THE community said farewell to a Melksham resident and long-standing volunteer of the Freewheeler’s Blood Bikes, Andy Peaple, on Monday 18th March, at his funeral procession, where 108 motorbikes followed the hearse to the West Wiltshire Crematorium in Semington.
Andy Peaple died on Tuesday 5th March aged 52 years old, from blood cancer. He was a dedicated volunteer for several charities, including Blood Bikes, where he had volunteered for 10 years transporting blood, pathology and microbiology specimens, patient notes, X-rays, breast milk, and other medical supplies to hospitals, other healthcare facilities and Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
Before that, Andy had been a volunteer with Search and Rescue, helping to find missing people, as well as helping at the Atworth and Chippenham youth clubs.
“He loved driving and bikes,” explained Andy’s mum, Liz Callaway. “His friend rode Andy’s motorbike in the procession to the funeral, so his bike went with him to the crematorium, and his friend Jan is buying the bike. At least 24 members of Freewheeler’s Blood Bikes charity were in the procession, along with representatives from Wiltshire Air Ambulance with the insignia on their back.
“It was quite the procession, it was so organised. The traffic was stopped at all the roundabouts, it was fantastic, it was a terrific crowd of people that showed up and it was a wonderful send-off to give him and lovely to know that he was so well thought of.”
Liz explained that Andy had a varied career and, at one point, worked with the Ministry of Defence and Asda as a warehouse assistant. “Before he died, Andy was living with me and he was waiting for a house. His dream was to foster children, he just loved children.”
Thanking the community for their support, Liz said, “I had a deluge of cards. I think somebody said at the funeral that he was always so helpful to everybody. Somebody said, ‘Andy is probably, at this moment in time, helping someone up the stairs to heaven.’ His mantra was to help others. He always put others first.”
![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.")
