As part of the Wargrave Village Festival, the Wargrave Local History Society arranged an Historic Wargrave Exhibition, in the Woodclyffe Hall.
On display were documents from 1635 to recent times, photographs from the 1870s to 2022, and a variety of objects relating to Wargrave’s past, including timber and bell-metal medallions from the 1914 church fire, part of the B17 Flying Fortress that crashed over Wargrave in 1943, and items relating to local businesses, amongst many others.
The topics covered ranged from the growth of the village, a history of the church, the village schools, wartime effects on Wargrave, to particular areas, such as the river, Victoria Road or the High Street, and a variety of activities including a wide range of sports, the history of the Wargrave Village Festival itself, and village public houses.
Visitors ranged from ‘under five’ to ‘over 90’, and included the Maidenhead MP Theresa May, who studied many of the items with interest.
The following day, the society also conducted the ever-popular Historic Village Walk, taking in the Mill Green, church and High Street areas.
Participants – some long-time village residents, and others more recently arrived, including a family from Ukraine – heard about people and events from Wargrave’s past, and the places associated with them, as they had a gentle stroll.
The Society will be present at the Wargrave Village Festival Fete, on Saturday, June 25 on Mill Green, where they will be able to buy books about Wargrave’s history at special Village Festival bargain prices!
More details of the Society can be found at www.wargravehistory.org.uk – or email info@wargravehistory.org.uk to confirm meeting details.
PETER DELANEY
