The Melksham Christmas Lights Group has praised the support they received from the community and local businesses whilst decorating the town for the past Christmas period.
On behalf of the group, teams A and B, volunteer Pete Reynolds said, “Although we had our difficulties with ‘regulations’ and vandalism, we managed with the assistance from the following organisations: The Garage on the Hill and the MOT Centre in Bowerhill, thank you Alan and Ben, and also from the Hirebase at Buildbase also in Bowerhill, thank you Ally (my apologies if I have spelt your name wrong). These two organisations loaned us equipment which made our task very much easier.
“We would also like to thank the people of Melksham for their support and good wishes when they passed us while we were working. We were kept well supplied with cakes, biscuits and sweets to keep us going. It was also really nice to have young children, out with their parents, stopping and saying thank you for what we were doing.
“Our thanks also go to Greggs for putting up with us ‘grubby bods’ invading their restaurant during our lunch breaks.
“If you are wondering who team A and B are, well team A under Paul Weymouth do that fantastic job of decorating the Town Hall, the tree and the centrepiece of the roundabout and team B scurry around and festoon the town by putting up the remaining lights.
“Thank you all again, and we hope to see you all for Christmas 2020.”
![Melksham Times Past
A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis
The Independent Chapel and Women’s Rights in the 1840s
A document I recently transcribed lists the baptisms performed at the Independent Chapel. This record is especially helpful in that, along with baptisms, a lot of them include birth dates - one of the ways I discover which day someone was born.
The following is taken from a Wiltshire Times article published on 9th November 1878 which reports a speech given during the 100-year services and to celebrate their renovations (what we now know to be the Rachel Fowler Centre).
One speaker, Rev. T. Mann, minister in Trowbridge, talked about the Chapel’s origins when he related how Rev. Honywill came to Melksham and how he’d gone on to remain as the minister for the Independent Chapel for almost 60 years. [Honywill and his family lived on King Street in what we now call “Legion House”.]
Read more on our website, the link is in our bio.](https://scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.75761-15/505444438_18038424887647822_3264519508333556874_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=gXZQJoHTNiEQ7kNvwHezuPI&_nc_oc=AdlrJvMDapuork_EjycPOcegNeMnCA37GEIudkxkTeCfTgvB5iijE05ojpwlYCd5gN8&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=0ZY31jxOGx2M8z1ZqYNvEg&oh=00_AfPY_C0B8EndpVcx78sVp9qVJgtm368WREf36ZX1_jO3mg&oe=6855C74A "Melksham Times Past
A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis
The Independent Chapel and Women’s Rights in the 1840s
A document I recently transcribed lists the baptisms performed at the Independent Chapel. This record is especially helpful in that, along with baptisms, a lot of them include birth dates - one of the ways I discover which day someone was born.
The following is taken from a Wiltshire Times article published on 9th November 1878 which reports a speech given during the 100-year services and to celebrate their renovations (what we now know to be the Rachel Fowler Centre).
One speaker, Rev. T. Mann, minister in Trowbridge, talked about the Chapel’s origins when he related how Rev. Honywill came to Melksham and how he’d gone on to remain as the minister for the Independent Chapel for almost 60 years. [Honywill and his family lived on King Street in what we now call “Legion House”.]
Read more on our website, the link is in our bio.")
