Melksham

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Melksham is a medium-sized English town, lying on the River Avon. It lies in the north of the West Wiltshire district, in the county of Wiltshire.

1 Overview
2 Transport
3 Local government
4 Representation in parliament
5 External links

[edit] Overview

The town of Melksham developed at a ford across the River Avon. The name is presumed to derive from MEOLC, the Old English for milk and from HAM, a village. It was a royal estate at the time of the Norman Conquest. It benefited from the 17th century textile industry. It is sited between Trowbridge and Chippenham on the main A350 north-south road from the M4 Motorway to Poole. Melksham has many varied industries including Avon Rubber, a general rubber factory and previous owner of the Cooper Avon Tyre plant in the town centre. Melksham is also the home to Westinghouse Brakes who produce braking systems for use on the railways.

Melksham is also well known locally for its range of public houses, hairdressers and food takeaways. Although it does not have many High Street names, it is close to the retail centres of Bath, Bristol, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Swindon. It is also surrounded by beautiful villages such as Lacock, Holt, Seend and Semington. Due to a large amount of funding being made available to the town, there has been an embarkation on a variety of dynamic expansion and enhancement programmes, including improvement of the town centre. To cater for the unprecedented growth and attraction which Melksham has demanded over recent years, new schools and improved infrastructure has appeared. This has enticed several housing developers and large businesses to open in the area.

Famous residents in the area include Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall, who has a private residence in nearby Lacock, and the singer-songwriter Midge Ure, who lives in Box. Melksham Town Hall is the location for the first stage performance by the pop singer Gary Glitter and his Glitter Band on 15th July 1972.

Melksham has been commended for a high level of social solidarity and community coherence. This is particularly notable at sporting events, at which the citizens of Melksham excel. Much of this unity is believed to have been fostered at the local school, George Ward School. This is the only secondary school in the Melksham catchment area, and has provided education for the people of Melksham for many decades. Several notable students have passed through the illustrious corridors. The sporting education of the school is also obvious, with several athletes graduating from its ranks, such as Fitzroy Simpson and Rory "one hitter" Sloan.

Melksham, and its surrounding area, notably Studs and the King George playing fields, is frequently referenced in the words of Philip Moomp's 'pop diary' project'. Though these words are undoubtedly beautiful and concise, like a good portion of chips from the fisheries, they are best taken with a sachet of salt.

Melksham has an ageing population. Out-migration of the talented and most able people has left the town with an elderly and predominantly working-class population. The Forest area of the town has traditionally been a working class council estate.

The recent housing boom around the area has meant that house prices have been rising at a dramatic level, with major new developments expanding in the Bowerhill district to the southeast of the town. The town's location between the city of Bath and Wiltshire's county town of Trowbridge, and lying directly on the A350 north-south national route, has meant that there have been no shortage of interest in these new properties.

[edit] Transport

Melksham railway station is on the branch line from Chippenham to Trowbridge. Originally named Staverton Halt, the station opened on 15 October 1905. It was closed in 1966 under the Beeching Axe, but reopened in 1985. Today it is very dormant compared to early 20th century.[1]. The station is served by up to five trains per day in each direction, operated by First Great Western, but this is likely to be reduced to just two each way from December 2006. Melksham is on the north-south A350 main road from the M4 motorway to Poole on the south coast. It is served by bus companies including Faresaver and FirstGroup plc

[edit] Local government

The most significant local government functions (including schools, roads, social services, waste disposal and emergency planning) are carried out by Wiltshire County Council.

The town also falls within the area of West Wiltshire District Council, which deals with leisure services, development control, and waste disposal.

Melksham is a civil parish with an elected town council. This has a mostly consultative role, and the chairman of the town council has the title Mayor of Melksham. The outskirts of Melksham, and some surrounding communities, are administered by another parish council, Melksham Without.

Local elections generally return a mixture of Labour members, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, and Independents.