Resources from the web site of Well House Consulaants on the subject of Around Melksham, Wiltshire. We provide open source training course and business hotel accommodation in Melksham, Wiltshire, England

Melksham is a market town, mentioned in the Domesday book and originally steeped in the woollen, ropemaking and milk industries. After a heavy industrial age, it's now the home of a number of a modern high-tech industries ... and a great base for touring too.It's easy to get to Melksham, and there's things to do!

Articles and tips on this subject		updated
3605	Snow comes to Melksham, Wiltshire - pictures Last night, I travelled home from Uni (City University, Islington) late in the evening ... Even in London, some snow was settling Chippenham Station at Mindinght-10 ... a delayed 22:15 from Paddington drops off passengers on a slippery platform The station car park - vehicles of the stragglers, and ...	2012-02-10
3569	Images of the new year in Melksham 2012 has started with a lot of different weather - or perhaps every year does, but we've been out and about much more with two dogs rather than one, and with a Learning to Program in Tcl course running for delegates who are new to the UK, and wanted to look around (and I'm happy to show them!) at lunchtime. We ...	2012-01-07
3543	Some different pictures from Melksham There are some pictures which are the conventional ones ... and there are others that you'll think later "I wish I recorded that". Here are some things that you may or may not have come across ... This map is around 200 years old - after the coming of the canal, but before the arrival of the railway. ...	2011-12-17
3520	Quintessentially English - scenes from our Wiltshire town The bowling green - brilliant grass, the club house, and in the background tall trees through which you can see the tower of the church. A quintessentially English scene. Lunch at the Sports and Social club. The older generation gathers at lunchtime for a hot meal, and to meet their friends. ...	2011-11-27
3525	Melksham has a heart - come and see the pictures. Sunday, 11 to 3, Assembly Hall Melksham has a heart! Earlier this month, I was taking pictures of people hugging each other in Melksham - to show Melksham has a heart, and to support Mel Scott's campaign for community defibrillators. The large montage is now in final checking ... it will be printed today, and it ...	2011-11-27
3526	Melksham has a Heart - Montage picture for sale Melksham has a heart! Today was Mel Scott's fundraiser at the Assembly Hall, and we were delighted to support her. She's raising money for a community Defibrillator for Melksham, to help save lives if people have heart attacks ... One lady came up to me, and told me how her husband had a heart attack ...	2011-11-27
2588	Freddies Wood and the K and A Canal I don't know who "Freddie" is ... but I came across "Freddie's Wood" today on my way back from the canal. It was a beautiful winter's day and after our walk down from Bowerhill (see here) we had turned right towards Bath, rather than left towards "The Barge", looking to explore the field path up to ...	2011-11-08
3507	Melksham Forward - meeting summary and pictures Yesterday evening in the Assembly Hall, over 100 representatives of local groups and the community came together in "Melksham Forward" - a meeting arranged by the area board and Community Area Partnership to consider local inputs and priorities for the community / area plan - the strategic blueprint ...	2011-11-04
3502	Sunday Evening ... newest and oldest Melksham pictures Out collecting a meal from the Refa, I stopped to take a quick picture of lights going up (and, thank you Paul, for the insite and quick demo). Picture up here ... probably before the lighters (is that's what to call them?) are home. By contrast, perhaps the oldest picture of Melksham I've posted ...	2011-10-30
3499	Images of Melksham Some images of Melksham - showing various aspects of the town. But where was each one taken? All images taken within the last month, within the Melksham area. How many can you identify? These pictures will be used as the illustrations for my blog index page on Melksham - [here]. ...	2011-10-29
3470	Currently pictured in Melksham Here's a recent selection of Melksham pictures ... I've got very technical of late, and I know there are some folks who have a look here occasionally to see where I've been walking the dog and what I've noticed. I tend to take (or at least publish) pictures that others might not ... The Spa Houses ...	2011-10-09
3389	Plenty to do in Melksham Someone said to me that there's nothing to do in Melksham. But I don't believe them - I don't share that experience. In fact, I could do with 48 hours in the day to do all the things that I wanted. On Monday of this week, I was teaching a programming course (open to the public) - and I'm teaching ...	2011-08-13
866	A lazy programmer is a good programmer I'm lazy. By which I mean, if a job can be done once in such a way that I don't have to keep doing it time and time again, then that's how I will try and do it, even if there's a bit more effort and cost at first. That's why (for example) we've laid an underground water pipe out to where we're planning ...	2011-06-27
3337	Home Grown Pigs, near Melksham Station A forum post on The Melksham Forum about "what is there to do with visitors to melksham on a Sunday morning?" lead me to Home Grown Pigs, who are just about a hundred yards up the Bath Road. Not somewhere I had really come across ... but I took the opportunity of Saturday, when they were open for a ...	2011-06-26
3305	Getting away from the madding crowd - an intercontinental journey Wednesday - near Orlando, Florida Friday - near Melksham, England It's lovely to be away and to see family (no, they're not all family), but it's lovlier to be home! Click on either image to enlarge. ...	2011-05-27 (short)
3266	Easter on the Canal - near Melksham, Wiltshire Easter Sunday - and Dad, Gypsy and I took a walk from Brabazon Way on Bowerhill down to the Kennet and Avon Canal, along a section, and back through more industrial agriculture via the Great Bear. So many pictures ... Click on any image to see it larger, and to start a slide show from that ...	2011-04-26
3258	Morning in Melksham This morning, I walked around Melksham's town centre really early, popping reminders about next Tuesday morning though the letterboxes on the various business doors. I love these walks around - it gives me a chance to look, to observe, and to think. And it's quick - they say that an errand that ...	2011-04-23
3248	What have these pictures in common? Here are ten photos. They have something in common; have a look through them and see if you can work out what it is. Each of them has a link so that you can enlarge it, in a new window, up to four times (in area) its current size. Have you any thoughts as to what these have in ...	2011-04-17
3232	Around and about Melksham in more pictures Yesterday, I took a walk around Melksham, and I took a whole lot of pictures. Most show features that may not have been photographed very often - for the record, if you like, and for giving thought to where the town may be in a number of years time. This "headline" picture shows equipment in the skateboard ...	2011-04-05
3227	Her favourite store Today was pet's day at Gypsy's favourite store in Melksham ... so we went along, had a look, met some known friends and made some new ones, and came away with the most biggest supply of dog food (and some for the cat too) which should last us for a few days. I understand that Countrywide's new ...	2011-04-02
3209	Seeing Electricity Pylons near Melksham With Melksham Electric Substation just to the north of the town, you can see lots of electric lines and Pylons in around the area; here they are striding off in lines up the Avon Valley towards Chippenham, following the TransWilts Railway line. Although most people would dislike the idea of a major ...	2011-03-21
3050	Views of Melksham - November 2010 I've been getting rather technical ... and I know this blog is read by a few folks who like to see what's old, what's new, what's odd and what's pretty in Melksham. So here are some picture all less that 2 weeks old, and all taken withing a mile and a half of home (one was actually taken out of the ...	2010-11-14
3023	Autumn walk from Bowerhill The Autumn season ... and the leaves are changing from green to a rich variety of yellows, oranges and browns, and falling from the trees. A walk yesterday (great to get out for just an hour or two) took Gypsy and me across the fields from Brabazon Way on Bowerhill, through Freddie's Wood (Shown as Giles ...	2010-10-31
2950	Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, turns first sod in Melksham Link Canal The Wilts and Berks Canal opened 200 years ago ... but only survived for just over a hundred years, as carriage of good moved away to rail and then back to road, from where the canal had taken it in the first place. But with canals now being a popular leisure time magnet - drawing people to cycle, to ...	2010-10-21
2854	Melksham Food and Drink Fair and Town Crier Competition Sunday, 4th July. American Independence day. Melksham Food and Drink Festival Fair. Town Crier's competition in Melksham. T4 on the beach in Weston-super-mare. Heddington Steam Festival. Bristol Wine and Food Fair ... so much happens on summer weekends, in so few days. And that follows on from Atworth ...	2010-07-04
2829	Dauncey Gardens, Melksham Yesterday was the grand opening of Dauncey Gardens - part of the new housing development to the East of Melksham by Persimmon homes. A big p.r. show by the company - with Town Criers, Carnival Queens, Majorettes and Morris Dancers, Press Photographers, Pimms and a HogRoast, and of course a show home ...	2010-06-27
2739	Melksham Scouts St George's Day ... and an excellent excuse for the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers of Melksham to hold a Jamboree. Here's the scene at 13:30 today, Sunday, as they marched past Well House Manor, band in the lead, to assemble at ... the Assembly Hall. I'm rather suspecting that we had more that just Melksham's ...	2010-05-14
2716	Melksham in Pictures I was feeling "out of sorts" yesterday - and the spring weather (and an urgent request for pictures for use by our twin town of Avon) gave me an excellent excuse to talk a walk round, spring clean my picture library, and put together a new slide show of Melksham. You can start the slide show [here]. ...	2010-04-11 (short)
2708	The bull on the footpath There are certain paths - even though they are marked on the map as public footpaths - that I will decline to use. This animal is standing on one of them! More Semington Pictures ...	2010-04-04 (short)
2691	New brochures for the Melksham area Yesterday, a big box of leaflets (with a carrier grumbling at the weight!) arrived - the 2010 brochures for many of the places near us such as Longleat, Lacock, Bowood, Stourhead ... and a few place that are quite close too. Chris spent a chunk of time today replacing 2009 brochures with 2010 ones ...	2010-03-24
2665	Early Spring walk in Melksham The subject lines says it all, really! In the afternoon, full of a cold and not concentrating on other things, I was tempted into a long walk by an energetic and willing companion who - if you look very carefully - you'll find in one of these pictures. From top to bottom - the field behind ...	2010-03-08
2585	Consultation in Melksham, on Melkshams future Melksham Community Area Partnership is holding a consultation eveny next Saturday at Melksham Town Hall, seeking the views of the people and businesses of Melksham on Wiltshire's core strategy - the plan is about Wiltshire as a whole, but Melksham is very much a part of the county, and we're one of the ...	2010-01-17
2528	Melksham Christmas Lights It's December ... and the Christmas lights are coming out. A tree appears here, a string of lights there, and the odd magic wand to say "this is a special time of the year". (It was special in previous years too - {link}) But this is Melksham, and Christmas lights here are special - the construction ...	2009-12-10
2497	Brown horses in Melksham You'll see white horses at Westbury, at Cherhill and Hackpen Hill and (if you know where to look) at Devizes and Marlborough too. But you won't often see four brown horses in Melksham - here, pictured at the end of our street this morning. It's been an interesting weekend. Yesterday, I was asked ...	2009-11-08
2480	Pantomimes around Melksham - 2009/2010 season There's a lot happening in Melksham and the surrounding area - have a look at the diary of events. Picture - Andy Pandy and Goldilocks make a couple at the end of last year's Melksham Comedy Club panto [report] This year' pantomime season ... Footlights present Aladdin at the Arc Theatre, Trowbridge, ...	2009-10-30
2349	Businesses effected by road works in Melksham "Businesses Open as Usual" say the signs on the High Street in Melksham ... currently (and for 14 weeks) a one-way system while various pavement works are being done. Who wrote that sign? ... for he certainly doesn't know Melksham! I took my customers into one of the businesses in the effected area ...	2009-08-12
2329	Great to be in Melksham Well - I enjoyed - thoroughly enjoyed - my time in Guadalajara (see blog entry and more pictures) but it's lovely to be back home in Melksham. Looking through a few pictures today for images to illustrate specific articles, I have come across all of these recent ones that I haven't published before, ...	2009-08-10
2297	Standing on the corner, Melksham Carnival Yesterday was Melksham's "Party in the Park" and Carnival ... the Carnival Parade running from the car park of Cooper Avon Tires at about 6 p.m., looping through the town centre, with a variety of walking groups and floats. On days like this, Well House Manor is ideally placed as we're close enough ...	2009-07-19
2262	History is not always pretty Around 200 years ago, Melksham was the largest town for many miles around - it dwarfed even places like Swindon. However, in the Victorian age it grew very much slower and it hasn't caught up yet. So looking around the town you'll find, hidden in odd corners, a very great deal of history. This particular ...	2009-07-01
2253	Walks in and around Melksham, Wiltshire Melksham is a town with a history around every corner - a guest at the hotel on Saturday morning was asking me a few questions, and I've put together a few of the walks that I enjoy from the hotel. To show you how much there is to see on each of these walks, I have also listed out all of the places ...	2009-06-22 (longer)
2175	Melksham in pictures I'm following up a huge batch of technical posts with a reminder of what a great place Melksham is to live in and to visit. Pictures here all taken during the first 10 days of May 2009, in Melksham. Young leaves on the trees, on the footpath that runs behind Laburnum Drive, Beech Avenue and Larch Close. ...	2009-05-12
2168	In honour of the photograph, I present ... a walk from Reybridge to Lacock                       A walk from Reybridge to Lacock where William Henry Fox Talbot took the first reversal process photograph. 2 miles beside the river, across fields, past the abbey, through the village and back via the paths. Some ...	2009-05-10
2142	Riverside Development Bradford-on-Avon is about six miles from Melksham, and another of the five towns on West Wiltshire; in fact it's the smallest, about half the size of Melksham. We popped over there at lunch time today and it was lovely to see people out with their boats, children and dogs. Vibrant, and we had to queue ...	2009-04-26
2066	Melksham Industrial Around about the time of the Second World War, Melksham had a higher proportion of its are given over to industrial use than any other town in Great Britain - my source of this information being the current mayor. And to this day, this quiet little market town has a surprising range of industrial and ...	2009-03-04
2064	East of Melksham Countryside Lisa, Dad and I went out for a walk behind our home yesterday afternoon - the view above is from the fields, looking across to Snarleton Lane. The same sort of scene must repeat itself a thousand times across the land ... but it still has a certain beauty. On the fields across towards Snowberry ...	2009-03-03
2043	Confidence, Customer Service and Tourism in Melksham I was very disappointed to miss the "business opportunities / where do we go from here" meeting in Melksham last week - organised by the Town Council and with support from many including the Chamber of Commerce. But Lisa (who is on The Chamber Committee) did go along, listened, let me know what happened ...	2009-02-15
2008	The Month Ahead - What is happening in Melksham OK - I admit it - I am lazy, so the list above moves forward through all the events I have in my calendar and you shouldn't find lots of old stuff hanging around. And I'll teach you how to make this easy on our PHP Techniques Course. If you have an event to submit, email me - graham@wellho.net and ...	2009-01-24
1986	Walk to Bowerhill I walked out - just a very short distance - to Bowerhill to drop off the post earlier today. A fine, crisp, frost bedecked trip; here is a selection of the pictures as these articles have got very technical of late! The Old Spa houses, on the very edge of Melksham, still look out over fields This ...	2009-01-10
1977	Going round the block Have you ever looked for a pattern in the roads where you live? Where to you end up if you turn alternately left, and right, and left, and right? Such is my mind that at times in the past (and now too, it seems!) I wonder about such things. Out or our gate, right, left, right, left, right, left and ...	2009-01-04
929	Presenting Melksham - for a weekend away in Wiltshire I do my best presentations when under pressure. ((Important NOTE to wife / staff / cat - DON'T pressure me every morning)). By which I mean that a new presentation or one I'm not quite prepared for even though I know my subject can, I think, sparkle with a freshness that's not there if it's been wellprepared ...	2009-01-01
1117	Newport Male Voice Choir The Newport Male Voice Choir came by coach to Melksham last night, and sang at the Mayor's reception - an annual event at the assembly hall, this year raising money for Alzheimer's Charities. Watching the singers on the stage, I couldn't help noticing the wide range of facial expressions - some singers ...	2008-12-26
1928	Melksham Oak Secondary School, Melksham, Wiltshire Melksham is growing, with 750 new homes approved, to be constructed in the very near future - just over the back, behind our home. And there's a new secondary school already being built, to be known as "Melksham Oak" and replacing the George Ward, which is tired and worn out. "Melksham Oak" is going ...	2008-12-09
1451	More PHP sample and demonstration programs It's amazing how many little (and not so little) new programs and demonstrations I write - here are some from the last couple of days: • The Melksham / Bowerhill Christmas Quiz, 2007. Ten questions, work out the answers, click on a link at the bottom the page and it will be refreshed to tell you ...	2008-05-10
1436	A little touring help during a business trip to England Helping visitors to Melksham who are staying with us to see a little bit of the surrounding area ... we're encouraging people to ask, as we love to help - and to help people see what they want and stay in their comfort zone too. "Many guests at Well House Manor are in the town on business, and are often ...	2007-11-19
1360	Asda in Melksham - Welcome or not? Update - 26th September. I have just taken a phone call from one of the gentlemen we met, wishing to clarify a few points. He'll be writing a separate email to me, which I'll add to this thread, but in the meantime I would like to confirm: 1. Asda have publicised their plans, as far as they go at ...	2007-09-26 (longer)
1368	Getting the local voice heard I'm always a little bit amazed when a letter or a posting here actually gets noiced to the extent of generating a reaction back to me, and back to the community. So I was a little amazed to get a phone call from Asda this afternoon ... based on my posting of a few days ago, in which I expressed concern ...	2007-09-26
1343	Melksham Laundrette It always amazes me to find all the things we have close at hand here in Melksham. After looking up several directories and searching around - calling a place in Trowbridge that couldn't accommodate our customer today and trying one in Westbury that wasn't answering their phone we found what we were ...	2007-09-09
1341	Moving to Melksham? Househunting map. Do you know your Snowberry Lanes from your Shurnolds, or your Snarleton Lanes from your Spas? If you're a long time resident of Melksham you might, but those of us who have only lived here for a few years sometimes overlook some areas of the town, and newcomers moving here - looking to rent or buy - ...	2007-09-09
1330	While waiting for Melksham Post Office "That's the longest queue I've ever seen here" said the chap outside Melkshm Post Office yesterday. It was the first of the month, it was Saturday, and it was within about an hour of lunchtime to I suppose it was no wonder that the crowd control lines were full and then the line headed out through ...	2007-09-04
1271	Till the cows come home I took a walk last night in the countryside behind our house - the public footpath off he lane that runs between is as 404 and our neighbour at 404B. And here in the fields, the cows are grazing on Woollamore farm. Over the hedges, the houses of Melksham Spa look our over the countryside of the ...	2007-07-20
1266	Party in the Park Today was "Party in the park" in Melksham, and I was running the joint Save the Train / Melksham Railway Development Group stand - setup from 11:30, open at 14:00, close at 18:00 ... and, yes, I enjoy this sort of thing. As you can see, the weather smiled on us and I couldn't resist snapping this picture ...	2007-07-17
1206	Where and When - can you place the picture? Do you recognise the location? Or perhaps the part of the country? Can you tell when this picture was taken - is it recent, or from many years ago? The picture was taken yesterday - 26th May 2007. In Wiltshire too. Melksham. To be precise, at the Christie Miller sports centre on Bowerhill. It's ...	2007-05-29
1177	Sorting out for a site map It's only when someone says "let's add a site map" that you realise justy how much old "stuff" there is to exclude, and how many different automated directories you have on a web site - or rather that's what I have found ... so it's been a long day "knife and fork"ing though directories and databases! ...	2007-05-08
1137	Wiltshire Circles Wiltshire is a county of historic circles at an architectural scale. Most famous is Stonehenge and the other stone circle at Avebury. Less famous is Woodhenge ... and yesterday I can across another circle, much more temporary and in a different material: The view from our bedroom window! ...	2007-04-10 (short)
977	Melksham and Norwich Perhaps you've come across NORWICH, but have you come across MELKSHAM? "In the Second World War soldiers used to send letters home to their sweethearts with MELKSHAM written boldly on the back. It stood for May Everyone's Love Know Such Happiness As Mine" Source - the Knowhere guide ...	2006-12-10 (short)
957	Improving the historic town of Melksham On Tuesday night, we went along to the presentation by Melksham First of their design study for improving the environment in the town centre. Melksham's a lovely town - we've been saying that for years - but with a number of eyesores. There's a few things that could be improved at little cost, others ...	2006-11-30
879	Tuesday night is party night The young ladies of Melksham have a reputation for partying - indeed, I was talking with an old boy outside Well House Manor this evening as I locked up, and he was telling me how, at his home behind the Tavern and the King's Arms, he gets little peace on summer evenings when they're all in the gardens. Here's ...	2006-09-26
847	Image maps for navigation - a straightforward example Image maps can be a really simple and effective way of selecting from a series of options - a little bit more flexible that straightforward HTML links. We use an image map on every one of of main "Well House Consultants" pages - click on any on the languages named in our banner, and you'll be taken ...	2006-08-28
830	Butterflies in a Wiltshire garden Painted Lady Seen, sometimes in abundance in all parts of the British Isles, it is really a native of North Africa where it breeds in such extreme numbers that emigration is a necessity. Thistles are the principle foodplant, but it's often seen on other plants such as Burdock, Mallow and Nettle. Small ...	2006-08-12
811	Melksham in Bloom As part of our growing participation within the local community, we entered the front garden at our training centre into "Melksham in Bloom" ... and we've just been notified that our garden has been awarded second place in the "most unusual garden" category, and third in the prestigious and hard-fought ...	2006-07-22
805	Melksham Carnival Parade Every year, there's a carnival parade in Melksham .... and this year, we went along. Crowds Gather before the Parade Around 10 or a dozen floats passed us, and a number of other vehicles ... a long parade with many, many participants. Here's the WaneY Edge Cafe's float, styled on "Allo Allo". The ...	2006-07-16
676	Melksham, Wiltshire Melksham is one of those towns that people have heard of, but they can't quite place. One of those towns that people bypass as they drive by, not knowing the friendly community that's there. It's our home, though, and we love it here. As you'll see from the stone block (photo, right) in one of the ...	2006-06-05

Melksham Carnival
Melksham Bridge