The Stoke Poges Society

The aim of the Society is the preservation and study of all matters relating to the history and development of Stoke Poges; to collate and preserve archive material and artefacts, and to make it available for members and other interested parties.

The Society holds about six events a year, including talks, visits, members’ evenings, and it is most keen to encourage members to research their own family, or road, or any other aspect of the Village that interests them, and share their findings with other members of the Society. (Click here for our programme of events.)   It will make available archive material to members. It also helps people around the world searching for family connections in the Village.

2021 sees a comprehensive Programme of Events to be enjoyed by many.
It is subject to change, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Our next event:

Thu 6 May 2021   7:30pm

  A talk on Zoom:  "We are CWGC"

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

This talk will be given by Will Reid of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The presentation provides an overview of the organisation from past to present with reference to the sites they care for.
It will begin by discussing the conception of the CWGC by the founder and the principles put into place at that time that continues to define what they do and how they do it.  To illustrate this, he will then show the sites cared for in the UK and around the world and what to look for when visiting them.
A discussion of the challenges they face and the work they do today will then follow.
The presentation is rounded off with a personal story tailored to the local area.

The grass is watered and clipped, while the scent of sweet smelling flowers fills the air.  This is Tyne Cot, the Commonwealth war cemetery at Ypres in Belgium and this level of caring devotion is repeated at 23,000 cemeteries and memorials in 154 countries around the world.

This is the war graves cemetery just outside the village of Etricourt Manancourt which has had a close bond with Stoke Poges following WW1.

Details of how to access the Zoom talk with the web-link will be sent out to Members.

2021 is a special year for Stoke Poges because it's the
250th anniversary of the death of famous poet, Thomas Gray.
He is buried in the Stoke Poges Parish churchyard.
He will be remembered at our special Annual Dinner, with the Guest of Honour being the Queen's Representative for Buckinghamshire - the Lord Lieutenant.

Some special events to commemorate this year are included in our Programme page, but for more information, see:
http://thomasgray2016.org/
and
https://www.stokepogeschurch.org/Groups/360882/Thomas_Gray_2021.aspx

It's also the Centenary of the Royal British Legion.
Major General Sir Richard Howard Vyse of Stoke Place was its Chairman and later President from 1950 till his death in 1962.

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