Well - I enjoyed - thoroughly enjoyed - my time in Guadalajara (see blog entry and more pictures) but it's lovely to be back home in Melksham. Looking through a few pictures today for images to illustrate specific articles, I have come across all of these recent ones that I haven't published before, and give you a taste of the town and its character from the local viewpoint. My 'headline' - the welcome the town marquee gave to visitors at the recent West Wilts show.


Melksham is an area of gentle residential housing, with plentiful areas of open space. 200 years ago, it was the largest town for many miles, but then it was something of a quiet backwater through the Victorian era and 20th Century - but now it's growing again. Current population - around 22,000; expected to grow to around 32,000 in the next 15 years.


Although many of the homes are modest, owners proudly look after their houses and gardens, and the quiet streets are ideal for more sheltered living in an area that is broadly crime free, quiet, and where there's a neighbourly sense of community too.


The Riverside Walk, Conigre Mead nature reserve, King George V's field, and the park alongside Clackett's Brook (pictured here) all enhance the spacious feeling that you'll get even just a few hundred yards from the Town Centre.


Melksham Is a town that dates back to the Domesday Book, and it does have its history. You'll find medieval buildings on Church Walk, you'll find an early Victorian Masonic Lodge in the town centre, you'll find a selection of different churches, and to the South of the town you'll find the Georgian "Melksham Spa"; Melksham was going to be a Spa town to rival Bath, but it didn't quite take off in the same way; these former lodging houses are now private homes, but if you're curious and ask me nicely I can show you around one of them, as I live there.


On the back road towards Lacock, the strip development of Woodrow lies alongside agricultural line with a variety of public footpaths and bridle ways. Some are what I describe as "doggable" (in other words, you can take a dog without having to lift it over styles and gates), others are passable but require you to have strong arms if you've got (as we have) a Greyhound / Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross with you, and others are expeditionary in their use. Here are the "come'omes" as we call them ["wait till the cows come home"] alongside a 'doggable' path in Woodrow.


"The people make the Town". That's the case with Melksham, for sure. Where I used to live, they were just about saying a grudging "Good Morning" back to me when I had lived there for 25 years, but here everyone says a cheery "Good Afternoon". Lisa kids me that a 10 minute bank run in London becomes 2 hours here. The picture... shows crowds watching the Melksham Carnival floats go by.


It's known as "The Avon", or Avon Rubber. These days, it's actually Cooper Avon Tires - the town's industrial plant beside the river Avon, making rubber tyres for road and racing vehicles. Long established, employees have gone off during the major wars of the last 100 years, and some have given their lives, commemorated in this stone book of remembrance in front of the art deco 1950's building which I think houses the canteen.


Melksham has a variety of bus routes, ranging from Route 14 around the town twice an hour (the ususal service run by this unique minibus), through to the X96 bus to Bradford-on-Avon and Frome, run by the self same bus bus just once a day (and in reallity a service to get it back to its depot at night and back in again in the morning). Hourly service from Chippenham to Trowbridge and from Bath to Devizes form a cross at Melksham (and actually both routes are duplicated by two operators, both running within a few minutes of each other, on Monday through Friday). Oh - the town bus also runs a daily trip to Trowbridge, shown here!


The Kennet and Avon Canal passes near to Melksham - a few hundred yards south of the Bowerhill suburb. Passing from the Thames to the Severn, this canal formed the major transit route from east to west before the coming of the railways, but fell into dereliction by around 1950, and was closed for 40 years. It's now well and truly open again... here's a scene near Seend.


Looking around, you'll find some things in Melksham that aren't quite the things you'll find in every town ...


... and you'll also find some things that are gems, but not really that unusual - such as our Well House Manor hotel - where we welcome visitors who come to do business in our town, meet the people who live there, and see some of the things we have on offer.

(written 2009-08-08, updated 2013-02-23)

 M201 - Well House Manor - Around Melksham, Wiltshire
  [437] Outside of the box - (2005-09-06)
  [676] Melksham, Wiltshire - (2006-04-08)
  [805] Melksham Carnival Parade - (2006-07-16)
  [811] Melksham in Bloom - (2006-07-22)
  [830] Butterflies in a Wiltshire garden - (2006-08-12)
  [847] Image maps for navigation - a straightforward example - (2006-08-28)
  [866] A lazy programmer is a good programmer - (2006-09-15)
  [879] Tuesday night is party night - (2006-09-26)
  [929] Presenting Melksham - for a weekend away in Wiltshire - (2006-11-17)
  [957] Improving the historic town of Melksham - (2006-11-30)
  [977] Melksham and Norwich - (2006-12-10)
  [1117] Newport Male Voice Choir - (2007-03-24)
  [1137] Wiltshire Circles - (2007-04-07)
  [1177] Sorting out for a site map - (2007-05-05)
  [1206] Where and When - can you place the picture? - (2007-05-27)
  [1266] Party in the Park - (2007-07-14)
  [1271] Till the cows come home - (2007-07-19)
  [1330] While waiting for Melksham Post Office - (2007-09-02)
  [1341] Moving to Melksham? Househunting map. - (2007-09-09)
  [1343] Melksham Laundrette - (2007-09-09)
  [1360] Asda in Melksham - Welcome or not? - (2007-09-21)
  [1368] Getting the local voice heard - (2007-09-26)
  [1436] A little touring help during a business trip to England - (2007-11-18)
  [1451] More PHP sample and demonstration programs - (2007-12-01)
  [1928] Melksham Oak Community School, Melksham, Wiltshire - (2008-12-07)
  [1977] Going round the block - (2009-01-04)
  [1986] Walk to Bowerhill - (2009-01-10)
  [2008] The Month Ahead - What is happening in Melksham - (2009-01-25)
  [2043] Confidence, Customer Service and Tourism in Melksham - (2009-02-15)
  [2064] East of Melksham Countryside - (2009-03-02)
  [2066] Melksham Industrial - (2009-03-04)
  [2142] Riverside Development - (2009-04-26)
  [2168] In honour of the photograph, I present ... a walk from Reybridge to Lacock - (2009-05-10)
  [2175] Melksham in pictures - (2009-05-11)
  [2253] Walks in and around Melksham, Wiltshire - (2009-06-21)
  [2262] History is not always pretty - (2009-06-30)
  [2297] Standing on the corner, Melksham Carnival - (2009-07-19)
  [2349] Businesses effected by road works in Melksham - (2009-08-11)
  [2480] Pantomimes around Melksham - 2009/2010 season - (2009-10-28)
  [2497] Brown horses in Melksham - (2009-11-08)
  [2528] Melksham Christmas Lights - (2009-12-05)
  [2585] Consultation in Melksham, on Melkshams future - (2010-01-17)
  [2588] Freddies Wood and the K and A Canal - (2010-01-17)
  [2665] Early Spring walk in Melksham - (2010-03-07)
  [2691] New brochures for the Melksham area - (2010-03-24)
  [2708] The bull on the footpath - (2010-04-04)
  [2716] Melksham in Pictures - (2010-04-10)
  [2739] Melksham Scouts - (2010-04-25)
  [2829] Dauncey Gardens, Melksham - (2010-06-27)
  [2854] Melksham Food and Drink Fair and Town Crier Competition - (2010-07-04)
  [2950] Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, turns first sod in Melksham Link Canal - (2010-09-09)
  [3023] Autumn walk from Bowerhill - (2010-10-31)
  [3050] Views of Melksham - November 2010 - (2010-11-13)
  [3209] Seeing Electricity Pylons near Melksham - (2011-03-21)
  [3227] Her favourite store - (2011-04-02)
  [3232] Around and about Melksham in more pictures - (2011-04-05)
  [3248] What have these pictures in common? - (2011-04-16)
  [3258] Morning in Melksham - (2011-04-23)
  [3266] Easter on the Canal - near Melksham, Wiltshire - (2011-04-26)
  [3305] Getting away from the madding crowd - an intercontinental journey - (2011-05-27)
  [3337] Home Grown Pigs, near Melksham Station - (2011-06-26)
  [3389] Plenty to do in Melksham - (2011-08-13)
  [3470] Currently pictured in Melksham - (2011-10-09)
  [3499] Images of Melksham - (2011-10-29)
  [3502] Sunday Evening ... newest and oldest Melksham pictures - (2011-10-30)
  [3507] Melksham Forward - meeting summary and pictures - (2011-11-04)
  [3520] Quintessentially English - scenes from our Wiltshire town - (2011-11-14)
  [3525] Melksham has a heart - come and see the pictures. Sunday, 11 to 3, Assembly Hall - (2011-11-18)
  [3526] Melksham has a Heart - Montage picture for sale - (2011-11-20)
  [3543] Some different pictures from Melksham - (2011-12-07)
  [3569] Images of the new year in Melksham - (2012-01-05)
  [3605] Snow comes to Melksham, Wiltshire - pictures - (2012-02-10)
  [3644] The way of the Prioress - Melksham history pictured today - (2012-03-09)
  [3646] Exploring Melksham with a film maker - (2012-03-09)
  [3647] Along the brook - East Melksham to Melksham - (2012-03-10)
  [3656] TrainWest 2012 - 14th and 15th April, Melksham, Wiltshire - (2012-03-16)
  [3657] Basham Festival, Melksham, early August 2012 - a welcome - (2012-03-16)
  [3659] Welcome to Melksham - our new communities - (2012-03-18)
  [3692] Deeper than Art - An exhibition of the tattoo Canvas - Melksham - (2012-04-10)
  [3697] Events in Melksham - read all about them, and tell us about yours - (2012-04-15)
  [3703] A Museum for Melksham History. Open from 12th May 2012. - (2012-04-21)
  [3704] The Bowerhill Villager - a newsletter for Bowerhill, Melksham - (2012-04-22)
  [3712] Some unpublished and historic pictures - Museum of Melksham - (2012-04-28)
  [3720] Melksham ATC - freedom of the town - (2012-05-05)
  [3735] A walk around Melksham this morning. Can you place all of these? - (2012-05-17)
  [3744] Short Web Addresses for Melksham - (2012-05-30)
  [3771] Fine evening, country walk from Melksham - pictures - (2012-06-21)
  [3822] Town Clean - Melksham - (2012-07-29)
  [3837] Evening behind Melksham Spa - (2012-08-12)
  [3864] Guest Guide for Well House Manor and Melksham - (2012-09-18)
  [3869] How have Melksham shops changed in 60 years? - (2012-09-24)
  [3897] Autumn scenes from Melksham - (2012-10-16)
  [3944] Melksham Christmas Lights, 2012 - (2012-12-05)
  [3949] Melksham Spa from Woolmore Farm - (2012-12-09)
  [3960] Picture - between Lacock and Melksham - (2012-12-21)
  [3962] Melksham welcomes visitors - new blue plaque trail and more - (2012-12-27)
  [4084] New Pictures - Melksham Pack Horse Bridge - (2013-05-12)
  [4119] Melksham - Flower Town - (2013-06-20)
  [4141] My pictures of Melksham Carnival, 13th July 2013 - (2013-07-14)
  [4145] After the storm - (2013-07-29)
  [4151] Tell me a bit about Melksham - (2013-08-10)
  [4169] Around and about - Melksham - (2013-09-08)
  [4357] Seeing Christmas Coming to Melksham - (2014-12-20)
  [4701] Pretty at the station too - (2016-07-06)

G100 - Well House Consultants - Introduction to Melksham
  [269] Free parking for short errands in Melksham - (2005-04-05)
  [291] Why are we no. 404 - (2005-04-25)
  [322] More maps - (2005-05-23)
  [517] An occasional chance, and reducing data to manageable levels - (2005-12-04)
  [1725] A future vision for Melksham - (2008-07-27)
  [2350] Ten years in Melksham - looking forward to ten more. - (2009-08-11)
  [2704] A walk within without - Melksham Without - (2010-04-02)
  [3344] Repost - some useful pages on our site - (2011-07-04)
  [3696] Melksham government and business organisations - (2012-04-14)
  [3932] River nearly bursting its banks in Melksham - (2012-11-23)

Back to Melksham - no trains, no southbound buses through the town

Previous and next or Horse's mouth home

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