100 Years Ago.

LACOCK: At the outbreak of the war a large quantity of ammunition was kindly given by several residents for the purpose of providing free practice in rifle shooting on the miniature range for any of the young men in the village who were disposed to learn. Many of those who received instruction have joined various branches of His Majesty’s Forces, and from information recently received from these recruits it appears that they have quickly become proficient on the full ranges, some of them having made remarkable fine scores with the service rifle.

DEVIZES: The President of the Devizes Chamber of Commerce, Mr ATW Matthew, was invited on Friday to meet representatives of the Great Western Railway Company to go over the line of railway which it had been suggested should be constructed between Devizes and Swindon, linking up the intermediate villages.

50 Years Ago.

MARLBOROUGH: In answer to an urgent plea by Marlborough and Ramsbury Rural Council, Wiltshire County Council is this week pulling down the disused railway bridge at the dangerous Ogbourne St George corner, but the RDC isn’t satisfied. “The really big danger is the long stretch of road from Ogbourne to Chiseldon,” the clerk, Mr George Hunt said. “It’s like a succession of humpback bridges and unless something is done there are going to be more people killed.”

DEVIZES: Devizes is to twin with Waiblingen, West Germany if the Town Council agrees. The recommendation that the linking should take place was put forward on Monday by Devizes Twinning Committee following an exchange of letters between the mayors of the two towns.

25 Years Ago.

CHIPPENHAM: Objectors to a pelican crossing in busy Ivy Lane have been overruled by Witlshire highway authority. Members gave the go-ahead for the crossing to be installed. The town council objected that a zebra crossing would be more suitable to maintain the flow of traffic. But the county assistant highways director said the town council possibly misunderstood the versatility of a pelican.

CORSHAM: Victory could be at hand for Corsham people campaigning to have their railway station reopened. New hope came when Transport Minister Cecil Parkinson implied that massive new investment would be made in British Rail to persuade people back on to trains in an effort to end congestion on the roads. It now looks fairly certain that for the scheme to succeed, many of the smaller stations closed in the 1960s would have to be reopened.