October 24, 1969.

WILTSHIRE: The message to the MInistry of Transport from Wiltshire county surveyor Mr CR Chadwick was clear – give us more money for our roads before they fall to pieces. Mr Chadwick says in his annual report that trunk roads are rapidly deteriorating and minor roads are being subjected to “loads for which they were never designed and which they cannot be expected to carry satisfactorily in their present state”. Mr Chadwick says that funds allocated by the Ministry of Transport for trunk road maintenance were severely reduced compared with last year’s estimates. Less than half the money required to provide “a reasonable standard of maintenance” was allocated to Wiltshire last year which, he says “bore little relation to the needs of these roads”. An extra £200,000 a year is needed just to deal with this problem in Wiltshire, the result in part of expenditure restrictions and partly government policy in allowing much larger vehicles to use all classes of roads.

October 27, 1989.

BRADFORD ON AVON: Twenty-seven Bradford on Avon retailers have banded together to form BARTA, a traders’ association that aims to promote the positive aspects of business in the town, and will work with the chamber of commerce. BARTA spokeswoman Miss Katie Warrilow, said: “In recent years the emphasis of Bradford on Avon has changed from being an industrial market town to one which is picturesque and historical, attracting many British and overseas tourists.” She said one item on the top of the agenda was to solve the town’s worsening traffic situation. “Many believe there should be a weight restriction on the historic bridge to reduce the damage being constantly caused by lorries. Of course, we all know the longterm answer is a bypass – but that seems off the agenda probably for the rest of this century.”

October 29, 2004.

TROWBRIDGE: A gold-nibbed pen belonging to Trowbridge-born shorthand pioneer Sir Isaac Pitman fetched six times its asking price at an auction on Monday. The pen, which went for £705, was included in a collection of more than 300 of Sir Isaac’s possessions sold at Bonhams’ Bath show room. While the high prices demonstrated the inventor’s enduring historical significance they meant Trowbridge Museum’s bidder came home empty-handed. Sir Isaac is known as the Father of Phonographic Shorthand, and his pen had been valued at between £80 and £120. Following very competitive bidding a Bonham’s spokesman revealed the pen was snapped up by a private buyer.