WORK has begun at Melksham Shed to transform a larger container into the club’s new workshop.
Melksham Shed has been running since October 2014 and was the first Shed group in Wiltshire. Three years later, the group outgrew its small portakabin and have now moved into a larger building.
Chris Pickett who started the club said, “In the UK a new Shed opens every two or three weeks with different agendas, but with the same motives – to reduce isolation, loneliness and health issues.
“When we started the Shed it was very much an unknown concept in this area. Our ‘home’ became a small portakabin which the Forest Community Centre lent us. However, because of the number of people in Melksham, within the first year we had outgrown the space and so it left us in a difficult position when new members came. Due to the foresight and generosity of many groups and grant givers, Rotary, Alehouses, Lions to name only a few, we were able to plan a larger purpose-built Shed.
“Today, we are the proud possessors of approximately 6m square workshop space in what was two refrigeration containers. Much hard work has already gone into getting the units fit for purpose, for which the members have quickly come forward to offer their many skills. However, more needs to be done and the jobs will be for those skilled and non-skilled as well as those abled bodied, as much as those who find standing long periods tiring.
“We will be having an open day on 6th September to celebrate, everyone is welcome and there will be a barbecue, so hopefully the weather will be kind to us.
“Amongst other things, activities are organised, like a visit to Haynes Motor Museum or Yandles Tool Show. Last year we went by minibus to the National UK Men’s Association gathering in Birmingham. This year we plan to go to the Tank Museum at Bovington for which non-members are welcome.
“We will also be holding an open evening on Thursday 25th May at The Foresters Arms from 7.30pm. It’s a chance to meet the members of Melksham Shed and there will also be a short talk about dementia led by Hazel Matthews and Sheila Pickett. Everyone is welcome to come along.
“If any of this has sparked an interest and you wish to know more, either for yourself or your partner, please get in touch via our website or telephone 01225-920400 and ask for Chris.”
![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=2ejTZ6D9dPXIFkdtQ-bGfg&oh=00_AfMePUYDK6PXDzeUYs-aKY4wfMPOaURY8Z6OwO7o8TXJSA&oe=685718CA "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.")
