Blog Posts

LUNCHTIME TALKS LAUNCHED

24/7/2012

The Friends of Corsham Area Heritage Centre launched its monthly Lunchtime Talks in June. Each Talk will take place at 1.00pm on the fourth Tuesday in the month, usually at Arnold House and will cost only £2.00 (free to Friends).

The Lunchtime Talks provide an opportunity for the speaker to publicise what their group is doing to promote Corsham Area’s heritage and demonstrate the ability of the Friends to provide a platform for such local groups.

Ron Smith, Head of Guiding at the Lady Margaret Hungerford Almshouses & Free School, gave the first Talk on Tuesday 26 June. Ron’s confident and polished delivery, allied to his second-to-none knowledge of the subject, made for a thoroughly entertaining hour for the capacity audience.

The second in this series will take place on Tuesday 24 July, when Chris Coyle of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust will describe the restoration work being undertaken between Chippenham and Lacock. The venue will again be Arnold House, as it will be for the third and fourth Talks, to be held 28 August and 25 September respectively.

Tickets for all Talks must be booked in advance from the TIC on 01249 714660. We will use an alternative town centre venue for the October and November Talks to avoid undermining sales of Cards for Good Causes in this pre-Christmas period.

CORSHAM CAMPUS MODEL ON SHOW AT ARNOLD HOUSE

17/5/2012

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 BEST OF CORSHAM FOR HER MAJESTY'S HAMPER

8/5/2012

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!

CORSHAM SCI-FI FAMILY FUNDAY FULL LINE-UP ANNOUNCED

2/4/2012

FRIENDS OF CORSHAM AREA HERITAGE CENTRE LAUNCHED

9/3/2012

The future of the CADT’s combined Area Heritage & Information Centre is uncertain at this time – to say the least. In the past it has been maintained by the funding it has received from our local councils, where the prime interest has been in supporting tourism. In this respect, the traditional TIC function has taken centre stage.

Things have changed. It is now clear that the Corsham Area Heritage Centre must be developed into a visitor attraction in its own right if we are going to secure the level of grant-support to keep ourselves viable. Evidence of support from the local community is essential if the quest for such funding is to succeed. Hence the formation of a “Friends” group.

Work on this project began in late summer 2011. We now have 60+ signed-up members – a mixture of Individual and Corporates. A committee was appointed in February and its first meeting will take place in March 2012. We’re on our way!

We need more members. We will never have too many of them. Do you take pride in your local history and heritage and want to see it displayed to a wider audience? If you are interested then act now by completing the information form here. You’ll find yourself amongst true “friends of Corsham”.

OUR FUTURE IS IN THE BALANCE

30/1/2012

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.

CIVIC DAY 2011

15/7/2011

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 WELCOMES THE NEW METHUEN ARMS HOTEL

17/6/2011

The Methuen Arms Hotel is now fully open after an extensive refurbishment – providing a major boost to Corsham as a visitor centre.

After an unwelcome period of closure, The Methuen was bought by the local Still Family in April last year. They have since embarked on a total refurbishment to restore this historic inn back to its crucial position as the social hub of the Corsham community.

In addition to the bars and restaurant areas that reopened just before Christmas, 12 individually-designed bedrooms are now available to the public.

Designed with an emphasis on British-made furnishings, each bedroom has a King or Super King size bed (three of which are four posters), Egyptian cotton sheets and luxurious blankets.

Several attractive outside spaces, including gardens and seating areas, are also opening throughout the summer.

The Methuen was recently awarded an impressive 5* AA assessment for its Rooms and a superb 2 Rosettes for its Restaurant. Well done to Martin and Debbie!

FRIENDS OF THE CORSHAM AREA HERITAGE CENTRE LAUNCHED

8/4/2011

A Group has come together to form a support organisation for Corsham Area Heritage Centre, the facility that is co-located with the Corsham Information Centre at Arnold House in Corsham's High Street. The Group will operate outside of the Corsham Area Development Trust and its Corsham Area Heritage & Information Centre. It will have its own structure and constitution.

These elements have yet to be put in place. Instead the emphasis has been on attacting the membership from which officers will be appointed and through whose efforts a range of member-benefits will be developed. One of the key intentions is to be the source of funding beyond the local authority grants upon which the survival of the Heritage Centre remains to this day - and upon which reliance there must continue to be an expectation, however marginal that might be made to become.

To this end, a recruiting flyer / sign-up form has been devised. Copies are being located at various sites in and around the Town. The process is extremely simple. Registration to be a member requires only the completion of the form, the writing of a cheque to value £20 to cover the first year's membership, and the handing-in of the form and cheque to the CAH&IC at its office in Arnold House, 31 High Street.

The flyer / sign-up form is additiuonally available as a .pdf here, alongside the "Expression of Interest" form which has been there for some weeks. (This new sign-up form is the natural 'next step' in the process of establishing the Friends. We thank all of you who have responded to the Expression of Interest invitation.) The sign-up form can be printed off quite readily.

FUNDING CADT THROUGH 2011/12 – BELIEF REMAINS

4/2/2011

We chose to await the outcome of Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet meeting scheduled for 25 January before putting the latest edition of Arnold’s News to bed. We prepared the rest and resolved to write this lead story straight after returning from attending the Cabinet meeting. Anything could happen.

The Council had prepared the ground well. We had been advised of a fundamental change in the way it would be addressing the county’s tourism industry. VisitWiltshire (VW) was to be set up as a separate company, dependent upon significant funding from the Council. Its
role was to promote Wiltshire as the place to visit. TICs were to be regarded as having a role only when the visitors were here – at which point it was the local economy that benefited, and would be expected to bear the cost of supporting its TIC.

Being one of five TICs in the county that have been supported by Wiltshire Council, we had been told that our 2011/2012 funding from WC would be cut. We set about some serious lobbying. We pointed out that we were different. We had adopted the ‘Big Society’ 4 years
before the term was first heard in the Westminster Village! We made sure our local town and parish councils were aware of our plight. We had already cut our costs to the bone.

25 January was to be our Day of Destiny. We listened. Routes to other Wiltshire Council funding were revealed when other service-provision was being discussed. We were given our opportunity to address the meeting. We took it.

The result? Our situation is the subject of ongoing discussion. We are now in consultation with the Service Director for Economy & Enterprise and the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Planning and Housing to investigate the feasibility of securing local funding.

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