Aldbourne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Aldbourne | |
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  Aldbourne shown within Wiltshire |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Shire county | Wiltshire |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Wiltshire | |
Aldbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire in the United Kingdom.
People from Aldbourne are nicknamed "Dabchicks" after the Little Grebe. Initially it is believed this was intended as an insult begun by the residents of nearby Ramsbury but has been adapted to a badge of pride.
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[edit] Local government
Aldbourne is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.
[edit] Location
Aldbourne is located in a valley in the south slope of the Lambourn Downs, a part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. From here an unnamed winterbourne flows to join the River Kennet 4 miles south near the village of Ramsbury.
Position: grid reference SU265756
Nearby towns and cities: Hungerford, Marlborough, Newbury, Swindon
Nearby villages: Baydon, Ramsbury, Lambourn, Ogbourne St. George, Ogbourne St. Andrew, Mildenhall
[edit] History
Aldbourne was the location for a 1971 story in the long-running BBC TV series 'Doctor Who'. Called 'The Daemons', it's regarded as a classic. In it, the village is renamed 'Devil's End' - and the village church explodes in the final episode. Legend has it that one viewer wrote in to complain that such a beautiful church had been blown up just for a television programme (it was of course a model).
Aldbourne was also the place where Easy Company of the US 101st Airborne Division was based pre D-Day. Easy Company was much famed in the HBO series Band of Brothers. The paratroopers were housed in wooden stables, some of which were later transferred to America to stand as a memorial at Camp Toccoa, the place where the men trained before being shipped to England in 1943. The "Currahee's"-as they were known (Native indian for 'We stand alone') of Easy company were stationed in the village from 1943-1944, when they left for the D-Day invasion, where the men parachuted in to Normandy on the night of 5/6 June, around the area of St Mere Eglese, taking 50% casualties, including Commanding officer, Lt Tom Meehan, and is HQ, when their plane was shot down at Beauzville Au Plain. The survivors returned, re-fitted, re-grouped, along with replacements who had been shipped in from the States, and they then went on Operation Market Garden, the airborne liberation of Holland, in September 1944. The pubs in Aldbourne,such as 'The Crown',were very popular with the young servicemen. The pubs are still there today.
The people of Aldbourne should NEVER forget these brave young men who were a long way from home.
[edit] See also
