In this fourth book of historic photographs of Calne, Peter Treloar presents another fantastic collection.
This book makes a break with the previous small form factor book and is an A4-sized book in paper and hardback. This allows for some photographs to be enlarged all the way up to A4, which allows for seeing smaller details, and also allows for multiple images per page and more detailed captions. A worthwhile change in my opinion.
Along with the standard historical photographs, illustrations of Calne through the period are included as are scans of old documents. One of particular interest is image 76, which is a Great Western Railway notice regarding the Royal visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra during 1907 and the special instructions to ensure the security of the station.
This book also includes some photos all the way up to the publication of the book, which was published in 1988 and manages to include photos of the Prince of Wales' visit to Calne in March of that year to inspect the plans for the Calne Project.
All 188 images in the book are accompanied by Peter's detailed captions, which provide a wealth of historical information and references back to relevant photos in previous books.
This book is a pleasure to read and while I never knew Peter, I feel a passion coming through the pages that keep me wanting yet more images and information about Calne!
This morning Tesco opened its new superstore in Calne, which is exciting news for our town. My family and I visited during the evening and found it to be busy with customers enjoying the new store. We overheard from a staff member that it had been consistently busy the entire day!
There is a lot in the store, yet it feels open (and pretty darn posh!). Everything you would expect is available from food to magazines, homeware and clothes to mobile phones. There's also a small cafe and a petrol station. The car park seems to be laid out well, with easy access into the car park and back out onto Beversbrook Road.
Most of the 200 permanent jobs are reported to be taken by local people[1], with an additional 40 jobs created for the Christmas period. The staff were organised, friendly and seemed relaxed - which is brilliant for such a busy first day.
As we follow a vegan diet, I imagine that we'll do a lot of shopping in this new Tesco as we've found in the past that they offer a good range of food options. But it's about feel too, I like the external timber cladding and inside the store feels light and welcoming, even on what was a dark and cold evening. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to returning in daylight when the crowds have settled down to get a better feel for the place. Welcome Tesco!
Now for some of the history of this project:
The original plans for the store had been approved by Wiltshire Council back in November 2013 (from the original submission submitted in July 2012[2]), but then Tesco began closing stores, due to the chain reporting an overstatement of profits in 2014. It wasn't until January 2015[3] that Tesco confirmed that the site on Beversbrook Road would still go ahead as planned.
Mango Planning and Development on behalf of Tesco submitted new plans to update on the planning conditions in February 2017[4] and development of the store happened very quickly. It was quite astonishing that these buildings can be erected so quickly, surely due to the materials used. Hard to believe that it was only last weekend (25-26 November) that we saw the tarmac lorries going in to lay the car park!
St Mary's School Fireworks were held on 4 November 2017 this year. I managed to record them from one of our bedroom windows. Please enjoy the narration of a very excited 2
year old. First excited about the fireworks, and then all the cars going
past!
This short book is a wonderful introduction to the life and times of scientist Jan Ingen Housz, who lived in Calne for a time.
While the main body of the book is only 36 pages, the authors have packed in a great deal of well written information and interesting illustrations and photographs. Beginning with the origin of the Ingen Housz surname along with Jan's birth and situation, the book progresses with Ingen Housz's rise as a smallpox inoculator and the lifelong friends he makes along the way.
From being headhunted by royalty for his expertise in innoculation to eventually self-exiling himself back in England during the time of revolution - and violence - on the continent, this man had a colourful life. But that's just some of what happened to him, not the things he did.
The book goes on to explain the experiments that are the foundation of what we understand about photosynthesis and the role of carbon dioxide in the creation of organic matter.
The book concludes with the memorial in St. Mary's Church in Calne that occurred in 1956 and describes the plaque placed there in Ingen Housz's honour.
That such a man of science spent time in Calne, but is bascially forgotten is terrible, in my mind. Such good treatment of Ingen Housz made this a really enjoyable book to read: it was long enough to get across a lot of information, but not so long as to get bogged down in too much detail.
I don't know if the book is still available for purchase, but at £4 a copy with the proceeds going towards the upkeep of St. Mary's Church, Calne, it's definitely worth buying. Otherwise, it's available to loan from Wiltshire library.
I have previously written about Calne in Camera, the photographic book published by Calne Borough Council in 1974. The photographs in that publication were all on display at the Calne Community Exhibition of 1973 and is where the interest in Calne photographs originated.
Needless to say, I was excited to find that a copy of the exhibition brochure was available from the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.
This neat little brochure (originally on sale for 25p) contains many photographs itself. In addition is contains a foreword by Ethel Hornby, the Mayor of Calne at the time and a section about the exhibition pieces and local groups (such as the Calne Boy Scouts, Calne Civic Society, Calne Girl Guides and Calne Mothers' Union). There are many pages dedicated to the history of Calne up to 1974 and the changing face of industry in Calne. There is also a short history of Calne Fire Brigade, including the locations where the engines have been stored and crews sizes. There are a couple of pages discussing the twinning of Calne with Charlieu, which is followed by a list of the Mayors of Calne from 1836 to 1974. The final 11 pages are adverts, which must had helped finance the exhibition at the time, but are now of interest historically, with advertisements from Harris and Dixon and Sons, among others.
There is also another document that was in the same envelope that lists the items on displays and the organisations they were on loan from, a non-exhaustive list includes:
Calne Girl Guides provided: Old photographs, Registration Certificates from 1st and 3rd Calne companies and 3rd and 4th Calne Guide Company.
RAF Association provided among other items, a painting of Red Arrows and Concorde.
St. Mary's Parish Church; handbells, vestments, and a model of the church
St. Edmund's RC Primary School; a brief history of the school, plan of the school buildings, photographs and example of children's work.
I found this to be a very worthwhile document to read especially as it was produced at a time of disruptive changes that don't seem to have pleased anyone at that time.
I cannot profess to be an expert on how to pronounce Calne, and during the 10 years that I've lived in Wiltshire, I've heard places around the county and somerset pronounced in ways I couldn't have guessed. But, as I'm writing this blog about Calne, I thought it best to start early on with a short note of my thoughts about the way Calne is pronounced.
I have found three written sources for the pronunciation of Calne:
Canon Jackson wrote a history of Calne in 1888 and writes: "We pronounce it now Calne (Carn)"[1]
The Pronunciation of 10,000 Proper Names (1909) one states that it is "kôn", where 'ô'would be said as 'ôr'. This is where I start to wing it and suggest that this phonetic would lead to a pronunciation of 'Kon'.
The Place-Names of Wiltshire (1939) states that it uses local pronunciation and provide Calne as "Kɑːn, vulgo Kan" (modern phonetic symbol used. vulgo translates to 'generally'). The 'ɑː' said as in 'father', which makes this 'Kahn' This does seem a little closer to one of the local pronunciations.
Both books are from the last century, with one being over 100 years old. So here are the three pronunciations that I have come across (with my attempt to type them the way I hear them):
Karn
Caln
Calen (this one is less used in the UK, although I have heard it used more than once. It is the way that our friends over in Caln Township pronounce their town name).
I've
found it quite difficult to separate the two main pronunications (Karn and Caln) and
the people who use them. I've spoken to different people and seen
debates online - both sides say they've had families that have lived
here for generations.
I
find it interesting that in places like this, where there are different ways of saying the same word, people become very
entrenched in their pronunciation being the correct one. I guess it
must feel like part of their identity? I know I feel a bit like that
with my surname!
I've been in rooms where people are conversating and pronounce Calne differently, but nobody flutters an eyelid. If everyone recognises the word being said, then does the pronunciation really matter? I think that's the way to approach it as language is less prescriptive than it was and changes evolve and spread quicker than ever before. There must have been a time when the town was pronounced a single way, but then diverged? Perhaps with an influx of newcomers at some point in the past.
At
the end of the day, there is no 'official' way to pronounce Calne - as much as we'd all like our way to be 'the' way. So
as long as we understand which town we're speaking of, then I personally think that's the
main thing.
Sources: [1] Jackson, J., 1853. Calne. The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, XXIV, 166-219. Gover, J., Mawer, A. and Stenton, F. (1970). The place-names of Wiltshire. Cambridge: At the University Press. Mackey, Mary Stuart; Mackey, Maryette Goodwin (1909). The pronunciation of 10,000 proper names. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
The Whitehall Christmas displays are well known for miles around and are generally known to the best (perhaps I'm biased due to living in Wiltshire). My mum, who lives in North Lincolnshire always enjoys seeing the displays at Whilehall too and says that none compare. The Garden Centre Association seem to agree and have awarded Whitehall with their best Christmas display in the south west and Wales award multiple times.
Santa is there ready to welcome shoppers.
The displays are child centred, often princesses, cute arctic and antarctic animals, and children's books. This year the display focusses on children's films. Here are a few photos from this year's display:
Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Express
Frozen
Minion Tree!
Along with the more recent creations are some of the classics, such as Mary Poppins (for which a sequel is currently being made), Beauty and the Beast, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - all retaining their original film look.
Mary Poppins
Beauty and the Beast
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The rest of the shop is beautifully lit and makes me want to buy everything available - which I suppose is the purpose, but is done tastefully.
I hope that this tradition of wonderful displays carries on for many years to come.
Still to come are the Christmas ice rink and Santa's Grotto in November. All in all a worthwhile place to visit on the lead up to Christmas.
Us Calne residents had a shock earlier in the week when is was discovered that the 'Two Pigs' statue had been stolen from their plinth in Phelps Parade (further details here). Yesterday afternoon (5 October 2017), Wiltshire Police reported that the statue had - thankfully - been recovered.
In their statement, Wiltshire Police thanked the owner of a reclamation yard in Gloucestershire. The owner of the yard promptly called the police after recognising the statue, on a television appeal about the theft, as one sold to him earlier in the week.
A 17 year old boy has been arrested in connection with this theft and other offences. It will be interesting to see what else we can discover about the theft in due course.[1]
Since the theft, there has been a mobile CCTV van in the town, as seen in the photograph below, looking after our sheep statue.
A news report on the evening edition of BBC Points West on October 3 featured an interview with Rochard Cowdy the sculptor of the pig statue (and coincidently the sheep statue above), said that while he doesn't have the original mould, he could easily model it again. Luckily that won't be necessary now that the statue has been recovered, especially as Mr Cowdy no longer has a foundry, meaning that a new statue would have needed to be cast in Basingstoke, which would have increased the cost to a few thousand pounds. The estimated value for the current pig statue, which is hollow, was around £200 - it would be interesting to know how much money changed hands between the thief and the reclamation yard owner.
As of this afternoon, October 6 2017, the pigs are now on their way back to Calne Town Council, who are working to get the statue base repaired, and then reinstated as soon as possible, after the plinth is modified[3][4]:
I for one can't wait for this statue to be reinstated in its rightful place. As I mentioned in my previous post about this theft, children, including my own son, like to play around on the statue. This time when my son does that, I'm going to take a photo to treasure along with my memories.
Updated to add: There's a detailed news report on the Gloucester Live website available here.
The Two Pigs sculpture. Photo Credit: Rodhullandemu.
I was saddened when my wife returned home from shopping and told me that the much loved 'Two Pigs' statue had been stolen from Phelps Parade sometime the previous evening.
Wiltshire Police report that the statue was taken sometime between the evening of Sunday 1 October and the early hours of Monday 2 October.[1]
Calne Town Council CCTV [2], run by volunteers and when unmanned runs on a pre-set patrol, have given the police the CCTV coverage of the area and the police have been reviewing the footage. Two CCTV cameras recorded the theft, which only took 2 minutes and 45
seconds, suggesting (to me, at least) a level of premeditation to this theft. The statue was wrenched off and carried to a vehicle, Tony Trotman, the current Mayor of Calne commented [3]. The mayor also write in a Facebook comment that the statue was "cast in hollow form and the bronze is not to be thought as an expensive material in scrap terms". The police are asking anyone with information to call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.[4,5]
In an attempt to reduce the likelyhood of other pieces of Calne public art being stolen, a jointly funded Wiltshire Police CCTV van will be deployed into the town centre for the foreseeable future.
The aftermath. Photo Credit: Lucy Havenith
Some History
The bronze statue was placed in Phelps Parade in 1979. It replaced a birch tree which was planted in 1973 upon the completion of Phelps Parade, the same year that the centre of Calne became a conservation area. The tree didn't last long [6], but I had just assumed that this statue would be here for a time long enough to be considered 'forever'.
The statue was commission by the Calne Civic Society (sadly no longer with us) as Calne's first piece of public art. It was made by a prolific local sculptor, Richard Cowdy, who also created the sheep bronzes outside of Sainsbury's in the town along with having a hand in creating most of the public art in Calne.
This statue was created as remeberance of the town's history with the Harris bacon business. The business evolved from a family butchers in the late 1800s to become a major employer in Calne, employing up to 2000 people and processing 5000 pigs at its peak. Recession and competition (from Danish industry) had a massive effect on this business and the loss of major customer, M&S, lead to the factory closing. It was demolished in 1984 to make way for the redevelopment in the town, which lead to the development of Beach Terrace and the library.
What will happen now?
At the time of publishing this post, the police are progressing enquiries. In the long run, it's doubtful that our town will get back our beloved and unique bronze pig statue. I can only hope that they will be replaced by a replica or something that will bring just as much joy to the residents of the town. Whether this will be done by the Town Council, a benefactor, or by public subscription, who knows?
I'm lucky that my last memory of this statue is my 2 year old son sitting on the statue and pretending to ride the pig as a horse, as I'm sure many had done in the past. But, sad to know that this is the past and won't happen again.
Perhaps it is time to leave the past behind. Calne has come a long way since the days of Harris and is more resilient since those days. - Who am I kidding: We want our pigs back.
I hope you will enjoy this video about the bronze pigs by Pete Steadman via YouTube:
An exciting update to this story can be seen here. Post updated: 24/04/2018 with additional photographs.
I have decided to review this trilogy of books together as they follow a very similar format and content.
This series of books really should be considered a triumph for Calne as they show the changes of Calne throughout time, and that people cared enough about the town to not only take these photographs, as well as preserve them for such a long period of time.
Many of the photographs in these books are well over 100 years old, with some displaying the town and its residents in the late 1800s. The author, Peter Treloar, has chosen some wonderful photographs to display the Changing Face of Calne, Haulage and Transport, Events and Celebrations, Commerce, and Groups - along with other topics. But these photographs without context would be meaningless to today's audience as many are beyond living memory. This is where the well written captions of the author bring life to the photographs for readers such as myself.
These captions really shine in the third book, Calne in Focus, as they are longer and provide much more detail. Another great development by the third book is the comparison photographs the author took. By taking an old photograph and placing it alongside a current (1984) photograph taken at as close as possible to the same location and angle, we can easily see the changes that have happened during the intervening time period. Treloar describes the changes between the two as only a knowledgeable local could.
A great read with fantastic photographs.
The books were reprinted in 2003 and some are for sale in the Visitor Information & Community
Information Centre as well as the Calne Heritage Centre. They are also available to loan from Wiltshire Library.
Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Calne Town Flag, which was accepted to the United Kingdom Flag Registry on 24 September 2009 and certified by Graham Bartram (Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist).
In 2009 a new flag was unveiled an at official ceremony with councillors, residents and John Bentley School students in attendance at the town gardens.
The flag was adopted by public competition by Calne Town Council and was designed by Kevin Hatchman.
This abstract design was chosen from nearly 20 entries and now flies alongside the Union flag and the Wiltshire County flag at the small park on Curzon Street.
The blue represents the River Marden, while the green represents the countryside surrounding Calne. The gold band that links the colours harks back to the discovery of Oxygen by Joseph Priestley while he was living in Calne. The white band symbolises the chalk landscape - which it what made the nearby Cherhill White Horse possible.
In 2011 The Springfields Academy reported that 2 of their students, along with 2 students from different schools had flown out to Yanbu school, China. The Town Council had asked them to take the new flag with them on their trip to China. This was presented to Springfields by the Town Crier. (Springfields.wilts.sch.uk, 2011)
I really like the following quote by Kevin from the Gazette and Herald and hope that the flag does help Calne residents internalise pride in their town and residents:
"I thought it should be an emblem representing where our town has come
from, offer pride in what it has become and inspire the community to
believe in its future."
I have added a Google Streetview, so you can see where the flags stand and to make visiting it easier.
Resources: Springfields.wilts.sch.uk. (2017). February | 2011 | The Springfields Academy. [online] Available at: http://www.springfields.wilts.sch.uk/2011/02/ [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017]. The Flag Institute. (2017). Calne, Wiltshire - The Flag Institute. [online] Available at: https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/calne/ [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017]. The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. (2017). New Calne flag trumpets heritage of town. [online] Available at: http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/4647386.New_Calne_flag_trumpets__heritage_of_town/ [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017].
In 2000, three indian bean trees (Catalpa bignonioides) were planted to celebrate the friendship between Calne and its three twins: Caln Township, Charlieu, and Eningen unter Achalm. Here's a bit about the trees and where to find them.
History
Eric Porter, during his time as Mayor of Calne, first noticed the Indian Bean Tree when visiting Charlieu (Calne's first twinned town). He put the idea of planting these trees to the Council and Twinning Association, who agreed that this was a good idea. Spaces were available in the town centre and Market Hill, so the trees were planted there in 2000.
Many thanks to Miriam Trotman for this information.
The Indian Bean Tree
The indian bean tree is a native of the southeastern United States, but has been a popular tree for town centres in England for over 100 years due to its ability to absorb dirt and dust - so a great choice for Curzon Street where there is a lot of traffic. The RHS has awarded this species their Award of Garden Merit along with their Perfect for Pollinators designation. The tree displays large ovate leaves and trumpet-shaped flowers that are white with coloured stripes and blotches on the inside. Later in the year, the pendulous bean pods appear, green at first and turning brown as the year progresses to winter. I find this to be a very decorative tree, that provides year round interest and a cool place to shelter in the summer sun.
The Art
The cast-iron tree grills were designed by David Reeves and feature these wonderful squirrels. Unfortunately only the Calne-Charlieu tree on Market Hill retains its grill as the trunks of the other two trees have outgrown theirs. Where the redundant grills are now, I don't know, but would like to.
The slate lettering was designed by Caroline Webb.
The seating was made by Alan Tilbury and the design reflects the proximity to the river Marden. The bench seats are made from Iroko, a hardwood that is native to the west coast of tropical Africa, it is known to live for 500 years. The seats are around the Caln and Eningen trees as well as placed near the library, as seen below.
The Tree Locations
Calne - Charlieu Tree, Market Hill
Calne - Eningen unter Achalm Tree, outside the Lansdowne Strand Hotel
Calne - Caln Tree, outside Bank House
To find out more about Calne and its twin towns, check out the Calne and District Twinning Association Facebook page by clicking here.
The earliest known reference to Calne in writing is within the Will of King Edred (also Eadred). This Saxon king lived between 923 and 23 November 955 and was the grandson of Alfred the Great.
Within his Will, he leaves the estates of Downton, Damerham, and Calne to the Old Minster at Winchester. It would seem that at least since the 9th century, Calne was owned by royalty and had Crown property in the town (then probably no more than a hamlet).
While the first documentary evidence for our town name appears in 955, A Dictionary of British Place Names states that the name is pre-English. So, it is likely that the name was well established by the time of Edred's will. Ekblom (1917) states:
'This name must be Celtic, probably the same word as Colne, Lancs.
(occurring as Calna, Caune in the 13th cent.)'.
The origin of the name Calne is not known for certain, but is thought to be named after the river 'Calne', from the Celtic elements Col-aun, which means meeting or current of waters. This meeting is likeley Abberd Brook and the River Marden. If the 'Cal' element of Calne and Calstone have the same origin, then it would make 'Calne' the ancient name for the River Marden, the source of this river being Calstone Wellington. However, it is not known how the river became known as the Marden.
Interestingly, Colne in Lancashire, which in 1124 was known as Calna (in 1091, Calne was also refered to as Calna). A Dictionary of British Place-Names advises that Colne is a pre-English river-name of uncertain meaning - identical with River Calne in Wiltshire.
While we may never know the true origin of the name of our town, with place and river names changing, along with the development of language over time, we do know that it is truly ancient.
To discover more about the place names of Calne, buy the book:
References: Ekblom, E (1917) The Place-Names of Wiltshire. Upsala. APPELBERGS BOKTRYCKERI A-B. Goold, P. (n.d.). King Eadred of Wessex. Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. Marsh, A. (1904). A history of the borough and town of Calne. Calne: R.S. Heath. Mills, D. (2011). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Treloar, P Q (2003) Calne in Camera. Calne. Redpin Publishing. Mills, D., 2011. A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
