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River Loddon – once a navigable waterway
The area surrounding Wokingham is usually considered to have been a secluded region until the development of the road and… Read more…
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What was in the Wokingham news during the Great War ?
These articles are all taken from one of the area’s principal newspapers, “The Reading Mercury (also including Oxford Gazette, Newbury… Read more…
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BBC Radio Berkshire 2nd interview with Wokingham Remembers.
In this second interview, Sarah Huxford and Mike Churcher talks to BBC's Mike Read about the emergence of the symbols… Read more…
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BBC's 'Birdsong' and the story of the miners in The Great War
Birdsong has completed its two episodes on the BBC. Author, Sebastian Faulkes tells us of a story about a soldier… Read more…
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Incredible website to incredible maps!
Arborfield historian Steve Bacon, sent a link to an incredible website which overlays old maps onto new ones ! The… Read more…
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Cecil and Ken discuss the schools which existed in the first half of the 20th Century. Cecil: "In 1914, when… Read more…
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Tales from the Dark Forest – Rosa Rose 1869
This week local historian ROGER LONG tells of the mysterious story of Rosa Rose, accused of murdering her son and… Read more…
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Wokingham Remembers articles for The Wokingham Paper
A heritage page was launched in March 2015 with the title Wokingham Remembers with the objective of telling the Wokingham… Read more…
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Names on St Sebastian's Roll of Honour: Whilst St Sebastian's does not have a War Memorial in the church, there… Read more…
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Cecil Culver's Wokingham. Three: Fun, Friendship, Fraternity.
Jim Bell's final instalment of the life of Cecil Culver tells us about how the Wokingham community organised its leisure and the… Read more…
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Recent Posts
Tag Archives: World War 1
1919 Victory ! Wokingham celebrates.
Local Historian, Jim Bell unearths this extensive coverage of Wokingham’s Armistice Celebrations: “On Saturday, Wokingham duly celebrated the peace. The proceedings commenced at 7 a.m., when peals were rung on the church bells. At 10 a.m. the town band commenced to … Continue reading
Hills Nicholson family: Four sons lost in two World Wars
The Nicholson family have no Wokingham street or building named after them and have sunk below the consciousness of today’s local community. In the 1800’s however, they lived in what is now the Cantley House Hotel and they invested in … Continue reading
Wokingham Families: The Purseys, Brants, Rances and Alexanders
Wokingham Families and the Great War. Recalling the 1914-18 war often involves descriptions of military strategy and the bewildering numbers who were killed or maimed on both sides. What is often lacking in the tomes of history is the impact … Continue reading
Remembrance Day – The Incredible Story
Written by Mike Churcher As we stand for the first of the two minute’s silence at 11 am, we try to contemplate those who fought and fell during all wars in all circumstances. The second minute is spent thinking about … Continue reading
What was in the Wokingham news during the Great War ?
These articles are all taken from one of the area’s principal newspapers, “The Reading Mercury (also including Oxford Gazette, Newbury Herald and Berks. County paper)” Each week the towns and villages surrounding Reading had sections in this paper devoted to … Continue reading
Chemical warfare starts October 1914.
Chemical warfare enters in October 1914. Sneezing powder. The Germans used 3,000 shells containing the Niespulver, mixed with shrapnel and sent over to the British and Indian troops at Neuve Chapelle. Although not highly effective (the British were not even … Continue reading
Winnie the Pooh and The Great War
Written by Mike. I’m not sure why we did it, but in 2003 my wife and I drove across Canada with our four year old son. It was a strange journey which included a 1000 miles of prairie land, bears racing … Continue reading
Bearwood Roll of Honour, St Catherine's Church.
Every now again we come across seemingly small pieces of information, which suddenly provides insights into the changing attitude to the war. At first it was about glory, fighting for one’s country, beating the Bosch and still be back in … Continue reading
BBC's 'Birdsong' and the story of the miners in The Great War
Birdsong has completed its two episodes on the BBC. Author, Sebastian Faulkes tells us of a story about a soldier who has been affected by the experience of war; from the battles of the Somme to Messines Ridge and Amiens. … Continue reading
The story of The Christmas Day Truce 1914
Many thanks to Wiki for this study of the amazing tale of the human family’s desire to express friendship during the first Christmas of the First World War: The 1914 Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires that … Continue reading