running day. On Monday May 4th their iconic green buses will once again be shuttling visitors from the town centre to the museum. We will be opening specially to welcome passengers into the museum. Free bus rides will start from the time-honoured departure point in the Broadway for King Alfred services, while the other buses will start their runs at the St Catherine’s Park & Ride site, picking up at the Guildhall on their way. All the details will be contained in the customary high-standard fully illustrated souvenir programme on sale from Friends of King Alfred’s Buses. Revenue from the sale of programmes supports the buses to continue to operate. More than sixty FoKAB members will be volunteering their services in all kinds of roles from driving and conducting, through marshalling to the all-important programme sales, whilst museum staff and volunteers will be ready to welcome you to our site in Worthy Down. Visit their website for full details.

Thu 7 May19:30The Royal Logistic Corps Museum(4.8mi)

Talk: Rise & Fall of the British Army

The Rise & Fall of the British Army In his new book The Rise and Fall of the British Army, 1975–2025, Ben Barry analyses how the British Army evolved over the last half century. He shows how the Army’s combat capability increased throughout the 1980s in the face of a prospective war with the Soviet Union. The Army was tested on operations from Northern Ireland, the Falklands War, the 1991 Gulf War, through the Balkans and Sierra Leone to Afghanistan in 2001 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. There followed two decades of descent from this high plateau of military success. Mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan led to a decline in support for military deployments. Cuts to defence funding and botched equipment procurements left the British Army of 2025 less than half the size of that of 1975, with much fighting equipment either obsolete or approaching obsolescence. There are lessons for the future from this half century of combat, continuity and change. The book identifies success factors for strategic leadership, innovation, adaptation and Army change programmes, as well as lessons from the Cold War relevant to the Army’s challenging new role in NATO. Brigadier Ben Barry Ben Barry is a Associate Fellow, Defence and Military Analysis. He joined the IISS in 2010, before which he served in the British Army.

Sun 10 May18:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Evensong

Rev’d Rob Rees & Rev’d Jo Criscenti

Thu 21 May10:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Plant Sale

We keep tabs on St Mary's Church so you don't have to. Plant Sale caught our eye — see if it catches yours.

Sun 7 Jun10:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Cafe Church

Rev’d Claire Bentham

Sun 14 Jun18:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Evensong

Rev. Jo Criscenti

Thu 18 Jun19:30The Royal Logistic Corps Museum(4.8mi)

Talk: Ring of Fire - A New Global History of the Outbreak of the First World War

Ring of Fire As war broke out in the summer of 1914, not a nation on Earth understood the magnitude of what they were about to face. To win it, whole populations had to be mobilised, and neutrality was impossible. The scale of destruction was unfathomable and no life was left unchanged. Our understanding of this complex conflict has been coloured by a blinkered approach to popular history. It has ignored the fact that Denmark actively participated in laying minefields as soon as war began; that the first British shots were fired in West Africa, by a black man; and that the first Australian casualties occurred not at Gallipoli, but in the Pacific. In this engaging evening talk, Alex explores her latest book – Ring of Fire: A New Global History of the Outbreak of the First World War – co-authored by Nicolai Eberholst. The authors of this radical new history have scoured the globe in search of an enormous quantity of fresh material. This is not history told by ‘great men’, this is a people’s view of the war. Eyewitness accounts translated from more than a dozen languages break new ground to reveal an inclusive, touching and surprising tale of events we thought we knew. Alex Churchill A Fellow of The Royal Historical Society, Alex is a full-time author and television historian specialising in military, royal and maritime history. Primarily Alex focuses on the First World War, but she has been known to dabble in the Second World War.

Sat 20 Jun13:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Micheldever Village Fete 2026

The 2026 Micheldever village fete will take place in June.

Sun 21 Jun18:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Dever Singers Summer Concert - The Sprig of Thyme by John Rutter

All welcome to attend a free concert at St Mary’s given by the Dever Singers in aid of St Mary’s church funds. John Rutter’s – The Sprig of Thyme and other folk songs Refreshments and bar. Dever Singers – Summer Concert – A Sprig of Thyme – John Rutter

Sun 26 Jul16:00St Mary's Church(1.3mi)

Messy Church

Rev’d Claire Bentham

Thu 30 Jul19:30The Royal Logistic Corps Museum(4.8mi)

Talk: The Work of the MOD War Detectives

The MOD War Detectives The MOD War Detectives are tasked with identifying missing British Service Personnel from the two World Wars and the Korean War. Working closely with partners including the Commonwealth War Graves Commission their work has two main strands – the identification of remains recently recovered from the battlefields, and the identification of those currently buried in graves marked ‘Known to God’. The potential candidates for a newly recovered casualty are first shortlisted using a range of archival sources before genealogical research is undertaken to establish descendants suitable for DNA testing. In these cases identity is confirmed only on the basis of successful DNA matching. For those buried as ‘Known to God’ identification is carried out only via archival research which has to prove the case to be clear and convincing, though genealogical research is carried out after the case is approved in order to notify the casualty’s next of kin. Whether or not it is possible to identify a newly found casualty, the War Detectives also organise a full military funeral for them – arranging their burial alongside their comrades in the CWGC cemeteries.