Graham Ellis - my blog
The people of Avon who gave their lives
Over a hundred employees of the Avon India Rubber Company Limited are commemorated on the memorial that has been relocated to the Queen Mary Garden. The memorial will be rededicated at 13:00 next Sunday (16th February 2025) by the Royal British Legion and the Avon families. Our historic databases at the Well House Collection include records beyond name and initial for most of the people commemorated, and this is available online at https:// www.twhc.org.uk /avonmemorial.html
Lisa Ellis writes: "When I started researching the people listed on local war memorials I felt the constraint of inscriptions etched in stone and marble, or scripted in ink on parchment paper. With computer technology, we have the capability to add their stories, to truly honour their sacrifice."
For each of the people on the page web page set up for memorial for next Sunday, you can link on through to their full record on the database and where known that will let you link on to brothers, sisters, parents and children and help give you a wider view of them and family in Melksham in the first half of the last century.
Dogs in KGV - on lead only?
This is a nightmare for the current Town Council. The bylaws have "always" included a requirement for dogs to be kept on a lead when in the KGV park, but that bylaw has not been enforced and people have got into the habit of letting their well behaved dogs run off lead - they may not have even known about the bylaw, which was posted in fine print at two of the many entrances to the park, and there were just a couple of extra signs too.Declaration of interest - we have two greyhounds (one pictured). Friendly, not going to physically hurt anyone nor any other dog. But they can frighten the bajeebers off people they run up to, and indeed their very presence loose even in our home scares a minority of visitors who have perhaps had bad hound experiences in the past. In the park, on lead they'll be fine. Off-lead they would be too - but other people don't know that. And if they are on lead, we have can be sure that we'll know when we have to pick up after them. Lulu has been off-lead in the dog park area and had a bit of a run; didn't really want or need any equipment but in practise stuck with me. Both run off-lead, when no-one else is around, elsewhere.
So - what is the Town Council to do? Do we enforce a rule which has slipped largely out of use, but which was put in place many years ago and for which good reasons remain? Or do we scrap the rule because it's not been enforced, to the chagrin of those who don't like loose dogs around? Is there some middle ground? Well - yes - the attempt at middle ground is the dog park areas.
We aren't alone with these issues - visit the seaside and you'll find beaches where dogs are allowed, beaches where dogs are not allowed, and seasonal beaches. And with clear guidance, it makes it so much clearer for dog owners, bathers, and council staff as they work at and enjoy the facilities in that secure knowledge. If you are not happy with the status quo (and I can understand why you might not be) have a word with your councillor - this is probably a topic which could be well considered for update and clarification by the town council. It will be interesting to see which of my colleague councillors are brave enough to address this in the run up to local elections.
Published Saturday, 8th February 2025
Quadrants around Melksham Station
The Quadrants near Melksham Station where the Melksham to Bath road (the A365) crosses the railway line. A map and pictures to clarify what's where:
1. North West Quadrant. This is an old good yard, has been a scrap yard and is going through planning to become around 100 new homes - known as the "Upside Yard". There are also some businesses slated to remain in the corner nearest the road and the railway. Much of the area away from the railway in this quadrant is flood plain of the SouthBrook and the developer of the new housing will be looking to build well above that level and indeed improving flood issues.
2. South West Quadrant. Factory buildings dating from (educates guess) the 1930s. A little further along the Bath Road is Blenheim Care Home.
3. North East Quadrant. The Railway Station itself, at the end of the Station Approach business park. The old station warehouse is down there, and large car park which was well used prior to Covid and introduction of a parking charge, but is now scarcely used. The station has 9 trains each way per day (7 at the weekend)
4. South East Quadrant. Warehousing, including Coombe Castle International. Access to this quadrant via the A350 rather than off the A365
Rumour has it that a major hotel chain is looking to build on the North West Quadrant where the business remain at the moment. I don't know if I believe that - it would seem logical for such a build to be on station car park. And that with good access to the railway, the two "A" roads, and the Avonside and Cooper Tires areas where people work at businesses now and will be helping redevelop under the Neighbourhood Plan over coming years. Sensible place to put a hotel.
Also on the map - areas not connected to the quadrants
5. Foundry Close, Aldi, McDonalds and across the road to local shops. A walking and cycle way should be opened from the station to this area, bringing extra amenities within reach of the station and bringing the station within walking distance of the northern residential areas and Melksham Forest via Murray Walk
6. The Cooper Tires / Avon site. Closed since December 2023 and proposed in the Neighbourhood Plan for redevelopment. Makes sense, and should provide for less car-intensive living bearing in mind its closeness to public transport, supermarkets, and the Town Centre.
Talking public transport ... if your arrive at Melksham Station by train you'll not find any buses there ... onward buses are at stops as follows:
7. The 271, 272, 273 and x76 to Bath and the 69 to Corsham
8. The 271, 272 and 273 to Bowerhill and Devizes, the x34 to Trowbridge via Semington, the x76 to Calne and Marlborough, and the 14 and 15 town services
9. The 69 to Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge, and the x69 to Bradford-on-Avon and Frome.
10. The x34 to Chippenham via Lacock
Published Wednesday, 5th February 2025
Melksham Town Council brings you ...
Program of Town Council and third party events as outlined to last night's Community Development Meeting. For more information in the first instance, visit https://www.melksham-tc.gov.uk or the council's social media pages. Additional Assembly Hall events in their January to March schedule and addition public council meetings via the meeting calandar. It would be logical to have all public events including inside (Aseembly Hall) outside (Park) and council meetings (Town Hall) and third party all on the same calendar - perhaps in different colours. I hope that's part of the spec for the new web site, launching 1st May.15/2/2025 - Melksham Youth Advisory Board Launch
18/2 - Coffee and poppy morning
18/2 - Screening of Lion King for half term
20/2 - Half Term Activities in KGV Park
24/2 - Coffee and poppy evening
1/3 - Opening of Awdry Avenue Play Area
1/3 - Opening of Commuunity park area at Canberra
2/3 - Town Tidy
5/3 - Grants award meeting
15/3 - Vegan Market
17/3 - Annual Town Meeting
18/3 - Coffee and poppy morning
21/3 - Mayor's Reception / Civic Dinner / Awards
31/3 - Coffee and poppy evening
6/4 - Great British Spring Clean
10/4 - Half term activities in KGV
11/4 to 13/4 - Spring Market
17/4 - Half term activities in KGV
22/4 - Coffee and poppy morning
26/4 - Melksham Makers Market
1/5 - Launch of new web site
4/5 - Town Tidy
4/5 - Park Yoga starts
6/5 - VE day anniversary and business window competition
8/5 - VE dsy anniversary amd Picnic in the Park
23/5 and 24/5 - Shambles Festival
25/5 - Splash Pad opening
29/5 - Half term activities in KGV
31/5 - Melksham Makers Market
1/6 - Town Tidy
28/6 - Melksham Makers Market
5/7 - Melksham Carnival
6/7 - Town Tidy
tba - Melksham Gardens Competition
tba - Business Windows competition
mid/7 - Summer Community Event
26/7 - Melksham Makers Market
29/7 - Half term activities (Tues and Thurs all summer)
3/8 - Town Tidy
15/8 - Church bells for VJ Day
30/8 and 31/8 - Food and River Festival
7/9 - Towm Tidy
13/9 - Proms in the Park
26/9 - MacMillan Coffee Morning
27/9 - Melksham Makers Market
5/10 - Town Tidy
23/10 - Half Term activities
27/10 - Halloween Window Competition
30/10 - Half Term activities
2/11 - Town Tidy
9/11 - Remembrance Day
10/11 - Remembrance Window Competition
24/11 - Christmas Window Display Competition
6/12 - Xmas Market and lights switch on (see * below)
7/12 - Town Tidy
12/12 - Carols by the tree
After last night's extra full council meeting, the Community Development Committee met - not one I am on, but I stayed around in the public gallery to get an idea of what's going on. A lot of enthusaiam there for a wide program of public events to be run / sponsored / helped by the Town Council this year.
Other (undated as yet) projects include the Explorer App looking at the history and events around Melksham, and refurbishing and moving two redundant old phone boxes to the Market Place to make them a feature there.
* - Light switch on event - the cancellation of last year's live event due to poor weather was considered. The meeting concluded that the decision to cancel was correct, but that our terms of booking for stallholders and contractors needed to be updated in case this happens again, as the Town Council was left with a lot of expenses that councillors felt should have been born by the people who had booked or had been booked. We spent a lot of money and "got nothing" for it.
Published Tuesday, 4th February 2025
Neighbourhood Plan - toward referendum on 1st May
Melksham's Joint Neighbourhood Plan II. Huge amount of work - just gone in for inspection by a central official to make sure it's good, valid and can be legally enforced. Big "thank you" to both MWPC and MTC councillors and officers through the process and their sign off and approvals at each stage. Thanks extended to the professional team of experts who have been a pleasure to work with. See https://www.melkshamneighbourhoodplan.org for the plan.Over December and January, comments were invited by Wiltshire Council and around two dozen were received to be submitted alongside the plan to the inspector, and the joint neighbourhood plan steering group was invited, if they wish, to comment on the inputs received. This is not an opportunity to change the draft plan - that is now fixed (and approved by MTC and MWPC) and the only changes possible will be those requested / suggested by the inspector. It is just an opportunity to add context - and also an opportunity for both qualifying bodies to confirm their commitment to the process and its benefits, even if frustrated by the time it has taken and cost.
Having a neighbourhood plan in place gives us the ability to help steer the location, type and build quality and metrics of future development. It lets us designate extra protection onto green spaces in the area and features of local historic value (in addition to listed buildings). It lets us define structure and goals for environmental, transport and other infrastructure, and it allows a significant extra amount of "CIL" - Community Infrastructure Levy - to come to local councils for local enhancements rather than to the Unitary and wider ranging authority.
This evening (3rd February 2025), the Town Council ratified the letter of comment to be sent to the inspector. A unanimous vote, and we look forward to the inspection, comments and minor changes that result, and (it's anticipated) a public vote on the plan on the same day as the local elections - set for 1st May.
Published Monday, 3rd February 2025
Next service at your bus stop
Select your bus stop on the pull down menu ... see the map for the codes
Real Time Information is available for all scheduled bus stops and services (and there are 158 stops) in Melksham - and indeed across Wiltshire - on your mobile phone. Wiltshire Council are in the process of putting up new departure timetables at many of the stops that have not had them in the past, and they include a QR code to take your smart phone to information for that stop. And here (above) is a direct route to each stop - you don't even have to go to the stop to see it!
You can search for / find any bus stop in the country at http://nextbuses.mobi/WebView/BusStopSearch/Index
My work WILL continue after 30th April when I cease to be a Town Councillor - indeed my transport activities may be enhanced because of the extra time I will have available and the removal of the limitations put on me as a councillor.
Technical note: The map above uses Open Street Map data which is freely available from https://www.openstreetmap.org/ onto which I have plotted bus stop locations from the freely available NaPTAN database from https://naptan.api.dft.gov.uk/swagger/index.html. Current buses are at present links from "Nextbuses" - http://nextbuses.mobi - giving you the same links that Wiltshire Council are giving you on the QR codes on each bus stop and is based on https://www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk.
Smallprint: - I cannot vouch for the quality of the vast amount of data provided, nor for the consequnces of any errors in it - you should use it with caution. And I can't promise it will continue to be available - I'm very much in the hands of the data providers. That said, it's usually fairly accurate and I'm not expecting any changes to base data soon. One caution - when a bus service is withdrawn and leaves a stop unserved, the stop tend to remain in the database for an extended period showing no departures.
Published Sunday, 2nd February 2025
Melksham Town Council - from Letter to the editor
"Melksham town Council is a disgrace to public administration" says the headlineDear Editor,
Paul Carter's in MIN 876 (letters) calls on all present councillors responsible for what he describes as a staffing "fiasco" to stand down and not seek re-election on 1st May.
Three Town Councillors elected four years ago had extensive staffing experience - running staffed businesses here in Melksham for some considerable period. All three of us know that issues arise from time to time. My own business moved to Melksham in 1999 and ran for 20 years until we retired. We too had our "negative situations" - three I could describe over that time, all of which were quickly settled with no case to answer. Staff stayed with us for many years - a decade and more, and that's unusual in the hospitality business.
I really thought when elected that I could help, but it became obvious within weeks that certain staff were to go, and that the all powerful and secretive staffing committee was to comprise only a star chamber of party / grouping members elected for the whole 4 years. None of your three experience councillors were called upon until the very end of grievances to help sort out appeals. I sat on far too many of those for my liking. They were far too late in the day to do anything useful, and far too toothless to be able to suggest late solutions. They did not avoid the things going "courtwards", which would have been good for the sake of all concerned except the legal eagles.
Paul, my term as a councillor finishes in April and I shall be glad to leave. However, I do not feel responsible for the current situation. Just this morning, I have been informed - with an apology for it being retrospective - of a need to authorise another staffing change. That's even worse than the 5 minutes we were given to consider a similar situation in June 2021, which was supported by all councillors present except myself and Councillor Lewis.
It is not all bad news. A number of excellent staff have been recruited, and have been learning their way into their new roles. Only one full time staff member from pre-2021 elections remains and most people are much more recent. Sadly we lost another wave in the process.
Expensive changes happening in the current financial year to 31st March should leave us with a team that is crisp, reasonably fresh, and employed within the budget set last month. I had my doubts, but wasn't aware of upcoming changes. There are some good people on staff now - I really hope they are reasonably tasked with a sensible workload, and motivated and supported by their team leads.
Paul Carter suggests that it is time for many to stand down; he is correct, but that is not for all. There are a couple of councillors who joined in May 2021 for the first time, or since, who are good, have learned in and are becoming effective, and I hope they will be re-elected.
In terms of "who else on the next council?" - I have difficulty in identifying candidates. Who has Melksham Town as their agenda priority? Who is robust enough to stand up to the probably bullying that will go on again? Who has the time to give as unpaid volunteers physically present in the Town Hall at most meetings? Who will listen?
There is nothing secret in what I write, and the thoughts are not secret. However, I do not intend to send it to the MIN for publication. It'll be up to the new team from May to take things forward and far be it for me to tell them how to do so having chosen not to stand again.
I do look forward to be able to use my time far, far more effectively on various of the transport and associated environmental and planning issues which effect Melksham, our county and our region. Some of the issues there are just as complex and hard as on the Town Council, but that feels very much more to be a team of friends working to achieve an enjoyable, efficient and sustainable present and future.
We have a wonderful public, love of the town, community volunteers in the Melksham area – I love being a part of it. Thank you for being here. We have a bright opportunity and – who knows – we may find a charismatic leader to take us forward be that at the head of the elected or employed team.
Graham
Published Saturday, 1st February 2025
Big data - people in Melksham's history
Two hundred years ago, Melksham was the largest town for many miles ... it's grown since, but nothing like as much as other towns around - and there'e perhaps 25,000 residents now in Greater Melksham - the urban area area that includes Melksham Town and much of the neighbouring parish of Melksham Without. But that number is dwarfed by the number of people who have lived here over the years - generation after generation - and Lisa has recorded more than 50,000 into a historic database, with records of births, marriage and deaths, and christenings, addresses, news snippets too as available. It's a labour of love - for the town - and there is a continued data updating, and addition.Much of the data is available - with sufficient research - through sources such as Ancestry, War Records, British Newspapers and at research archives such as Chippenham and Kew, but Lisa is bringing it all together into a single set of related databases and starting to make it available online on "The Well House Collection" - https://www.twhc.org.uk/. Presentation, searching and navigation of the data is challenging; the first tranche was uploaded last month and made the local newspaper last week, and there will be a monthly update too. Last month, individuals could be found by name ... this month, the parents, children and siblings of each individual are displayed with their record so you can navigate through your ancestors (or someone else's ancestors). The example at the top of this article is for Edmund Ellis who lived from 1822 to 1903, was one of 8 children, married twice and fathered 11 children - sadly many of them died very young, though William survived until the Second World War.
You can see Edmund's record (Lisa will have more - perhaps a picture and/or a story from the paper) which should be online in a future release at https://www.twhc.org.uk/person.html?pid=731416 . You can start a search for your own relatives via https://www.twhc.org.uk/person.html . Whilst Lisa looks to make the data as accurate and complete as practical, much of the information is not verified or even verifiable. Recorder's writing is hard to make out, and at times notes are transposed wrongly as written into registers. People change their names and give false ages, and get left off or double registered on the census. Please email Lisa with any corrections or additions - lisa @ sn12.net
Published Friday, 31st January 2025
18 years - the Coffee Shop flourishes
18 years ago today, I registered the domain Firstgreatwestern . info with a forum which we called "The Coffee Shop" opening there a few days later. It is provided for customers of train services in a wedge from London to the South West and South Wales, including the Thames Valley and Wessex, down to the Solent and up to the Malvern Hills. Little did I imagine that the Coffee Shop would still be open and indeed coming of age in 2025.There is - still - a need for the public transport passenger voice to be heard. Systems are complex - sometimes to excess - and there remains a need to support and inform the current passenger. And to promote and help campaign for and develop services fit and best for the future. And to encourage new people to make use of buses, trains and other public transport whether they're travelling for business, personal business or leisure purposes.
There is still a need - and that's illustrated by our very survival at the Coffee Shop funded purely by the volunteer enthusiasm of our team. "On this day" looks back at previous years. An illustration from this morning mentions the 18 years of the Coffee Shop and also comes up with Ruth Kelly, Singapore Airlines and More Train Less Strain. None is current any longer in the context of the story from the past, but yet the Coffee Shop is.
There is a personal need too; in many ways, the Coffee Shop is my life - a club of friends and a pleasure to "work" here with so many others. A big "Thank you" is due to the whole team and indeed to the wider membership, right through to the occasional or one-off reader who finds us through a search engine to answer a specific query. Analytics tell me that we have 200 different visitors and day ... 2800 active users in the last month of whom 2400 were in the UK. Our own stats show that we're headed for around 1000 new posts this month.
Have we achieved anything? Yes. I will answer that as to what we have achieved locally and for me personally as a "micro" example of the macro.
When the Coffee Shop first opened, we had 2 trains each way per day at the local station here in Melksham - described as "[too/two] early and [two/too] late" to be of much use. 5 passengers arriving a 5 leaving each day and the question asked "is this really appropriate and useful?". We now have 9 trains each way per day, with around 100 passenger arrivals and 100 departures.
There is still a need - these remain awfully low figures for the only station in a town the size of Melksham - now around 25,000 in the conjoined urban area, and with a further 10,000 anticipated by 2040. Not only more people, but more use of public transport per person. I would hope to see at least 500 arrivals and 500 departures by the end of the next decade.
Now - to be clear - it is NOT just the Coffee Shop that has achieved this and has these ambitions, but it has helped advocate, help and promote the development. It partners. I remember being ridiculed by the Secretary of State for Transport in the early days - "we can't run a train service just for Mr Ellis" - it was supposed to be a put-down but really it wasn't - I was asking for a service for my town and not for myself, which would have been, indeed, ridiculous.
On Tuesday, the 18th anniversary of my first post. And I will take a personal journey to the far end of the territory we cover - Penzance - and back. And I will bask in the satisfaction of a trip that would have been impossible 18 years ago - or even in this form 2 years ago.
I'll leave Melksham on the 06:32 train which is a descendant of one of the ones we had when we started, but it's been moved 4 minutes EARLIER - a campaign request and result as it now offers and onward connection at Trowbridge for Bath and Bristol commuters, allowing them to arrive there 30 minutes earlier. And at the end of a long day, I'll connect back via Chippenham into the 22:45 train from Chippenham which was added to the timetable after further nagging to give us the "all day, every day" service that a town the size of Melksham within an area of significant towns and cities - Wessex - requires.
These past four years, I have added the role of Town Councillor to my portfolio. It has been an interesting experience, but one I have failed to enjoy as perhaps I should, and one in which I have failed to achieve what I might have wished. Perhaps my dreams of what I could do were unrealistic, and the time is not without achievement. The residents and the public are lovely - contrary to advice from another councillor who suggested I be very careful in engaging once elected. The very enthusiasm to promote projects and selves within - any - parish council (which we are) leads to feelings of deceit, obstruction and bullying. Without a time-stable and respected lead with a shared vision, and a continuing team, perhaps that is bound to be. Split loyalties to parish and unitary councils, and split to the political party and to the town have hindered too. Let me describe the four years as a developing experience, but I will be very glad to be able to get many, many, many hours back onto public transport stuff. That's partly the Coffee Shop but only partly.
We are at a time of great change - which gives us great risk and great opportunity. And I am very excited for the future. That's for Melksham, for the whole of Wiltshire, Wessex and wider.
Perhaps not something to hide on the end of this 18 years post, but I have a vision of arriving into Melksham on the hourly train - perhaps coming in from Swindon or Salisbury, and greeting our team at the hub as I connect into the bus that meets every train to take me to the Market Place and home, chatting with other passengers on the bus headed for the homes to the east of the town, the sports ground, or the Bowerhill business and residential areas.
And that's a microcosm of the sort of improvements you may see elsewhere too. So good that the improved services are the natural way to travel.
Links from this article
Coffee Shop: https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/
Coffee shop daily: https://www.passenger.chat/
TravelWatch SouthWest: https://www.travelwatchsouthwest.org.uk/
Melksham Transport User Group: https://www.mtug.org.uk
Published Sunday, 26th January 2025
Real Time Bus Information in Melksham
It's good to see a display at two bus stops in Melksham Town Centre telling you when your bus is expected - this is called "Real Time Bus Information".
The picture on the left here is of the display from Friday morning at 08:06 and shows a bus on route 272 to Devizes expected in 23 minutes (so at 08:29) and on route x34 to Frome expected in 36 minutes (so at 08:42). This information is a prediction, based on a tracking device on the bus. If a traffic jam develops and the bus gets held up, it will be later. And if a bus takes longer than normal at a bus stop on the way for any reason, it will also be later. However, the bus is tracked along the way so that if it does get held up, the estimate will be changed.
The picture on the right shows scheduled times - the word "scheduled" is displayed and it gives a time and not a number of minutes. This is a bus that is not being tracked. Most commonly, it's because the bus hasn't even started its journey yet. It can also be because there is no device on the bus tracking it, or it is switched off or it is out of order. Most often, you'll find that a scheduled time switches to a "due" indication when the bus is on its way.
A few "caveats". If a bus shows as "scheduled" but yet it's due in a couple of minutes, there is no indication available as to whether it is actually running. It might not be tracking, or it might be cancelled. And when it doesn't show up at the scheduled time, it will then disappear off the screen but it may still turn up late. There is no mechanism in place (a national issue) to update the "scheduled" time to tell you if a bus is cancelled during the day - where a time is given, it is what the operator put into the system as his timetable. The displays are just a summary - so you'll need to look elsewhere if you want to know where the bus calls along the way, or to know what time it gets to your destination. I am also aware that the new displays are not brightly lit and can be hard to see after dark
These displays have been funded from the Community Infrastrucure Levy paid by new housing developer to Melkshshan Town and Melksham Without Parish Councils. The extra money to pay for them has become available to the councils because we have an adopted Neighbourhood Plan in place.
There are a handful of displays showing similar data at the busier bus stops in Melksham Without too. Although the displays themselves may look different, the same guidance applies to how you read them. At less busy bus stops, new printed signs include a QR code which let you check the same information on your phone.
Published Saturday, 25th January 2025