Category: Events

An illustrated talk by Dr Isabel Carter

Chair of the Strettons Area Community Wildlife Group

Wednesday 29th April at 7.30 pm in the library  

The Strettons Area Community Wildlife Group (SACWG) is a friendly group of more than a hundred people who live and/or work locally. They have been active since 2012, helping to record and conserve wildlife in and around the Strettons area.

During the summer of 2025, they carried out a garden wildlife survey in the Strettons. This was repeating a similar survey done by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust in 2005. Their interest was to compare the findings over twenty years.

SACWG combined an online survey with a practical survey of gardens offered by respondents from the online survey. This was carried out during the last weekend in June, following a training evening for volunteers. Participation was excellent and it was a very positive exercise for all involved. Four small teams of surveyors surveyed sixteen gardens and one churchyard, with several people offering to survey their own garden.

Come and find out how SACWG designed and carried out the surveys in gardens which varied in size from a pocket handkerchief to two acres and more importantly, about their findings and what implications they have for all of us.

The survey has also resulted in ongoing work with the primary school this year, which Isabel will share in the talk.

£5 entry on the door – all proceeds to the library

Storytelling show by writer, performer and Radio 4 regular: John Osborne.

‘A charmingly idiosyncratic mix of wistfulness and wonder’ – ★★★★ The Stage

John is a popular figure at theatres and arts centres across the country, having toured extensively since 2011. He has had written and performed storytelling shows for BBC Radio 4 and is a regular at music and literature festivals, including performing at fourteen Latitude festivals.

‘Told with colourful attention to detail, the end result is a subtle, moving look at getting older, connections, what being happy means, our place in the world and what we do with nostalgia and memory, that has a quiet profundity to it.’ Scottish Daily Mail.

Thursday 26 February 2026, 7.30pm, Church Stretton library

Tickets £10 on sale at www.artsalive.co.uk and at the library (cash only please)

Illustrated Talk, 9th February in Church Stretton Library at 2.30pm

Speakers:

Catherine Landles – Community & Landscape Officer, Shropshire Hills National Landscape. Cath set up the UOFG and facilitated the group until Sept 2025.

Katy Mellor – Upper Onny Farmers Community Interest Company (CIC) Facilitator   

Matt Betton – Farmer and Chair of the Upper Onny Farmers Group (UOFG)

Matt Sankey – Farmer and Chair of the Upper Onny Farmers CIC

The Upper Onny Farmers Group is a group of farmers who manage land within the Upper Onny Valley, which lies between the Long Mynd and the Welsh border.

They first came together in 2018, when Upper Onny Valley farmers were invited to meet with representatives of Natural England, the National Trust and the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership to discuss the needs of farming and the local environment and how these might be addressed by the Stepping Stones Project.

The group has grown from eight to thirty two farmers, mainly due to word of mouth amongst the local farming community.

Their aim is to:

‘Share views about the main issues affecting the future of farming and the environment in the Upper Onny Valley and to explore ways for improving the environment, the landscape and its wildlife in ways that are integral to profitable farm businesses’.

Come along to find out more about this successful project, what it has achieved and the groups plans for the future

Admission £5.00 on the door

Ageing Well in the Strettons

A talk by Graham Haynes – a Shropshire lad, a Church Stretton resident and a post-graduate researcher at Bangor University.

11^th November 2025, URC hall, 2.30pm

According to the 2021 census data, Church Stretton’s population is heavily skewed towards older residents, yet despite this, our health seems to be robust, with above average numbers of residents reporting to be in good or fair health. Is there something about our community that may be contributing to this scenario? Graham will present findings from his research about the role of community in facilitating older people to age well, in a rural context. These will include the views of older people who have taken part in a small-scale study based in The Strettons.

PLEASE BOOK YOUR PLACE – as we expect a large number of people wanting to attend this event.

You can book by email admin@strettonlibraryfriends.org.uk

 or Telephone/ Text  0771 049 1951

ADMISSION: £5 on the door

Do come along to the library on Thursday 28th August for tea and cake and help us celebrate our 100 year anniversary.

Discover the secrets of the Swift with Julia Cowley from the Stretton Area Wildlife Group

16^th July at 7.30pm in the library. Admission £5.00

The Common Swift (Apus apus) has graced our skies for millions of years. These remarkable birds spend almost their entire lives on the wing – feeding, mating, even sleeping in flight – and touch the ground only to nest.

Each year, swifts return from Africa to breed in the very places they were born. Many of us delight in watching them swoop and soar over Church Stretton on warm summer evenings.

But swifts are now critically endangered due to the loss of their breeding habitat and the global decline in insect populations – their only source of food.

Join Julie Cowley from the Stretton Area Wildlife Group at the Library on Wednesday 16 July at 7.30pm for a fascinating talk about these ancient aerial acrobats, learn how dependent they are on us, and what we can do to help them.

Admission: £5 on the door
All proceeds go to support the Library.

An illustrated talk by local resident Peter Toghill

March 19^th 2.30pm in the library. Admission £5.00

Following his previous popular talks, we are delighted that Dr Peter Toghill has agreed to return with a third talk. This time he will be focusing on the rocks we find in the area and what they have been used for.

Church Stretton lies in one of the most varied geological areas in the UK, with rocks representing 11 of the 12 recognised periods of geological times. The great variety of rocks found around Church Stretton has been used for so many economic purposes, including building stone, road stone, roofing tiles, metal ores, sand and gravel, fertilisers and so much more.

You can expect to see some fantastic photos of the area which will illustrate this talk. 

Come and find out more about this fascinating topic.

All proceeds to go to the library