Hotel and training centre, Melksham, Wiltshire
High quality accommodation for course delegates, business travellers and the leisure visitor too.

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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Graham Ellis - an Introduction

Sharing an introduction I made elsewhere - I'm not just an IT trainer - I do have other interests!

Hi, I'm Graham Ellis. I've been in the "IT" industry for 30+ years, and I live in Melksham, Wiltshire. I run specialist training courses here and many of my customers (or until last December, they came) by train - some local journeys from Swindon, South Wales, etc. Many from London and other from places further afield including airport stations. And a good proportion of my courses are held "on site" so I travel around - to London, to Oxford, and a variety of other journeys, none of which is a regular daily commute. Where practical and cost effective, I use the train ... but I'm not against using the bus or car if they're a better option.

In the summer of '05, I saw a letter in the local press saying how the train service that my business relied upon was to be taken off at the end of '06, and that a minimal replacement service would be offered. Consultation had already happened (I have SRA to DfT papers under Freedom of Information that report discussions of how to minimise the consultation) and we were told "too late", but never the less, you have to try, don't you? And so started the "Save the Train" campaign.

First objective - to get the powers that be to actually be AWARE of the "TransWilts" line. Second objective - to give it serious consideration and work out what an appropriate service is. Third objective - to provide that service. Fourth objective - to support and sustain that service.

First objective, reasonably achieved. Second - I think we're getting there. We had a long period of defensive tactics, referring back to ancient figures and decisions but I think - at last - we're moving forward. Pity about the current service gap on the line, but we've now got a better-than-previous chance of getting a service back before Christmas. I look forward to helping with objective No. 4!

On the personal side, you can read more about me on these links:

Graham Ellis - home page
Well House Consultants
Well House Manor

Yes - that last IS a hotel web site. We've changed our business model, with the balance being tipped by the train service loss. I sit here on Monday morning no going down to meet the train from Swindon (which is too early and was cancelled anyway!) but with the smell of fresh bread from the kitchen, and with the sound of delegate who arrived yesterday stirring in their rooms.

It seems that I've run quite an effective campaign, and I've been asked to provide boards / information as it relates to other services. And thus the site www.firstgreatwestern.info. The key players are the same across many lines and services, though the issues differ. And I'm happy to host / monitor a site for the customer / passenger, with contributions by the customer / passenger.

It seems to me that the big voices that have influence are the Department for Transport with an apparent objective that's more financial than service based, and the First group who's main objective and responsibility is to their shareholders. Perhaps we can help redress that just a little in the interest of balance and - for the future - to the mutual benefit of all parties.

Graham Ellis
Melksham, 5th February 2007.
(written 2007-02-05, updated 2009-08-31)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z700 - People
  [207] Canteen Dragon - (2005-02-09)
  [388] BBQ Season - (2005-07-24)
  [392] No Smoking - (2005-07-27)
  [423] A Victorian Lady - (2005-08-23)
  [530] Perl course during the week, getting married at the weekend - (2005-12-16)
  [543] The world didn't stop for Christmas - (2005-12-26)
  [584] Loosing breath with Gerald - (2006-01-31)
  [601] A fond memory of Sir Freddie - (2006-02-11)
  [611] Look out for the motor cyclist - (2006-02-17)
  [650] A person of few words - (2006-03-18)
  [704] Erin Brent - rest in peace - (2006-04-29)
  [763] Much more that the world cup - (2006-06-15)
  [771] From cat breeder to Cobol to Perl - (2006-06-21)
  [794] Perl delegate - much more than just a delegate - (2006-07-06)
  [820] Robert and William Whitworth - (2006-08-01)
  [1064] Light and shadows at Beach - (2007-02-04)
  [1107] Weekend Visitors - (2007-03-13)
  [1119] The Last Word on the road - (2007-03-26)
  [1151] Gordon Dodge, R.I.P. - (2007-04-16)
  [1197] Back off home with our best wishes - (2007-05-21)
  [1238] The kind spirit of Melksham - (2007-06-21)
  [1279] The Gdansk fireball - (2007-07-27)
  [1303] Heading Upstate New York - (2007-08-14)
  [1385] Delegates of all shapes and sizes - (2007-10-09)
  [1522] Paging Martin Noke, who petitions for more trains from Trowbridge to Swindon - (2008-01-28)
  [1570] London Midland ... Merrymaker ... Percy Danks - (2008-03-10)
  [1627] Amazing family members - (2008-05-02)
  [1916] Why I remember East Grafton - (2008-12-02)
  [1980] Michelle - (2009-01-06)
  [1988] Melksham, Wiltshire. Town Crier Competition, 2009 - (2009-01-11)
  [2078] A lot has changed - but the memory lingers on - (2009-03-12)
  [2100] Visiting Family - (2009-03-23)
  [2132] Learning about Lurchers - (2009-04-18)
  [2503] Melksham manslaughter case concludes - sort of - (2009-11-14)
  [2795] Simon says - (2010-06-05)
  [2846] Catching up with an old friend - (2010-07-01)
  [2886] Congratulations, Kimberly - (2010-07-25)
  [3008] Dulwich College Preparatory, and Sevenoaks, Schools - (2010-10-21)
  [3034] Birth Notice - Aeryn Cassandra Ellis - (2010-11-07)
  [3055] Zyliana Kyrei Cox - (2010-11-16)
  [3125] The family is defunct. Long live the family. - (2011-01-09)
  [3184] Visiting relatives - (2011-02-26)
  [3268] Baby Pictures - (2011-04-27)
  [3297] A long day, a long journey, and families and similarities the world over - (2011-05-22)
  [3298] Quiet Monday in - (2011-05-23)
  [3355] Family Pictures - (2011-07-12)
  [3466] Passing of Steve Jobs - R.I.P. - (2011-10-06)
  [3512] A colleague and friend who changed my life - (2011-11-07)
  [3775] Alan Turing - 1912 to 1954 - (2012-06-23)
  [3905] How should we choose our Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner? - (2012-10-27)
  [3981] Melksham - a town of some remarkable people - (2013-01-19)
  [4193] Using our non-found page to help look for missing persons - (2013-10-18)
  [4349] When I am old, what will worry me? - (2014-12-11)
  [4482] People in New York - (2015-05-02)
  [4646] Sometimes you wonder about people. And perhaps you should not. - (2016-02-13)
  [4728] Visiting Los Alamitos Bay Yacht Club - (2016-11-23)
  [4736] Our changing world - (2017-04-17)

M301 - The Well House Manor team
  [849] Staff Meeting - (2006-08-30)
  [895] Welcome, Martin - (2006-10-16)
  [972] Both one team and two - (2006-12-08)
  [1002] Meet the neighbours - (2006-12-20)
  [1083] Behind the scenes - (2007-02-17)
  [1324] Well House Manor appoints a General Manager - (2007-08-28)
  [1580] Congratulations, Martin and Marta - (2008-03-17)
  [1585] Well House Consultants / Manor - Staff - (2008-03-21)
  [1805] Carlisle High School - Class of 1973 Reunion - (2008-09-21)
  [1839] Job application - (2008-10-13)
  [1927] Team changes at Well House - looking forward - (2008-12-06)
  [2021] Short health and safety course - (2009-02-02)
  [2027] Who sticks by you in the snow? - (2009-02-05)
  [2037] The Interview and The Lift - (2009-02-12)
  [2924] Job applicants - wondering why they apply - (2010-08-16)
  [2938] An opportunity to join our team! - (2010-08-28)
  [2946] Level playing fields, job vacancies, lemons and peaches - (2010-09-05)
  [2952] Concluding the interview process - (2010-09-10)
  [3201] A change to the Well House team - thank you and good luck, Chris - (2011-03-14)
  [3312] Are you cheerful, reliable and available on Saturday mornings? - (2011-05-30)
  [3425] Our National Autograss Champion, from Melksham - (2011-09-08)
  [3871] On getting noticed for the right reasons when you ask about job availability - (2012-09-26)
  [3988] Three cheers for the staff at Well House Manor - (2013-01-24)
  [4004] Annual Accounts - a big job for a small business - (2013-02-15)
  [4227] Happy Christmas from the Well House Manor team - (2013-12-25)

G997 - Well House Consultants - Newsletter Lead Articles
  [1000] One Thousand Posts and still going strong - (2006-12-18)
  [1136] Buffering output - why it is done and issues raised in Tcl, Perl, Python and PHP - (2007-04-06)
  [1224] Object Relation Mapping (ORM) - (2007-06-09)
  [1318] Well House Manor - feature comparison against the old place! - (2007-08-24)
  [1386] New software product for warmblooded programmers - (2007-10-10)
  [1488] New trainee laptop fleet for our Open Source courses - (2007-12-30)
  [1545] Letting new visitors know we provide training courses - (2008-02-19)
  [1600] Cambidge - Tcl, Expect and Perl courses - (2008-04-04)
  [1663] Python in an afternoon - a lecture for experienced programmers - (2008-06-01)
  [1754] Upgrade from PHP 4 to PHP 5 - the TRY issue - (2008-08-15)
  [1819] Calling base class constructors - (2008-10-03)
  [1912] Book now for 2009 - (2008-11-29)
  [2052] How was my web site compromised? - (2009-02-24)
  [2119] Make your business a DESTINATION business - (2009-04-05)
  [2253] Walks in and around Melksham, Wiltshire - (2009-06-21)
  [2370] C++, Python, and other training - do we use an IDE - (2009-08-21)
  [2425] Weekend and Christmas Promotion - Well House Manor Hotel, Melksham - (2009-09-26)
  [2538] Open Source Training Centre and Courses for 2010 - (2009-12-16)
  [2743] Public Open Source Training Courses running this summer and autumn in Melksham - (2010-04-27)
  [3202] Telling you something about us in just one line - (2011-03-15)

G207 - Well House Consultants - Staff
  [10] What do you look for in your IT trainer? - (2004-08-10)
  [41] A Thousand and four words - (2004-09-07)
  [88] Getting the right level of trainer - (2004-10-14)
  [168] Welcoming Leah Davies to our team - (2005-01-04)
  [185] Who am I? - (2005-01-21)
  [371] The training team that's looking out for you - (2005-07-07)
  [393] Trainer answers phone - (2005-07-28)
  [578] Woman screaming at me - (2006-01-26)
  [862] 4 weeks to go - (2006-09-11)
  [1141] A strong team broadens the professional coverage - (2007-04-10)
  [2009] The Royal Mail Receipt - (2009-01-26)
  [2044] Please Trouble me - (2009-02-16)
  [2050] Why the Pony Tail? - (2009-02-21)
  [2164] Updating my public profile - Graham Ellis - (2009-05-09)
  [2566] Excellent staff make for excellent hotel - (2010-01-07)
  [2772] Graham Ellis - Summary of Training Record - (2010-05-21)
  [2775] Declarations of interest - knowing where you stand with people - (2010-05-22)
  [2934] Not so much software training - more hotel keeping! - (2010-08-25)
  [2960] The Well House team - September 2010 - (2010-09-19)
  [3051] Positively reforming the system - could it be done? - (2010-11-14)
  [3103] Thank you - and Happy Christmas - (2010-12-24)
  [3212] Well House Manor - a home from home for the business and leisure guest in Melksham - (2011-03-26)
  [3311] Exhilarating day! - (2011-05-30)
  [3460] Flying Colours! - (2011-09-28)
  [3490] How not to call when job seeking ... - (2011-10-20)
  [3586] Emergency First Aid Provision at Well House Manor - part of the service - (2012-01-19)
  [3961] Well House Staff Party - (2012-12-22)
  [4189] Who are we - Lisa, Graham, Gypsy and Billy - (2013-10-07)


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Final, Finally and Finalize - three special words in Java
Some other Articles
Rail trouble forced me to buy hotel
ls -l report, Linux / Unix - types and permssions
Serialization in Java - all layers required!
Final, Finally and Finalize - three special words in Java
Graham Ellis - an Introduction
Bradford-on-Avon - 150 years of passenger trains
Java sorting - comparable v comparator
Take vehicles off the road - put all the passengers into one
What a relief from the tax office.
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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Hello. I'm Graham Ellis. If you have a question about the hotel, please ask me or

 

then book here

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