BOWLERS left out in the cold by the new campus plans say Wiltshire Council’s decision to scrap the indoor bowls from the project is ‘outrageous’ and that the council has broken promises made to them.
Members of Christie Miller Indoor Bowls Club, which was recently cut out of proposals for Melksham’s new health and wellbeing centre, have expressed their concerns about how the club will continue.
Club members Richard and Jean Buckland recently wrote to Melksham News.
Richard said, “We know that Christie Miller is in a very, very poor state and will eventually have to be replaced. Our club officials have, for the past five or six years, been in negotiation with the town and county councils and were assured that we would be provided with a bowls facility in the new campus at Melksham House.
“However, recent developments show that our indoor bowling green will not now be included. This is outrageous, especially after all the time and work put in by our committee and the promises made to us.
“We have over 400 active members who attend and enjoy a competitive and lively club, and once the indoor bowling club at Christie Miller is gone, we will have lost a wonderful facility probably forever.”
The indoor bowls facility was a large part of the original campus proposals, but was scrapped in a recent shake-up which saw cutbacks made to save money.
Christie Miller, where the club currently plays, is considered to be in disrepair. Town councillor Jon Hubbard recently said, “Christie Miller is going to fall down; we will lose that leisure centre and it’s important that there’s something here to replace it when we do.”
Wiltshire Council told the bowls club that it will be looking into other ways to provide facilities for the bowlers, but there are doubts about whether the council can afford it.
Jean Buckland added, “The committee has been told that alternative indoor bowls accommodation is being sought, but where is the money to give us a purpose-built bowls hall as promised?
“Lots of indoor bowlers are unable to play bowls outdoors because they lack the physical strength for the heavier grass greens. Indoor bowls is a lifeline for the older person, especially those who live alone.
“There will be a number of lonely, depressed older people in and around Melksham if Christie Miller bowls facility is not replaced.”
![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=QNvAO5SMZpVXmVytNQqVSQ&oh=00_AfPCRkqHgOSMvuudIx2c3c6tPfxG8yxgXENMsL7kQCav3g&oe=685475CA "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.")
