Warminster Young Farmers Visit Rubber Factory

WARMINSTER YOUNG FARMERS VISIT RUBBER FACTORY

Warminster Young Farmers travelled to Melksham recently for a visit to the Avon Rubber Company. The excursion was organised by Pauline Rowley, and members divided into two groups, to be shown around the extensive factory area by guides George Hibberd and Les Farmer.

Avon Rubber Co. Ltd., began at Limpley Stoke about 105 years ago but moved to Melksham soon afterwards.

In the early days ‘Martin’ tyres were produced, which had no beads and no tubes, so tubeless tyres are nothing new. At one time the innards of every tyre were wrapped in Warwick paper and each tyre was sold with a one-year guarantee card.

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It has to be remembered though, that new roads and advances in transport means that the average motorist now travels as many miles in a month as his or her predecessors did in a year in times before. The speed of vehicles has also increased and lorries are now hauling heavier loads.

The current output of tyres at Melksham is 34,000 per year. It used to be 40,000, which included 6,000 bicycle tyres but these are now made in North Africa, closer to the Indian market where just about everyone gets around on bicycles.

The factory is not solely devoted to tyre production. Other items originating from the works include inflatable rubber dinghies and milking-machine liners.

The Melksham workforce numbers 3,400. It used to be higher but the introduction of machinery has meant less people being involved. Despite the use of many modern machines, much of the work is of a manual nature, and most of the employees are on piece-work. Shifts are operated, resulting in 24 hours per day production. The staff includes 20 to 30 women working in the tyre production section, while others are employed in the offices on administration.

Throughout the trip around the works, the guides explained all the various processes and the machinery involved. The mechanisation included equipment with strange-sounding names - the Z-Calendar, the bias-cutter, and bag-o-matics, to mention but a few.

Tyre production is a multi-faceted operation and is not cheap - for example, the electricity bill for the Melksham works averages £67,000 per month.

Every day, ten examples of each sort of tyre produced, known as ‘the daily tens’, and these are safety tested by X-rays. All the tyres are graded by size and weight for the purpose they are required for. They also have to be stamped with their specifications, not only for the home market but also for sales abroad where different regulations often apply.

A vote of thanks, for an interesting tour of the factory, was given by Andrew Gorman. Next time Club members need a puncture mended or have to purchase a new cross-ply from the retailer, they shall certainly know more of what goes in to making the ‘humble’ tyre.

Report written by Danny Howell.

Warminster Before The Second World War

WARMINSTER BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR

There was a change of programme for the Warminster History Society's monthly meeting on Monday 8th May 1989, held at Warminster Library, when the proposed speaker, Mrs Pam Slocombe from the Wiltshire Buildings Record, was unable to attend.

Instead, Warminster History Society member, Danny Howell stepped in to give another of his enjoyable slide shows. On this occasion he chose to portray the working life of Warminster before the Second World War.

Familiar business names, including Frank Morgan (malting), Carson & Toone (iron-founding), Scott & Smith (corn factors), George Wheeler (nurseryman), James Button (haulage and removals), Claude Willcox (Warminster Motor Company), John Hall (paints and varnishes), Dr Edwin Sloper Beaven (barley breeding), and John Wallis Titt (farm implements, wind-engines and waterworks), were brought to life on screen with portraits, biographies and reminders of the outstanding contributions they made towards the town's former prosperity.

A favourite slide showed the staff of Mark Hill's Station Saw Mills, on their annual outing to Stonehenge in the 1920s. A huge traction engine called "The Pride Of Wiltshire", decked with flags and bunting, was turning the corner by Ivy Lodge, out of Imber Road into Boreham Road. It was towing three wagons full of sawyers and their families, all heading for the famous landmark on Salisbury Plain, where a picnic lunch of egg sandwiches was provided free by Mrs Hill.

Monday was market day in Warminster and the inns were allowed extra opening hours on Monday afternoons so that the farmers, auctioneers, butchers and dealers, could have a drink and a meal after their business at the market was over. An old slide showed a sign on the wall of the Bath Arms advertising that the inn was also open on Monday afternoons "from 2.00 pm until 4.30 pm for the accommodation of those attending Warminster Market." A special dinner, called a market ordinary, was provided for about two shillings. The poorer farmers dined at the Three Horseshoes, the more well-to-do farmers preferring the Bath Arms or the Old Bell.

Street scenes and close-ups illustrated the changing facades of Warminster's shop fronts. Among the shops portrayed were Everett's (grocer), Tommy Chinn (butcher), Archie Crease (butcher), Haden (ironmonger), and Stiles (ironmonger).

William Mundy's at 12 East Street was a popular cafe and shop, with its famous "faggots and peas". The secret recipe for the faggots originally came from an Australian soldier in camp near Warminster during the First World War. When Mr Mundy bought the cafe in 1923, the estate agent told him that it was an ideal place to buy a business because plans to widen East Street and demolish all the buildings on the opposite side (north) of the street were about to happen at any moment! The scene is still virtually the same today.

Mr Howell concluded by showing how some of the shopkeepers enjoyed their spare time on Wednesday afternoons - half-day closing - before the First World War. This usually took the form of a ride by horse and brake to Shearwater, Stourhead, or the park at Edington.

During the severe winters of the 1890s, ice-skating took place at Shearwater and an occasional ox roast was held on the frozen lake.

Other highlights in the Warminster calendar were the pleasure fairs, held in the main streets, every April and October until 1963. Mr Howell's last slide showed the April Fair in 1937, with steam rising up from the showman's roundabouts outside the Post Office, and hundreds of people swirling about in the streets, enjoying the stalls and attractions.

Interesting Portrayal Of Warminster

INTERESTING PORTRAYAL OF WARMINSTER

The guest speaker at the recent meeting of the United Church Ladies Group was local historian Danny Howell.

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Using slides old and new he gave an interesting portrayal of some of the changes and events in Warminster during this century. The town's prosperity was based on wool, corn, malt, silk and ironfounding.

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Views of the town from the top of St. Lawrence's Chapel and Christ Church showed how new housing estates have changed the surrounding landscape from the mid-1920s onwards.

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Close-ups of the Market Place, East Street, High Street, and George Street, brought back many memories of former shops and their proprietors.

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Wiltshire Times And News, Friday 12 May 1989.

Bishopstrow Footbridge

BISHOPSTROW FOOTBRIDGE

Further to my notes about the improvements to the little iron footbridge at Bishopstrow (see Bedeguar Blog: 3 May 1989) I have now discovered that engineer Dave Weston and his team from Wiltshire County Council are the restorers, and that they too are extremely pleased with the work they have done.

The instigator of the improvements is Mrs. G. Proudman, who lives at the Mill House, Bishopstrow, only a stone's throw away from the bridge.

She has written to me:

"It has taken five years and approaches to English Heritage, Wiltshire Conservation, YTS, and the Council, to achieve the restoration of the iron bridge at Bishopstrow. I think it was when I pointed out that the bridge was illustrated on the title page of the Bishopstrow Conservation Area pamphlet that the Council finally took an interest. Their work of restoration took a long time but I agree is very well done. Personally I would have liked to see it painted black (instead of just rusty) but I am told by the conservationists that there is no scrap of evidence of original painting, and so it is better left untouched."

So, we must thank Mrs Proudman, Dave Weston and his colleagues, and the County Council, for their successful efforts with regards the restoration of Bishopstrow's little cast-iron bridge. Once more, walkers and lovers of the countryside can admire a piece of our local heritage as they stroll along the footpath between Bishopstrow Mill and St Aldhelm's Church - one of the loveliest walks in the district.

Danny Howell.

Visit To Manor Farm Codford

VISIT TO MANOR FARM CODFORD

Twenty members of Warminster History Society visited Manor Farm, Codford, last Sunday, writes Danny Howell, at the kind invitation of Mr. J. Collins, to see his private museum of farming and rural bygones.

A large room at the western end of the farmhouse contains more than 650 artefacts gathered by Mr Collins over the years. The room, which is in the oldest part of Manor Farmhouse, was formerly used by shooting parties for beer and lunch after a day's sport, and the collection began when one or two objects were hung on the walls for decoration.

Further bygones were added after Mr Collins restored and cleaned up items from the surrounding farm buildings for a two-day show called 'Vanishing Wiltshire'. He then realised how the everyday objects of his youth were fast disappearing and has been rescuing and making additions ever since.

His collection includes horseshoes from Roman and Celtic times to the present day, packhorse and sheep bells by Wiltshire makers, horse brasses, bottles and earthenware jars from local breweries, copper powder flasks and farriery aids. A good variety of lethal traps was also on display. These included two enormous gins, a fox trap, a pole trap made illegal in 1906, a spiked mole trap, and two rare traps for catching kingfishers.

The unusual items included an early form of fire extinguisher - a blue bottle containing a fire repellant powder, a nutcracker-like squeezer for altering the sizes of corks to fit various bottles, two different door keys hinged together, a hot-cross bun marker, some children's ice-skates, and a policeman's rattle from the days before whistles were issued to constables. Another law-enforcement item was a set of handcuffs from Northumberland, dating from the early 1800s.

A huge fireplace in the room featured roasting equipment, a revolving trivet, and a griddle for scones. A device, made of iron, standing in the hearth, was once used for cleaning the long churchwarden pipes. Pub landlords, years ago, owned pipes which were loaned to customers for smoking, and the pipes were cleaned by baking them in the embers of the inn's dying fire after closing time.

Among the local items was a First World War saddle bag, later used for collecting the fares on Couchman's bus, which took passengers to and from Codford and Salisbury. A good variety of branding irons included some from the late Henry Wales' Quebec Farm, near Chitterne. These particular ones were last used with paint, not tar, for numbering sheep. Others were used to brand rams for Wilton Fair. A wooden shovel and a fork had seen many years of hard use at the maltings in Warminster.

When asked about a ditching knife, Mr Collins explained that it was used by William Whatley, the last 'drowner' on Manor Farm. Water-drowning was the practice of shallow-flooding the meadows, by using a system of hand-dug ditches and dykes, to ensure an early bite of grass in the spring for the cattle and sheep.

The men responsible for this now defunct craft were known as drowners, and Mr Whatley worked on Manor Farm for about 50 years. Other ditching tools and scythes included examples from the Fussell's iron foundry at Mells.

Every object had a story associated with it, and Mr Collins' anecdotes of times past and some of the characters who had worked in the Wylye Valley, made the afternoon pass all too quickly.

A vote of thanks was given by Danny Howell and the visit concluded with tea and delicious cake made by Mrs Collins. A collection for St. Mary's Church, Codford, raised £20.

Bishopstrow Footbridge

BISHOPSTROW FOOTBRIDGE

In a recent slide-show I gave about some of the interesting historical features in the Wylye Valley I drew attention to the little cast-iron footbridge over the mill race, just south of Bishopstrow Mill, commenting how it was missing some of its intermediate upright posts and their connecting chain.

It dates from the early 1800s, and I thought it a great pity that one of my favourite pieces of local industrial archaeology was lacking some of its original finery, particularly so when a Department of the Environment survey (compiled some years ago) acclaims it as "an elegant example of a simple bridge design."

I was, therefore, delighted to see, while out on a walk last weekend, that some kind and industrious person, had sympathetically renewed all sixteen of the bridge's intermediate posts and connected them up, and also attended to the brickwork on the river bank beneath the bridge ends. The transformation of the structure, in its splendid setting, is quite remarkable, and I heartily applaud the action that has brought about the improvement.

In these modern times, when all we seem to hear and read about is the vandalism and the unrelenting destruction of our heritage and surroundings, it makes a refreshing change to see some thought and attention being paid to the environment. People are all too quick to award brickbats, and let's face it, there's been plenty of instances in recent years where they are due; but I would like, on this occasion, to do the opposite and award a bouquet.

On behalf of walkers and everyone who enjoys the local countryside, I thank who ever was responsible for the repair of the iron footbridge at Bishopstrow. To he or she I say "Thank you" and "Well done". I'm sure I am not alone in expressing these sentiments.

Danny Howell.

Warminster Athenaeum On Television

WARMINSTER ATHENAEUM ON TELEVISION

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Following Danny Howell's recent show "The Story Of The Athenaeum", BBC2's new arts programme Arts In The West will feature the Warminster Athenaeum. The programme will be shown on BBC2 on Friday 11th May 1989, at 7.30 pm.

Included will be an interview with Danny Howell about some of the history of the building, Mervyn Heard's magic lantern show, and a chat with director Shona Powell about the way forward for West Wilts Arts who are based at the Ath.

The programme was to be the pilot for a series but cutbacks have cancelled any further episodes and made it a one-off.

On Radio - Down Wiltshire Way

ON RADIO - DOWN WILTSHIRE WAY

BBC Wiltshire Sound's weekly Down Wiltshire Way programme features Warminster, on Sunday 6th May 1989, at 1.00 pm. (The programme is repeated on the following Saturday morning).

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Presenter Gerry Hughes meets Archive editor Danny Howell; the Curator of the Dewey Museum, Jack Field; and born and bred Warminster Common resident Ron Fear.

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Also featured is an interview with Ann Sawyer at the Smallbrook Meadows Nature Reserve, and a talk with Molly Carey about the town's role as a UFO spotting place in the 1960s.

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Commenting on his first impressions of Warminster and its people is recent newcomer, Mike Ogden, of Boreham Post Office.

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Further programmes in the Down Wiltshire Way series will include Corton, and Sherrington.