What should we number or name the two rooms that we'll have available for training, meetings, conferences as Well House Manor? Normally, I'm not a great fan of names (and indeed bedrooms will be numbered), but somehow "A" and "B" or "1" and "2" don't seem right, and "the training room" and "the meeting room" could be confusing on days when we've a small class in the meeting room, and a big meeting in the training room. The "Python" and "Perl" rooms would have similar issues.
Hansel and Gretel
Willow and Chestnut
Large and Small
Peaches and Cream.
Hmm ...
Victoria and Edward. A certain temptation - the Manor was built in Edwardian times to Victorian high standards. But which room is which? And we're not going to be doing Victorian decor in either of them.
Salisbury and Bath. I like local places, but would have trouble keeping a straight face when telling customers that their Python course is in the Bath room. But other possibilities such as Avebury and Silbury, or Lacock and Corsham, would be practical and more local too.
The local railway was known as the Wilts and Dorset when built, and the canal that's just to the South of Melksham is the Kennet and Avon named itself after two rivers. Even closer to hand, a hundred yards from our door the road rises up to cross over the old Wilts and Berks canal, which was abandoned less that 10 years after Well House Manor was built. There's a temptation to have the "Wilts" room and the "Berks" room.
I'm also tempted by local dignitaries ... I know that Brunel visited the town when building the Great Western Railway, and I suspect (and can check) that the Canal was engineered by Dadford or Rennie. Yet everything that moves is named after Brunel around these parts - at least that's sometimes how it feels. Choosing more recent people names might lead to controversey, or to room names that seem up-to-date today, but peculiar in a few years time. I'm reminded in this respect of an older part of Chippenham that's called "New Road".
(written 2006-06-24)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z521 - Navigable waterways - Canals, Rivers and Sea [598] Should we cruise around the world? - (2006-02-09)
[708] Linescapes of Mull - (2006-05-03)
[793] The Wilts and Berks Canal - (2006-07-05)
[820] Robert and William Whitworth - (2006-08-01)
[1657] Farewell, Newcastle to Stavanger, Haugsund and Bergen - (2008-05-29)
[1986] Walk to Bowerhill - (2009-01-10)
[2588] Freddies Wood and the K and A Canal - (2010-01-17)
[2730] Bird Watching on the Melksham Avon - (2010-04-18)
[2796] Sunday - waiting for the ferry. - (2010-06-06)
[2807] Canal through Melksham - the options and issues - (2010-06-13)
[2950] Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, turns first sod in Melksham Link Canal - (2010-09-09)
[3023] Autumn walk from Bowerhill - (2010-10-31)
[3157] A new monopoly on the ferry to Northern Ireland - (2011-02-04)
[3183] Redevelopment on the banks of the Avon in Melksham - (2011-02-25)
[3266] Easter on the Canal - near Melksham, Wiltshire - (2011-04-26)
[3282] The future of canal management and charities - Kennet and Avon Canal bias - (2011-05-08)
[3345] Cruising - (2011-07-04)
[3482] Taking a boat down Caen Hill Locks - (2011-10-15)
[3483] Canals, watererways in the Melksham area - (2011-10-16)
[3815] The Melksham News - July 2012 - Part 2, TransWilts Rail, Wilts and Berks Canal - (2012-07-23)
[3998] Travelogue - from the Netherlands to London via Hook and Harwich - (2013-02-07)
[4472] Rosslare to Fishguard - foot passenger on the ferry - (2015-04-24)
[4577] An update - Melksham Link Canal and river - (2015-11-14)
M350 - Well House Manor - project diary [550] 2006 - Making business a pleasure - (2006-01-01)
[555] Hotel novelties - (2006-01-05)
[571] Well House Manor - (2006-01-21)
[677] Sympathetic development - (2006-04-09)
[720] Planning a hotel refurb - an example of a Gant chart in PHP - (2006-05-14)
[721] Residential - (2006-05-15)
[739] The eye - (2006-05-31)
[744] We can offer a room, but we can't operate on a dog - (2006-06-05)
[756] Seeing the bricks for the trees - (2006-06-11)
[816] Above the parapit, Well House Manor - (2006-07-28)
[844] Hotel, Melksham, Wiltshire - (2006-08-24)
[855] Fitting our bathrooms - (2006-09-04)
[858] From the Manor written - (2006-09-07)
[862] 4 weeks to go - (2006-09-11)
[881] Coming together. - (2006-09-29)
[890] Open - (2006-10-09)
[894] Where quality costs less - (2006-10-15)
[902] Brand new hotel and training centre, Melksham - (2006-10-22)
[931] Before and After - Well House Manor - (2006-11-18)
[932] A tale of a wee wall - (2006-11-19)
[941] Snagging - (2006-11-24)
[1069] Rail trouble forced me to buy hotel - (2007-02-07)
[1087] Telling a story in different ways - (2007-02-20)
[1098] Three big events - TWSW, Business of the year and the police - (2007-03-03)
[1211] A lot has happened in a year - (2007-05-31)
[1975] Well House Manor Hotel - on plan for 2009 business guests - (2009-01-03)
[3014] Well House Manor - the next six years - (2010-10-24)
[3585] The changing Hotel and Bed and Breakfast business in Melksham - (2012-01-18)
[3645] Keeping our hotel looking like new, by using our gained experience - (2012-03-09)
[3847] The Accidental Hotelier - (2012-08-24)
[3963] National TV - Melksham - 9th January 2013, Pre-alert. - (2012-12-27)
[3968] Expecting nothing, but prepared for anything - (2013-01-05)
[4012] A course is not just for a year - its for a career - (2013-02-20)
[4739] A year of changes for Lisa and Graham Ellis, and Well House - (2017-05-27)
Some other Articles
Separation and IntegrationThe fragility of pancakes - and better structuresWeekend in IrelandOn Crosby sandsNaming RoomsDo not duplicate your codeBed and Breakfast, or Hotel?Breaking breadTraining in LiverpoolFrom cat breeder to Cobol to Perl