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.
