History group’s president steps down after decade

A long-standing president of the town’s history association has stepped down after a decade in the role.

Tony Fivash stepped down as president of Melksham and District Historical Association after 10 years in the role, having been involved with the association for 30 years.

During that time he was involved in various talks and exhibitions. He said, “I gave many lectures to the group in evenings. I took people on history trails around the town, pointing out points of historical interest. I also remember going to the family history group at Devizes to talk about family history. I had given a talk about Melksham people of some historical interest and someone picked it up and said they would love me to go and talk to them about it because we had done so much research on a particular family who originally lived in Gompels.

“Whenever we had a photo display, I would always get nominated to do it because I was careful on how the displays look.”

Tony worked at Cooper Avon as a salesman for many years and as an administrator. He joined the association when he retired in 1995 and became treasurer two years later.

He said, “I don’t have a professional background in history; I was just a history buff. I like history, I read a lot about historical things. It is one of my quirks.”

The Melksham and District Historical Association has said the president role will not be filled for now.

Pictured: Tony Fivash