December 19, 1969.

CHIPPENHAM: Sir Henry Langton, chairman of Wiltshire County Council, in proposing the toast to the Town and Trade of Chippenham and the Fatstock Show at the Christmas Fatstock Show dinner in the Neeld Hall, said he felt that Chippenham would overcome any difficulties which it faced. The Mayor of Chippenham, Mrs Angela Powell, said she hoped the traffic problems in the town would soon be solved. She regretted that one of the town’s most thriving concerns – the market – should be so positioned that its route was both hazardous and time consuming. The proposed new road at Cocklebury should ease the inevitable congestion on Fridays. Already, the effects and advantages of the Severn Bridge were being felt and, although one might be a little sad at the carving-up of the countryside which was necessitated by the M4, it was fully realised that the prosperity of Chippenham and its surrounding areas depended on accessibility and progress.

December 22, 1989.

WARMINSTER: Britain’s biggest Christmas tree is proudly ablaze with lights this week, after making the 150-mile journey from Longleat to King’s College, Cambridge. At 86ft 6ins, the 59-year-old tree towered over the forests near Warminster, until it was felled after Lord Weymouth donated it to the appeal for funds for the King’s College choir school. The tree – which beats even the famous Trafalgar Square tree for height and has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records – was taken to Cambridge and erected on the Backs. “We have the most number of candle lights that have ever been put on a tree,” said King’s College choir school appeals director, Alan Molloy. “They are being lit up as people donate money to the appeal.” A quarter of the funds will go to the Children’s Hospice for Eastern Region, the rest to the choir school.

December 24, 2004.

TROWBRIDGE: Santa took time away from his busy schedule to help the environment , when Father Christmas helped plant 30 trees at the Paxcroft Mead estate. The trees are a reward for people on the estate who have recycled aluminium cans as part of a nationwide initiative organised by the Aluminium Packaging Organisation.