You are here:
Bromham
Bromham maps
Historic maps of Bromham and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Bromham maps
Bromham area books
Displaying 1 of 12 books about Bromham and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Bromham
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Bromham.
Add your memory of Bromham
or of a photo of Bromham.
Coronation Day
My mother took short term housekeeping positions and in 1953 we lived in Westbrook House in Westbrook village, looking after Sir Edgar and Lady Ludlow Hewitt. He was a gentleman farmer and I sometimes drove around his land with him in his Landrover. I remember beautiful fields with so many wild flowers, I would come home with armfuls. Cowslips are still my favourite. They went to London for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, her Ladyship sat up for all of the night before they left so that her hair did not get ruined. I was allowed to see the long blue velvet gown that she was to wear. There was a cook (she made me the most delicious porridge which arrived at the house in hessian sacks), she lived in a small cottage opposite the pub, then called the New Inn, and a cowman who lived a few doors down from the pub. He would sometimes let me go with hin to fetch in the cows for milking,... Read more
Wiltshire memories
The Brinkworths.
Recently I have been researching my family history. The Brinkworth family are my great grandmother's ancestors, going back further, they were from Lacock. The Brinkworths lived at Sandy Lane, and at the cabin, Chittoe. I have information on this family, but need more. Not sure of address as on census it only states Sandy Lane, Wiltshire.
Prison Buildings by Side of Canal
Hello,
My name is John Ryan and I can remember Devizes when I was evacuated there in 1940 from Tilbury Essex. I was 11 years old.
I can remember where we all assembled in what I think was the Catholic school, which I believe was St Joseph's. There was about 40 of us and I happened to be the last to be picked for accommodation with a local family.
I remember the lady, her name was Phyllis Hillier and she was very kind to me as the rest of the family were. I remember going down a big hill towards the canal and crossing a small bridge and turning left down into the building which was originally a prison but it was converted into flats. It was a ground floor flat which was very nice and comfortable. After settling into my new home, I remember starting school where we had to walk along the canal or back up the hill to the town where the school was... Read more
Notes From The Frith Files.
During WW2 the hut at the top of the building provided shelter from the weather for members of the Observer Corps later known as The Royal Observer Corps.
Quaker's Walk
I was employed to fell the elm trees lining the walk during the Dutch Elm disease crisis that cleared so many beautiful trees from a lovely area. My only consolation was the glorious view up to Oliver's Castle which is now sadly blocked by housing estates.
The Roundway I Remember
In 1954 Roundway was the site of the Royal Army Pay Corps Training Centre. Nothing now remains of this except a plaque erected by the local council to commemorate the fact that thousands of young men conscripted for National Service were trained there. Most were only there for ten weeks and were then posted elsewhere to complete their 18 months (later increased to 2 years) service.
I arrived in nearby Devizes on 7th January,1954,and after my basic training spent the remainder of my 2 years there. The training was very hard but it turned boys into men (and soldiers). The camp was spread over a large area of Roundway and straddled the road to Devizes. During the day a Regimental Policeman was always on duty where the road divided the camp,the guardroom being close by. The camp was actually two units, the Training Centre and the Regimental Pay Office for the R.E.M.E. There were 2 drill squares, a sports field, dining halls and a large number of buildings... Read more
Derry Hill, Wiltshire
I did not live in Derry Hill, but rented a cottage there, Primrose Cottage, in 1990. I was introduced to Wiltshire in the 1980s by my husband's mother who had been based near Pewsey in the Land Army during the Second World War. When I first visited Wiltshire it was to visit Avebury and later to stay at Chisenbury with people that my mother-in-law had known in the 1940s. I fell in love with the county as soon as I crossed the border, loved the landscape, the feel of the place, as if it was a homecoming of a kind. So, in 1990 we rented Primrose Cottage. The youngest of my two sons was four and the other 14. I remember loving the quiet, loving the old houses and the little school, lying in bed in the early morning (it was August) and watching the trees at the end of the garden blowing about in the wind as it was getting light. I thought that I could live here and... Read more
