The January meeting held on the 16th got the year off to a flying start.
The historical association says, “The subject matter for the slides from our collection was ‘Fire, Flood & Fun ‘and certainly seemed to go down well with the audience.
“The early fires covered Burnt Cottages, Sawtell’s and Tayler’s original mills, and then a little later Melksham House and West of England Farmers. Finally the most recent – Avon, and Tony was able to talk of his personal memories and involvement.
“The floods caused a bit of confusion as to dates. The worst years were 1926, 1935, and 1968, but low lying areas were flooded regularly, particularly around the area of The Bear and New Broughton Road. Hopefully a thing of the past.
“When we came to the fun section, members were reminded of the Hospital Fetes, the big bands who used to be part of the carnival processions fairs and the circus. One problem was solved for us thanks to Paul Carter (senior). The late Edgar Tucker left us his slides and photographs and in 1984 he took pictures of the MECCARI held in the field where the Hazelwood Estate is now. Well, we learned what the initials stood for:- Melksham Exhibition of Cars, Crafts & Rural Industries – so thank you for that Paul. They were short lived, there being only three held, but it is nice that we have a record of them.
“Our next meeting is on Thursday 20th February at 7.30pm in the Assembly Hall and the speaker will be Mike Stone, well-known lecturer in the Wiltshire area. His subject is Milling, Rag & Paper production & Brewing in the Bybrook Valley.
“Visitors are always welcome to our meetings for a charge of £3. Do come and join us.”
