Custard and the Wiltshire flag

The Wiltshire flag was registered on 1 December 2009 following support from Wiltshire County Council and certified by Graham Bartram, Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist.

The flag was designed by Mike Prior and daughter Helen Pocock. At its centre, the flag features the bustard, a bird that was native to the county, until it became extinct in the country in 1832. However, since 2004, the Great Bustard Group has released many chicks on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. Having a bustard in gold as the centre of the flag shows the significance placed on having this previously lost species back within our county borders.

Other elements of the flag include the solid green circle, to represent the open grassland of Wiltshire, which is bordered by a circle of alternating green and white to represent the famous stone circles of Averbury and Stonehenge. These alternating portions also represent the 6 counties that border our own: Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, and Somerset.

The photo on the left shows the flag in action at County Hall, Trowbridge.









Custard the bustard

Custard the bustard lives at the Trowbridge branch of the Wiltshrie library. This sculpture was created after Councillor Jane Scott commissioned it for Wiltshire Council after seeing a collection of similar sculptures during the Queen's visit to Salisbury.

A competition commenced during September and October 2012, for under 12s to name the sculpture. Out of 40 entries, James Coles and Freya Mitchell won, when they both submitted "Custard" as their name choice.

Amesbury Artist, Anna Marie Anderson, painted the sculpture in colours matching the Wiltshire flag.

Custard the bustard was officially unveiled during November 2012.

You can visit Custard yourself during library open hours!

The engraved plaque that sits on the sculpture plinth.

References:
The Flag Institute. 2018. Wiltshire - The Flag Institute. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/wiltshire/. [Accessed 19 July 2018].
Wiltshire Times. 2018. Custard the Bustard unveiled at Trowbridge County Hall | Wiltshire Times. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/10079818.Custard_the_Bustard_unveiled_at_Trowbridge_County_Hall/?ref=arc. [Accessed 19 July 2018].

Facebook Groups

This year I've created two Facebook groups. The first focusses on photographs of Calne from any period of time, the other concentrates on the history and heritage of our town.

Both groups allow a radius of 6 miles, which stretches through Calne, Calne Without, and a little further - as nothing, especially history happens in isolation. Plus this let's us see the beauty that surrounds us here in Calne!

The groups have been quite successful so far and are active with lots of friendly members. 

Check us out and join if you'd like!

Road Strip Map: The Road from London to Bristol, 1753

The Road from London to Bristol. Photographed at Chippenham Museum during their
Georgian season exhibition.

'Caln' and the Arms of Calne.

This 1753 map was one of many that appeared in Britannia Depicta, an illustrated road atlas covering Britain. It was first printed in 1720 and subsequently updated with engravings by many artists until the 1800s. Britannia Depicta was printed by Emanuel Bowen and John Owen's firm and is based from earlier work by John Ogilby.

This strip map covered the journey from London to Bristol and covered pages 22-26. This page is of interest because is covers Calne, not only showing the familiar castle and feathers that are still included in our coat of arms, but also because it records the name of our town as 'Caln' and 'Calne'.

Other local places covered by this book are Chippenham (which is on the other side of the Calne page), Marlborough, and Devizes, which includes a short history of the castle.

The entire book is available on the Archive.org website. To access or download the book, click this link, or navigate to the website and search from there.