By Robert Heaven

It’s not uncommon these days to bump into a celebrity on the streets of Cirencester, or walking round the aisles in Waitrose.

Many a royal has been known to shop in the town without pomp or fan-fair including Princess Diana and her one time husband Prince Charles; who has been known to pop in to town when he’s been playing polo up the park.

Formal visits however have always been popular, whether it’s royalty or people like Mrs Pankhurst the Suffragette leader who visited Cirencester to address a ‘Votes for Women’ meeting in the Bingham Hall in July 1911.