More than 2,800 Corsham schoolchildren have had the change to take part in a spot the oddity competition run by the town's chamber of commerce. Fifty retailers in Corsham displayed a poster in their window announcing their participation in the competition
CHAMBER NEWS:The Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce has revamped its website to include details of its 14 member chambers and five business networks. The site has been created and is hosted by Trowbridge IT company JPCi. Darren Earney, the firm's
CHAMBER NEWS: Le Caf Journal has won the 2005 Warminster Christmas window competition organised by the town's chamber of commerce. Owner, Mrs Veronica Wallace, received a certificate, shield, winner's cup and £15 cash. Le Caf Journal had already won
A COUPLE who set up a property-selling business on the internet say office-less estate agencies are the way forward. Paul Collier, 46, and his wife Maria, 39, from Frome, started House-Hut.com in September and so far business has been going well. Rather
KEEPING calm under pressure has helped Andrew Pate rise from working in a bakery to running West Wiltshire District Council. Mr Pate, 46, has been the chief executive of the council for nearly two years. His first job was during his university holidays
The four most talented young Engineering/ Engineering Manufacture Advanced Apprentices from Wiltshire were rewarded for their achievements at the sixth annual EEF Apprentice of the Year Competition for South West England. Adam Sartain and Darren Wiltshire
A WESTBURY-based electronic repair company has won a national award for customer service. Service All Electronics was commended in the home entertainment category of this year's Total Excellence and Quality (TEQ) Awards, organised by Domestic & General
TWO entrepreneurs who have sold more than 23,000 copies of their board game are now set to launch it in America. Cirondo, the brainchild of brothers Angus and Andi Wright is dubbed a cross between chess and draughts. Andi and his wife Rebecca, of Rowe
A FOOTBALLER has swapped clashing with Aston Villa for splashing out on Spanish villas. Fitzroy Simpson, who played for Jamaica in the World Cup as well as top flight teams in England, moved to Spain this summer to play football in the Spanish third
The Socceroos reached the football World Cup finals for the first time since 1974, but 2005 was a miserable year for Australian sports fans. Reporter GARETH MOORHOUSE talks to Chippenham Town's resident Aussie Matthew McEntagart about a year of hits
PAUL Brickley has called for more consistency from his young Westbury United side as they failed to transform their prolific home form to their travels on Saturday. Westbury have scored 21 goals without reply in their last four home games, but came
GLENN Armstrong believes Calne Town will be challenging for the premier division title within two years after a stylish end to 2005 and a powerful start to 2006. The Lillywhites' striker scored just once in the two matches but created four more as
DAVE Hopkins believes Corsham Town's title challenge is very much on after they effectively moved to the top of the Toolstation League Premier Division on Tuesday night. With Exmouth's withdrawal from the league, all points accrued against the Devon
GRAHAM Learmonth is eyeing up a semi-final meeting with one of Wiltshire's big guns ahead of tomorrow's Wiltshire Senior Cup Quarter Final at Warminster. Biddestone go into the tie as marginal favourites against their Wiltshire League opponents but
DEAN Barker opened his Trowbridge Town account on Monday as the Bees inflicted a first Hellenic League home defeat of the season on Pewsey Vale. Dave Percival added a second after the break leaving boss Neil Kirkpatrick claiming the win could be a
BRADFORD Town's fifth win in seven matches on Saturday was soured by the news they will lose inspirational goalkeeper Danny Holdcroft for at least two weeks at the end of the month. Holdcroft will be travelling to Turin for a pre-Winter Olympics training
WAYNE Thorne believes he has been made a scapegoat for one mistake as he moves to Southern League rivals Mangotsfield United on loan. The Chippenham Town defender refused to condemn Bluebirds' boss Darren Perrin but admitted he has been hurt by being
IAIN Harvey has described being "stitched up" by Tiverton Town in the summer as a blessing in disguise after helping the Bluebirds to their sixth win in a run of seven local derbies. The Chippenham Town midfielder, together with Mark Badman and Ian
MARTIN Paul has tipped Chippenham Town for promotion after returning to Hardenhuish on Saturday and almost ruining the Bluebirds' New Year's Eve celebrations. The former Chippenham striker showed he had lost none of his predatory instinct when, as
SHORT MAT BOWLS: After a richly-deserved shared runners-up spot in the Open Fours contest, the team of Peter Sykes, Joan Alford, Shawn Anteny and skipped by Jim Herberts fought their way through a tough competition to win the Wiltshire Fours title beating
ANGLING: The Bristol Avon at Chippenham was running high and coloured for the Chippenham Open match and weights were somewhat lower than normal. A bonus carp weighing 10lb 0oz boosted the small roach catch to a winning weight of 12lb 9oz for Joe Thompson
TOMMY Saunders has hit out at the state of Corsham Town's pitch and warns it will cost them any chance of lifting the Western League Premier Division title. Speaking after a 2-0 defeat at the Southbank on Tuesday night, the Odd Down boss described
CHIPPENHAM Town have failed in a second attempt to land Bath City striker Scott Partridge in one half of a double transfer blow for the Bluebirds. After having a bid rejected for Partridge last month, Chippenham upped their offer on Wednesday but Bath
KELVIN Highmore and Justin Messenger have promised a shake-up at The Conigre after slamming the commitment levels of their Melksham Town youngsters. Saturday's dismal 3-1 defeat at Premier Division strugglers Backwell, with just two substitutes available
UNTIL JULY 2 2006, LACOCK: IT may seem impossible but the Fox Talbot museum in Lacock is putting on a camera-less photography exhibition. The National Trust will exhibit the work of contemporary photographic artists, Angela Easterling and Susie Needham
IT may seem impossible but the Fox Talbot museum in Lacock is putting on a camera-less photography exhibition. The National Trust will exhibit the work of contemporary photographic artists, Angela Easterling and Susie Needham, from tomorrow. They
A FAMILY were rushed to hospital after a fire broke out in their home. Firefighters were called to the blaze just after 6.30am on Friday in The Quadrangle, Chippenham. Two adults and a child were taken to the Royal United Hospital, Bath, for precautionary
THE suspended chief executive of North Wilts Leisure has died after a short battle with cancer. Mike Parlour, 54, of Tetbury Lane, Crudwell, was diagnosed with the disease in October and died just two months later. He leaves wife Vivien and two
A PETITION of 60 signatures has been handed to North Wiltshire District Council protesting against a proposed block of flats. Permission has been recommended for the demolition of existing garages on the site and for eight two-bedroom flats to be built
A TOWN centre CCTV system could be on its way out as funding cuts were announced to prevent a rise in council tax. Chippenham Town Council's recommended budget shows a plan to cut funding for the security system in the town from just over £84,000 to
Dave Cullop, 43, took over as inspector of Trowbridge police in October. He has worked all over the county in the course of his career and first worked in the county town in the early 1990s. He lives in the Trowbridge area with his partner, Sarah,
CHILDREN waiting to be adopted in Wiltshire could make their new homes with unmarried and same-sex couples. The Adoption and Children Act, which was implemented on Friday, grants unmarried and gay couples the right to joint custody of a child, where
SCHOOLS are being urged to help keep children safe on the roads as part of Melksham is named as one of Britain's accident hotspots. Recent figures provided by the Child Accident Prevention Trust show that the Melksham North electoral ward ranks in
Bradford on Avon swimming pool is still closed and is unlikely to reopen until at least Monday, January 16, following a small fire before Christmas. Although the fire was contained within the sauna area, smoke damage to other parts of the pool building
West Wiltshire traders have refuted claims that regional accents are bad for business. A survey by independent communications consultants the Aziz Corporation found that 48 per cent of traders thought the West Country accent was a sign of failure in
INSPIRED by the birth of her two children, Christine Giles is hoping to change the world by opening a 100 per cent ethical shop. The 37-year-old, of Eden Grove, Whitley, plans to open the store in Melksham in January selling organic food, fair trade
ON behalf of the Lions Club of Bradford on Avon, may I extend our heartfelt thanks to the people of Bradford on Avon and surrounding villages for their tremendous support yet again this year for our Christmas float appeal. Over the past three weeks
POSSIBLY I travel around more than the average motorist but for the past four months I have noted the variation in diesel pump prices especially once you get out of Trowbridge. The difference is so great that I beg to question, Is there a conspiracy
I have heard that Chico is coming to Chicago Rock in Trowbridge and that the tickets are for people aged 18 and over. I've voted for him ever since he appeared in the final of The X-Factor. I am only 10 years of age and I think that any age should
IT is now 10 months since Wiltshire County Council agreed to lower the speed limits in many towns and villages across the county. At the time it was suggested by some that this was an election stunt by the Conservatives only a matter of weeks before
I continue to be baffled at Mr James Gray's attitude towards safety cameras. The case for safety cameras and their worth in saving lives has been proven both nationally and locally, here in Wiltshire (Cameras Boost the Coffers, Wiltshire Times, December
THANK you for printing the lovely photographs of local schoolchildren performing their Nativity plays (Wiltshire Times, December 23). In these days of obsessive political correctness and the ridiculous behaviour of some local authorities in introducing
I have been both grateful and amazed at the number of people that have phoned and stopped me in the street over the past few days, since the West Wiltshire District Council put out a misleading press statement regarding my state of health. As it is
This week sees the start of the region's annual Great Reading Adventure. Each year from January to March thousands of people read the same book at the same time be it at home, at school, with work colleagues, with reading groups, through their local
EIGHT teenagers gave up everyday luxuries for a week of basic living in The Gambia to deliver bikes for children forced to walk eight miles a day to get to school. The Year 10 pupils from St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, coped without running
THE future of Corsley Heath will be decided on Wednesday when councillors debate whether to build a temporary £100,000 home for a gipsy family there. The picturesque site was earmarked for development by district council officer Tim Darsley, after
BUSTER the Bear dropped in to help pupils at a school learn how to play safe. The friendly bear, mascot for Redrow Homes, the developer behind the Heron's Reach development in Trowbridge, visited children at nearby The Mead Primary School to teach
YOUNG dramatists are helping a Box-based charity raise money for children in Uganda. Musician Roger Bolton runs the charity Children Back Home, to help provide shelter and a safe environment for children in the war-torn country. After visiting Africa
A MUSIC festival which attracts hundreds of singers and visitors to the tiny village of Edington each year is to be shown on television. Cameras followed events at The Edington Music Festival in the summer, as it celebrated its 50th anniversary, for
THE Co-op Group, which has stores in Westbury and Melksham, has caused concern among employees by changing its pension scheme. The chain has axed a scheme based on final salary, replacing it with a career average scheme, meaning employees in Co-op retail
LYONS Seafood factory in Warminster has applied for planning permission to build a £650,000 effluent treatment plant. The plant will be housed in a new building on the Fairfield Road site, which would replace the existing plant built 20 years ago.
THE Co-op Group, which has stores in Westbury and Melksham, has caused concern among employees by changing its pension scheme. The chain has axed a scheme based on final salary, replacing it with a career average scheme, meaning employees in Co-op
THE demise of a north Wiltshire Sunday school has been blamed on increasing numbers of youngsters playing sport at the weekend. Leaders of the Sunday Club in Colerne say children no longer have the time to take part in the centuries-old tradition.
TWO couples had the chance of a lifetime to experience a traditional Bangladeshi wedding. Paul and Boni Williams, of Eastbourne Road, Trowbridge, and John and Sandra Reed, from the Farmhouse Inn in Southwick, travelled to the village of Deoti, about
THE ancient monument of Stonehenge is the only British contender left in a contest to find the seven wonders of the modern world. Wiltshire's famous stone circle is among 21 sites around the world to be nominated from a pool of 77 and faces tough competition
IN our report last week on the death of well-known local businessman Noel Knee, we mistakenly said he was a founder of the Trowbridge Chamber of Commerce. It was in fact Noel's grandfather, Henry John Knee.
ORGANISERS of a charity event to help unwanted animals have said a bust-up over raffle tickets did not mar the success of the evening. Rasika Bouterfas, who organised the bingo and entertainment evening, said a misunderstanding occurred when they were
Wiltshire Ambulance Service's control centre handled four times as many calls as it usually deals with on a Saturday night with over 140 calls coming into the control centre in the first five hours of January 1. This represented an increase of 28
VIOLENCE marred New Year celebrations in west Wiltshire with several people needing hospital treatment after a string of incidents. Three men were treated for knife wounds and another man for a blow to the head following a fracas involving at least
A HAIRDRESSER will lose her flowing locks on Saturday in a bid to raise vital funds for suffering animals. Halcyon Down, 31, of Twist Hair Specialists in Warminster, pictured, will shave her head in the presence of mayor Les Rose to raise money for
THE family of a Trowbridge man brutally beaten in an apparent gang attack have appealed to police to catch his attackers. Richard Howells, 32, of Honeysuckle Close, lay unidentified for 24 hours in hospital after he was found lying in the road with
PEOPLE who need to have an operation on the NHS can now choose which hospital they go to. Under the Government's new Patient Choice system GPs will be able to offer patients at least four options, including private hospitals, where they can be treated
PRIME Minister Harold Wilson planned to survive a nuclear war by taking refuge in a bunker under Corsham. The Labour PM, who was in power between the mid 1960s and early 70s, his cabinet and top civil servants would have fled to Burlington Bunker.
THE Wiltshire Times and Chippenham News have welcomed a new recruit to its reporting team. John Ballard, 24, joins after completing a journalism degree at Cumbria Institute of Arts in Carlisle in 2004. For the past 11 years he has lived in Penrith
THE first steps have been taken towards a £100,000 fundraising bid for repairs to All Saints Church, Westbury. Embroidery expert Jane Lemon, who has worked as a costume designer for the BBC and has embroidery work displayed at churches across the country
CANNABIS plants, a Jaguar sports car and £25,000 cash were seized by police during two drugs raids on Friday. Police raided a property in Oatfields, Staverton Marina, at 4.10am, where they found cannabis with a street value of £400 and a purpose-built
THE fourth annual Interfaith Peace Vigil took place at St Giles' Church, Imber, on New Year's Eve. The hour-long vigil focussed on ways in which a military and civilian partnership is developing in an attempt to prevent warfare. Nine people attended
THE birth of every child is a miracle but for one couple the New Year's Day arrival of their son was extra special. Marcia Rawlings, 39, and her partner Barrie Pearce, 38, tried for a child for nearly six years and went through the heartbreak of five
A PUB landlord lost part of his ear when it was bitten off during a fight with a drunken customer on Boxing Day. Richard Grieshaber, landlord of the Parson's Nose in Melksham, was bitten on his right ear as he grappled with a customer on the pavement
