Following its excursion to the Diamond Jubilee Celebration Event in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close on 1 May 2012 – where it took centre-stage in the Corsham Area Board’s Jousting Tent – the Campus model is now back in Corsham.
The Friends of Corsham Area Heritage Centre have provided the model with a temporary home in their Heritage Room at Arnold House in the High Street. We urge you to come and see it – and the other items we have there, including the Display Board we commissioned especially for the Jubilee Event. We were put in charge of co-ordinating the Corsham Area’s contribution to the Event around a heritage theme. We really went to town on it!
The model has seen a few improvements since you may have seen it previously during its “Roadshow” perambulations. It now enjoys enhanced labelling so that you can better appreciate where the Campus is to be located and what services it is to provide. There is also a pile of information leaflets accompanying it. Please feel free to take one.
At this stage we don’t know how long it will be with us, so grab the opportunity and drop into the Heritage Centre to view Model in this convenient location. Our staff will be delighted to explain it to you.
Wiltshire Council's Strategic Planning Committee, at its meeting held during the morning of 16 May 2012 at the Council's Offices in Bradley Road, Trowbridge, granted Planning Consent for the Corsham Campus, subject to expected conditions.
The Corsham Area Heritage Centre was asked to co-ordinate the contributions being offered by the various organisations who participated in the Corsham Area Board's "jousting tent", erected on Salisbury's Cathedral Close for the visit of Queen Elizabeth on 1 May 2012, marking her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee. The theme was to be "Corsham Area's Heritage". We mounted a new display of images of such things as quarrying, the wool industry, Corsham and the military and Brunel. We've brought it back to Corsham - where it can be seen in our Heritage Room. A lot easier than driving down to Salisbury!
As part of the complete Corsham Area offer, a Hamper was assembled, for presentation to Her Majesty. We ensured that the products of two of the providers of the locally-made goods to our TIC were featured in the Hamper. They were a spectacular crown, made entirely of chocolate by the Corsham company Lick the Spoon and some jars of the scrumptious marmalade by another Corsham company, Annie's Kitchen.
We hope Her Majesty enjoys both of them. You can, too - by dropping into our Centre at Arnold House in the High Street and buying some. But don't expect to find the crown there for sale. Lick the Spoon made only the one of those. However, we have plenty more of that company's other confection on offer. It makes a wonderful treat. Fit for a Queen!
Our business is at a very critical point. We have received all the funding we are going to receive during the present financial year. Local authority councils are now deciding how much they will support us through their next financial year. Things do not look encouraging. Our future looks bleak. Closure is a possibility.
We will make a small loss this financial year. Funding from our main local authority source had been cut significantly. Donations and severe cost-cutting were our salvation. Funding from that main local authority source will shrink further this coming year. While Corsham Town Council will continue to allow us rent-free use of Arnold House and maintain its funding as in recent years, it cannot be expected to do more.
We are not alone. All of Wiltshire’s TICs are in a similar position. Some of the 16 have already gone under.
Corsham Area Development Trust Ltd (CADT) runs the Corsham Area Heritage & Information Centre. It has since October 2006. The CADT started with 2 directors – Ian Storey and Peter Tapscott. Last summer Peter decided to concentrate on the Heritage Centre part – and to make room for somebody else to assist Ian in fighting Corsham TIC’s corner. It had become clear that establishing the Friends of the Corsham Area Heritage Centre as a standalone organisation was in Corsham’s best interests.
With his considerable knowledge of Wiltshire Council, Ian set out to get the best deal he could for Corsham’s TIC. Then, in late November, Ian sadly passed away.
Saturday 25 June marked the launch of a new national event: Civic Day. Centrally co-ordinated by Civic Voice, the CADT had joined forces in February with Corsham’s Civic Society to register the town’s interest.
It happened to be the day upon which Corsham’s Twinning Association had run its French Market Morning for several years. We asked them if they would join forces to make Civic Day an event for the whole community and they jumped at the idea.
A programme of seven activities was devised with the Twinning Market taking centre stage. The High Street was closed, the bunting was resplendent and several town centre shops took the opportunity to set up stalls outside their premises, including the Heritage & Information Centre. The weather cooperated and townsfolk turned out in their hundreds. BBC Wiltshire Radio sent a roving reporter. Duncan Hames, MP, dropped in.
James Methuen-Campbell led a guided walk for primary school children around the gardens of Corsham Court. Two Toddler Workshop sessions were held at the Methuen Arms Hotel, and The Pound Embroidery Group staged a marvellous exhibition of its contribution to the 14,000 pennants being made for the 2012 Olympics by “Quilts 4 London”. The Question is … Can we do even better next year? Saturday 23 June 2012 is its Civic Day.
Corsham Information & Heritage Centre has recently achieved 10 years of serving the public; residents and visitors alike. It opened its doors in the summer of 2000 – a fact recorded on the plaque to be found on the inside wall of the Heritage Room.
To mark the occasion, the twosome who originally opened the Centre reconvened at Arnold House on September 23rd to celebrate the event. The very same Lord Lansdowne and Roger Fido were on hand to recognise the successes of those ten years and to wish “many more” to those presently entrusted with the running of the Centre – ourselves, the CADT.
It was fitting that the Centre had just been recognised by Mystery Shoppers from Enjoy England as performing better than ever before. Enjoy England assessed 322 TICs in England in 2010. We were rated 17th overall – and 3rd in Wiltshire’s 18, behind Salisbury and Swindon.
The shoppers had telephoned, e-mailed and actually visited the Centre, rating it on its speed of response, the warmth of its welcome, the degree of local knowledge exhibited by its staff and their eagerness to promote the area to their visitors. Now that really is service. Thank you team!
As well as books, maps and souvenirs relating to Corsham, the Centre books local accommodation. Taken together with evening meals, this is conservatively estimated to put over £20,000 directly into the local economy.
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