November 21, 1969.

WILTSHIRE: BBC 2 transmissions from the Mendip transmitting station near Wells will start on December 1 bringing colour and black and white programmes to the whole of West Wilts. Test transmissions have already begun and will be maintained as far as possible throughout normal trade test and programme hours to help the television trade in the installation and adjustment of receivers and aerials, say the BBC. An aerial which gives good BBC 2 reception in black and white will also be suitable for colour reception with a colour set. Among the areas which will benefit from the Mendip transmitter will be Chippenham, Melksham, Devizes, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster. Parts of Bradford on Avon already receive BBC 2 via Telefusion. The BBC are unable to say definitely when West Wilts will be able to receive BBC 1 colour, although they tentatively hope that it might be by the middle of next year.

November 24, 1989.

TROWBRIDGE: A school farm that started on a small area of waste ground in Trowbridge has blossomed into a 26-acre holding that is now more than teachers and pupils can manage. Larkrise Special School for four to 16-year-olds with severe learning difficulties is in need of a part-time hand. And the county education services committee will be asked on Monday if it can find the £2,500 it will cost. Members will be told the farm expanded because Wimpey Homes provided the extra land at a rent of £1 a year. It now has a number of paddocks, a four-bay dutch barn, chicken shed, five pig sties and two calf barns. Besides pigs it has about 30 sheep, some heifers and some poultry. Mr Ivor Slocombe, Chief Education Officer, points out that the farm has been set up and stocked entirely from voluntary help and finance. The new man or woman would be needed 11 hours a week, 52 weeks a year to ensure that animals are fed and watered, particularly at weekends and in holidays.

November 26, 2004.

BRADFORD ON AVON: Innovative plans to add a £2m outpatient ward and teaching centre to Dorothy House hospice have been given the go-ahead. A single storey outpatients building will be built at the rear of the hospice, overlooking the gardens and the Limpley Stoke valley. The building has a modern design with a lightweight timber frame and lots of windows for patients to enjoy the views. The education wing will be built next to the Bloomfield Suite at the back of the building and will be similar in style to the existing building with an imitation slate roof. The extensions are needed to cope with the large number of patients cared for by Dorothy House, which have increased from 800 a year in 1995 to over 1,500 in 2002. Most patients are treated on an outpatient basis and it is for these patients in particular that the extra space is needed.