Melksham - changing times, an opportunity for the future
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2011-11-23 23:11:13 - Graham Ellis
Things in Melksham, they are a'changing. I started the day with a swim in the to-be-replaced Blue Pool in Melksham, then walked down the High Street to Sainsbury's to watch the Mayor cut the ribbon for the official reopening of the store, complete with Coffee Shop and clothes section that's rather more extensive than standard for a store of this size. In the evening, I met with a concerned recent arrival of the town, going through the use of section 106 funding in relationship to local public transport from the Asda which is funding extensions to the town bus route (14) without a drop in frequency on the old core route, and then went on so a slide show at the Assembly Hall by A P Seager, showing us Melksham as it was - predominantly the shops - back to the 1950s. And even in that last slide show, it struck me how so much has changed - indeed I can't remember many of his earlier pictures showing companies that remain in the town today under their old names. Long gone are the Interation Stores, Dewhurst, the Maxime Cinema, and the George and Temperance Hotels. More recently departed are the likes of Woolworths and Halifax.
Things are a'changing with the slide shows too. Mr Seager was talking of the increasingly difficult problems of getting film processed, and of being allowed to take pictures of businesses. And telling us, alas, that he planned this to be his last Melksham Slide show. Which is a huge shame - he has a collection of over 11,000 slides (he did promise not to show us them all in one evening) and there very clearly is an audience. The hall was filled to its seating capacity and had another couple turned up on the door, they would have been turned away.
We've lost a lot of history in Melksham. With the loss of history, there's been a loss of jobs (and that's still going on just this week). But some of the history was not necessarily beautiful; there were indeed some dour old buildings, and there were some really run down scenes and poverty showing. My personal view is that it's a shame that we lost buildings such as Magg's Rope Factory and some of the lower town buildings between the river at the City, which could so much have helped turn us into a town that welcomes leisure users - be they tourists or Melksham / Wiltshire residents, be they interested in history, eating, canoeing, or the swinger's club which is (third parties tell me) in one of the old industrial units.
But from the ashes of old come the young shoots of new. With time a'changing, there's a great deal that's been thrown in the air - and with a gentle wind in the right direction we can help it land such that we more forward with a positive and thought out structure with everything working together for an improved town, and for an improved quality of life, and improved new work opportunities for people who live here, visit here, use its facilities. Truly now is a time of great opportunity for Melksham.
Things in Melksham, they are a'changing. I started the day with a swim in the to-be-replaced Blue Pool in Melksham, then walked down the High Street to Sainsbury's to watch the Mayor cut the ribbon for the official reopening of the store, complete with Coffee Shop and clothes section that's rather more extensive than standard for a store of this size. In the evening, I met with a concerned recent arrival of the town, going through the use of section 106 funding in relationship to local public transport from the Asda which is funding extensions to the town bus route (14) without a drop in frequency on the old core route, and then went on so a slide show at the Assembly Hall by A P Seager, showing us Melksham as it was - predominantly the shops - back to the 1950s. And even in that last slide show, it struck me how so much has changed - indeed I can't remember many of his earlier pictures showing companies that remain in the town today under their old names. Long gone are the Interation Stores, Dewhurst, the Maxime Cinema, and the George and Temperance Hotels. More recently departed are the likes of Woolworths and Halifax.
Things are a'changing with the slide shows too. Mr Seager was talking of the increasingly difficult problems of getting film processed, and of being allowed to take pictures of businesses. And telling us, alas, that he planned this to be his last Melksham Slide show. Which is a huge shame - he has a collection of over 11,000 slides (he did promise not to show us them all in one evening) and there very clearly is an audience. The hall was filled to its seating capacity and had another couple turned up on the door, they would have been turned away.