THE junction where Spa Road meets Warwick Crescent is due to close later this month until December, at the same time as temporary traffic lights have been causing gridlock traffic throughout the town, with residents reporting long delays.
Wessex Water issued a letter to residents informing them that the closure would take place from Monday 13th November to Friday 1st December, to enable them to carry out essential work on the water supply network.
This will take place at the same time as temporary traffic lights which have been installed by the roundabout under construction to link Basil Drive with Spa Road. Residents have reported the traffic lights are causing 40-minute delays, which is having a knock-on effect on the traffic in the town, as people try to find alternative routes.
In the last issue Melksham News asked residents to share their views and experiences of the traffic lights.
Trudie Ashdown says, “As a grandmother from Beanacre, helping my daughter facilitate three children to Sandridge School and nursery at Bowerhill, I find the ridiculous wait at the Spa Road traffic lights has cost me much more in fuel, but more importantly, my young grandchildren are crying out for their breakfasts at nursery and my schoolteacher daughter is still not getting to her work on time for other people’s children in Keevil, even though she is leaving earlier and earlier, as I am forced to!”
“Surely something can be done quicker than up to 18th December timeframe for these traffic lights. Has no-one any feelings for the mayhem on Bowerhill roundabout, ridiculously miserable never-ending lines of traffic, backed up nearly to the school at drop off and pick up school times, with the added misery of parents trying to get to work – even after taking up breakfast club’s costs!”
The roundabout has now been under construction for one year and residents have previously complained about how long the site has been left unfinished.
![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.")
