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The Bell, Bath Road, West Overton, near Marlborough. Phone (01672) 861099 As you drive around Wiltshire it is obvious from the number of empty establishments that the pub trade is not an easy one to make a go of at the moment. But this did

May I use your columns to thank Marlborough College for allowing us to stable our community minibus – which is busy five days a week bringing people in to the Jubilee Centre and the New Road Centre – on its site. It used to spend the night at the Wiltshire

I received a two-page letter from a public body advising that I had made an overpayment and that a refund would be made shortly. I was pleased to hear this so soon after Christmas. A two-page letter duly arrived with a rundown of how the refund had been

This year is the 20th Adult Learners’ Week. Since 1992 the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has celebrated the outstanding achievements of thousands of remarkable adults who have transformed their lives through learning. Whether

My wife and I would like to express our deep gratitude to the ambulance, fire and police officers – and the crew of the air ambulance – who attended when our son’s car hit black ice in Savernake Forest, and skidded into a tree. Mercifully, by the grace

I wish to thank Chippenham Police who came to my rescue last week. I was upset and the policeman who came was very kind and considerate when he came to my home. When we get older we appreciate kindness. The police are excellent. Mavis I Woods, Thurston

I belong to the United Kingdom Spoon Collectors’ Club and after our AGM each October we get a list of members along with our quarterly magazine. As a consequence, I received the following letter from Marion Brookes of Stockton-on-Tees: “I have just

It was announced last week that the commander of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Regiment, Major Dick Winters, died at the age of 92. The feats of Easy Company are well documented by the historian Stephen Ambrose and even more memorably by Steven

Now that we are starting the New Year and the Poppy Appeal is just about complete, may I turn your thoughts back to the unveiling of the new plaques on the town war memorial on Remembrance Sunday. Many people contributed towards the end result

I would like to thank everyone who supported the Winter Wonderland at Brook House Bromham before Christmas. In total £11,000 was raised towards Rowdeford Charity’s latest project – a vocational training centre for children with special needs. It was

I always enjoy Robert Hayter’s lively contributions to the letters page. However, I must take issue with his latest comment that Wiltshire’s wintry weather means we can relax about climate change. Scientists named the phenomenon ‘global’ warming for

Thank you for the article by Nigel Kerton and the obituary about my daughter Marilyn Day in the January 13 edition. It was very gratifying for me and the family to read of the appreciation of her life and work. Naturally she has always been a beautiful

I am doing family research on my wife’s nan, Lilian Mary Patten (nee Russ). I am looking for information about her time in Marlborough. She was born in Marlborough in 1880. She married in Marlborough in 1911 and then moved to London. Tragedy overtook

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Calne who supported the Lions Club of Calne’s annual Santa collection. It was with regret that we were unable to cover as much of Calne as we would have liked, this being due to the very bad

CHIPPENHAM Town winger Sam Allison might be trying harder than any of his other Bluebirds teammates to find the net against Tiverton Town this weekend – after vowing not to shave his moustache until he scores a goal. Allison, who is the club’s longest-serving

We wholeheartedly support the petition to prevent the Market Place parking being reduced to half an hour. The councillors who supported this ridiculous idea should be made to test the reality of this and see whether they can reach Boots, collect a

On January 1 I used the official UK Cyclists’ Touring Club website (www.fillthatwhole.ork.uk) to report two pot holes in the Woodborough area, which happen to fall on the official Wiltshire Cyclists’ Route. They electronically and automatically immediately

I would like to stress the importance of maintaining the free one- hour parking that exists in the Market Place in Devizes. There seems to be no logical reason to reduce the allowance by half. Except perhaps for the prospect of revenue from parking

Your article in last week’s edition ‘Marlborough seen as a soft option by crooks’ pointed to the level of crime in the town and gave a possible reason as being the lack of any CCTV. The article quoted PC Ben Braine saying that Marlborough College was

A world-renowned Royal Air Force band will be performing a concert in Bath Abbey to raise money for Help for Heroes. Among those invited to attend is Prince Charles, who could be sitting alongside members of the Wootton Bassett Royal British Legion

Delays in reopening Wootton Bassett’s leisure centre, which was damaged by fire in December, have been labelled a ‘nightmare’ by the sports clubs that depend on it. Since part of the Lime Kiln Leisure Centre was destroyed by fire on December 18, local

Help for Heroes has submitted a planning application for its personnel recovery centre at Tidworth. An appeal by the Gazette and Herald and Wiltshire Times newspapers has raised more than £50,000 towards the centre. The planning application by Help

A Chippenham pub is to hold an auction to raise money in memory of three teenagers who died in a crash on New Year’s Eve. The Fortune Inn, in Sheldon Road, Chippenham, is hosting an auction to raise money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Since the New

The funerals of the three teenage friends who died on New Year’s Eve will take place over a five day period next week. The first funeral will be that of Frankie Bowyer, 16, on Tuesday, followed by Jamie Walker on Thursday and George Forester on Saturday

Retired Royal Navy Commander Patrick Hoare is leading the battle against new health and safey rules that have outraged elderly people living in a sheltered housing complex. Cdr Hoare, 93, who survived everything the Germans could throw at him duing

GEORGE Nash is looking onwards and upwards after narrowly missing out on a pro contract at Swindon Town. The 18 year-old midfielder, who plays for Corsham Town and has also featured for Chippenham Town, was in the final three of the Samsung Win a Pro

DANNY Wilson has confirmed Charlie Austin has handed in a transfer request at Swindon Town. But the Robins manager insists that have no impact on whether or not the player moves to pastures new during the January transfer window. The club had initially

Westlea Homes has won planning permission on appeal for 29 new homes at the bungalow estate at Curzon Park, Calne. The application for 29 houses and flats on land near Long Barrow Road, had previously been turned down by Wiltshire Council. The proposals

A motorist has been told he cannot put up security cameras to protect his car – despite it being vandalised twice in the space of a week. Michael Hudston, of Chelwood Close, Chippenham, wanted to put up the camera after attacks on cars belonging to him

Teenager Daisy Sims-Hilditch of West Kington has been shortlisted from more than 18,000 entries for the Saatchi Gallery/Sunday Telegraph Art Prize. Miss Sims-Hilditch, 18, was one of 20 finalists, is on a gap year before taking a place at Charles H Cecil

An American energy company is proposing to install 35 acres of solar panels in fields north of Chippenham. More than 15,000 panels, each the size of a large door, would stretch across fields equivalent to 18 football pitches near Kington St Michael,

Thieves who broke into Chippenham’s ambulance station have made off with the wheels of a passenger transport vehicle. The thieves stole all four wheels and left the vehicle itself supported by gas cannisters, which proved to be the bigger problem for

CHIPPENHAM Harriers’ Andy Bennetts was delighted with a third-placed finish in his first-ever Rough ‘n’ Tumble on Sunday. The 10 mile off-road race began at Milton Lilbourne Village Hall, with Bennetts finishing with a time of (1:09:50), behind winner

A couple who turned their house into an animal sanctuary where pets should have been given a home from home allowed it to become a hellhole of death. A court heard there were dead dogs in their kitchen and annex, a dead lizard in a vivarium

Families living close to a Sainsbury’s superstore have launched a last ditch attempt to stop it being granted permission for a massive extension. People living on the Cepen Park South estate in Chippenham have started a No To Sainsbury campaign and want

CHIPPENHAM loanee Jack McKenna wouldn’t mind extending his loan period at Hardenhuish Park, after impressing so far in his one-month spell with the Bluebirds. The 19-year-old midfielder scored his first senior goal in last week’s Red Insure Cup victory

Ex-lorry driver Lester Murphy will be swapping the Wiltshire countryside for the frozen wastes of north Alaska when he joins TV’s danger documentary Ice Road Truckers in March. On his trip Mr Murphy, a cornet player with the Phoenix Training Band, plans

FORMER Chippenham Town player Barry Lane is the newest addition to the Bluebirds’ board of directors. The 66 year-old, who lives in the town and runs a courier business, was persuaded to make the step up from associate director by chairman John Applegate

CHRISTIE MILLER and Clarrie Dunbar teams are through to the latter stages in the English Indoor National Championships, but there was no joy for North Wilts. The trio from the Melksham club of Ron Morland, Nigel Price and Andy Moore won the

FOOTBALL’S a confidence game and when things aren’t going right for you, it’s difficult. On Tuesday, we’ve conceded a poor goal and the confidence got drained out of the lads – then all of a sudden, you’re trying to kick it long, you’re trying to get

ADIE Mings was left dumbfounded by his side’s first-half performance against Bedford Town on Tuesday but praised assistant Gary Kemp for the half-time dressing down given to the Bluebirds players. After a below-par first-half which saw Chippenham go

An all-day event at West Lavington village hall this Saturday will remember the day, 50 years ago, when thousands protested at the military takeover of Imber. The community on Salisbury Plain, a few miles south of West Lavington, was evacuated in December

Former Chippenham Rugby Club captain Tom Crockett has been caught up in the floods that have devastated the state of Queensland in Australia. Mr Crockett, 33, originally from North Wraxall, near Chippenham, has been living in Australia for four years

Preshute School continues to retain the family feel one normally associates with village schools even though it is technically in a suburb of Marlborough. It is also one of those schools that is always in demand. Parents clamour to send their children

JUMPING fans should be well catered for this weekend with meetings scheduled for Ascot, Haydock and Wincanton. The feature race at Ascot is the Victor Chandler Chase where the Paul Nicholls-trained Master Minded will be a warm order to lift another big

WILTSHIRE’S English middleweight champion Nick Blackwell and former professional Chris Sanigar were the guests of honour as Devizes ABC held their first home show of the season at the town’s football club. The host club’s Jordan Homer won his first-ever

The father of Chippenham man Terry Welch who was killed while cycling on Rowden Hill last week has thanked Chippenham Town FC for holding a minute’s silence in his son’s memory. A follower of the football club for nearly 30 years David Welch was surprised

A petition against the cut in free parking in Devizes Market Place is gathering momentum, say organisers. Devizes Guardians and Devizes Chamber of Commerce have launched a petition to retain the free one hour parking in the Market Place. Wiltshire Council

Parking fees in Chippenham’s short-stay car parks will be rocketing in April, with the cost for an hour going up by more than 100 per cent. Town councillors and the Chamber of Commerce are fighting the move by Wiltshire Council, which will see charges

MARK Love has targeted a serious tilt at cup glory as Devizes Town seek a silver lining to a remarkable season. The Nursteed Road men claimed their eighth win in a row in all competitions with a 5-1 destruction of Toolstation League First Division rivals

LOREN Bleaken will be seeking a third successive title as the cream of the county’s young runners head to Grittleton House tomorrow morning for the Wiltshire Schools’ Cross Country Championships. The 15-year-old Hardenhuish School student, who lives

Wootton Bassett Mayor Mary Champion met Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday and he hinted a special parade through Wootton Bassett will be held to commemorate the end of the repatriations when RAF Lyneham closes later this year. She visited Downing

MEL Gingell is looking to patch-up his leaky defence after Corsham Town conceded twice in extra time as they were knocked out of the Les Phillips Cup by Ilfracombe on Saturday. Dan King was on target for the home side as the scores were level at 1-1

GARY Higdon netted a ‘perfect hat-trick’ as Melksham Town claimed their fifth consecutive win on Monday night with victory over Shepton Mallet. Higdon scored with his right foot, left foot and head respectively, with Josh Robinson also on target, and

DEVIZES Town delivered two examples of their superb transformation as they claimed league and cup victories this week. Tuesday night’s 5-1 hammering of Hengrove Athletic in the first round of the Les Phillips Cup gave an ample demonstration of the strength

WOOTTON Bassett boss Dave Turner is targetting a minimum of four points from the next two games after watching his troops slip to a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Thame United. Alex Stewart got the goal for the visitors but the Bassett chief was focusing

ADI Holcombe hailed Tuesday’s display against Division One leaders Downton as their best of the season, despite Pewsey slipping to a 2-0 defeat. Two second-half goals from set pieces sealed the points for the hosts but the Pewsey manager was delighted

Aimee Patterson has beaten off the men to win the BBC Young Plumber of the Year award. The competition was broadcast on BBC Three and in the final Miss Patterson, 23, competed against three male plumbers. The two-day competition tested skills such as

Artist Bruce Munro’s stunning “water tower” light and sound installation in Salisbury Cathedral cloisters is drawing huge crowds. The 69 glowing towers made of stacked recyclable water bottles illuminated with fibre optics has attracted thousands of

The Fire Brigades Union fears funding for fire authorities, including Wiltshire, could be reduced to help pay for the empty regional fire control room in Taunton. The Coalition Government cancelled the controversial regional fire control centre – along

WIiltshire's project to reintroduce the Great Bustard to its former range on Salisbury Plain has been given a £1.8 million grant by the European Union. The money for the five year project follows years of negotiations by a consortium including the Great

Calne Town slipped to their fifth defeat in a row last night as they were beaten by county rivals Westbury United. Steve Gayton got the game's only goal in the first-half, handing new United boss Steve Seals his second consecutive victory. Jeff Roberts

Driving instructors and their pupils are celebrating this week after the Driving Standards Agency backed down on plans for a six-week shutdown of Chippenham’s Driving Test Centre. Campaigners, helped by MPs Duncan Hames and Andrew Murrison, had feared

Pupils from Redlands School are swapping shoes for studded boots for a day of football-related fun at Hardenhuish Park. About 35 seven and eight-year-olds are visiting Chippenham Town Football Club on January 28 in a bid to increase the club’s involvement

Opening hours at Wiltshire’s libraries are to be reduced as part of cuts by Wiltshire Council. Apart from Wootton Bassett library all the county’s libraries will have reduced hours. The new Pewsey Library, which was opened last month at a cost of £900,000

The new Children’s Centre in Pewsey, next door to the village junior school, was officially opened on Saturday by Devizes MP Claire Perry. The Children’s Centre has been running since April 2007 from the River Street offices of Voluntary Action Kennet

ELAINE O’Neill has been forced to cancel her plans to compete indoors this winter, writes KEVIN FAHEY. The 21-year-old Chippenham international revealed underwent keyhole surgery to cure a long-standing ankle problem. O’Neill and her coaching team felt

The driver of a lorry carrying waste material dialled 999 after the cab of his vehicle became engulfed in smoke. He was heading along the A4 towards Beckhampton when the drama happened as the lorry headed up the incline from the Fyfield filling station

A French juggernaut became lodged in a private driveway in Manton for more than five hours on Monday after the driver relied on his sat nav to get him round a traffic jam. The trucker was attempting to turn round in the drive of the house in

Devizes School pupil James Baggott, who used sport to get his life back on track following the murder of his father Matthew, won a regional sports award at Lord’s cricket ground in London on Tuesday. James, 15, of Commercial Road, Devizes

The leaning wall of Pewsey has caused a well-used street in the village to be closed for several weeks and hit trade at one of the most popular pubs, the Coopers Arms. The wall is at the side of Ball Road, a narrow lane that offers a short

Families in Pewsey have been shocked to discover that opening hours are scheduled to be slashed at their £940,000 super-library, which opened just four weeks ago. Under cost-saving proposals announced this week, the hours are due to be cut

Gardening enthusiast Adam Marchant, who was wrongly given an allotment by Devizes Town Council because it didn’t know the boundary between Devizes and Roundway, is set to lose it. Truck salesman Mr Marchant has had a plot at Windsor Drive since

My husband sits down on the stairs and takes off his shoes. He looks balefully at each sole and tuts quietly. What’s the matter, I ask, watching him pad barefoot down the hall. Actually, I’m watching the damp patches he leaves on the tiles

Adele Travis sent this picture of the Box Singers outside Lacock Abbey on May 17 1991. She is third from left, behind the conductor Hilary Bryant. Mrs Travis lived in Corsham from January 1981 until February 2000 when she moved to North

Jack Davenport, 87, a Burma Star veteran whose funeral took place at St Bartholomew’s Church, Wootton Bassett, on Friday, had lived in the town for over 30 years. His family moved to Tetbury from London when he was very young. He joined

Everyone has a novel in them, they say, but retired farmer Dorothy Jones, from Nursteed, Devizes, is one of the few to commit her memories to paper. Writing under her maiden name, Dorothy Keene, she uses many family photographs to illustrate

Centenarian Alice ‘Barrie’ Hibbitt, one of the first women registrars in the country, has died aged 103. Mrs Hibbitt, who lived in Bromham and Devizes for almost 40 years, was brought up in London. Her father, a seaman, died when she

Mollie Hobbs (nee Wild),whose husband Henry was clerk to Wootton Bassett Parish Council, has died aged 97. She was born at Tockenham in October 1913 and met her husband through hockey, both of them being keen players. They married at

Family, friends and former colleagues at Lavington School bid farewell on Monday to former headteacher Harry Greening, who died on Christmas Day at the age of 89. Mr Greening’s funeral took place in St Mary’s Church in Market Lavington on Monday, followed