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Bushton
Bushton maps
Historic maps of Bushton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Bushton maps
Bushton photos
We have no photos of Bushton, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Clyffe Pypard| Wootton Bassett| Broad Hinton| Compton Bassett| Cherhill| Wroughton| Avebury| Calne| Bremhill| Beckhampton| Purton| Quemerford| Great Somerford| Swindon| Fyfield
Bushton area books
Displaying 1 of 12 books about Bushton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Bushton
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Wiltshire memories
Renovating The Old School House
This was the year my wife and I took a big gamble. Looking for a DIY challenge and a move into the countryside from Basingstoke we decided to buy the Old School House in Clyffe Pypard. The Victorinan house, dating back to 1854, needed total renovation, inside and out, but what potential! It had a magnificent hall with beatutiful beams, attached to the headmaster's living accommodation - a two up and two down layout (bathroom and toilet outside, of course). We did not realise at the time what a mammoth task we had taken on and five years later when the 'ruin' had been turned into a great house we were, well, putting it mildly, exhausted, but had a great feeling of satisfaction.
We hired an architect and local builder to work through the main structural work while I struggled with the plumbing and electrics. It was a real adventure into the unknown, pulling down false ceilings, rebuilding the fireplace in the hall, cleaning the massive old oak doors, installing... Read more
RAF Lyneham, 1947-48
My first job, after leaving Chippenham Secondary School in 1947, was in the Met. Office at RAF Lyneham. I sometimes cycled there from my parents' home at Box, between Chippenham and Bath. Airfield security seemed almost non-existent in those days, and one could go straight onto the station from the main road without even going through the main gate. As we were doing shift work at the office, the staff had to live on or near the airfield except on our days off. The senior civilian staff lived in the Officers' Mess, but junior staff members like myself were in the Sergeants' Mess, where I think we were regarded with slight disapproval by a few of the older NCOs.
At that time, RAF Transport Command was operating Avro York aircraft, replaced by the Handley-Page Hastings a year or so later. There were frequent flights from Lyneham to Malta and North Africa, and of course there was the Berlin airlift in 1948.
Grandmother's House
I have so many fond memories of my grandmother's house. The house is on the left of the picture and has two bay windows and is painted white. As a child I would play with the turkeys which were kept in the stables at the rear. They were surprisingly companionable! My grandmother had a raised pansy garden and to me they all looked like velvet! I remember enjoying the smell of the old lilac tree in one corner of the garden.
I can remember from 1956ish, when I was 6, we had huge Christmas parties and all the family would come from far and wide. The table would groan under the weight of food. We would have a new outfit and everyone would "do a turn"! Grandmother was a lovely pianist and we had some good singers!
The back servants stairs, which led from the small back room down to the kitchen (as servants then, did not use the main stairs) were a source of fear and... Read more
HAPPY TIMES
I WAS BROUGHT UP IN BROAD HINTON AND LIVED AT 14 THE CROFT ITS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE. I HAVE SO MANY HAPPY MEMORIES FROM WHEN I WAS YOUNG PLAYING ON THE TOP BANK.
The Crown Inn
Dose anyone know the History of the The Crown Inn
The Kennels,152 The Common
My maternal grandmother (Alice Brown) took over the cottage 'up the lane' from the village and ran boarding and breeding kennels there from 1948 until 1966. The cottage was condemned when she took it over, it belonged to the Lord of the Manor Douglas White. I spent many happy times there and used to frequent Home Farm and play with Audrey Rickards and her sisters. I used to help on Wally's farm bringing the cows in to milk etc. My father was in the Army so we used to stay at the Kennels between postings and I attended the village school at Monkton. When Gran moved to live with us in Southampton in 1966 the cottage just fell down! I often visit the old place (there is a pheasantry there now) and when my mother died three years ago we put some of her ashes under some cherry trees she grew from pips!
Tales From my Father
My father grew up on Compton Bassett, his name was Reginald Hooper and he lived with his parents and brothers and sisters at No 36. I remember well the stories he told me as a child about his childhood growing up in the village, his friends, how they played in the street and roamed all over the fields, sang in the church choir and went to school in the village. It all seemed so idyllic but I suppose life was quite hard for most village people in those days. When I read 'Cider with Rosie' it all seemed so familiar, as if I had already been there. They are all gone now but the memories live on.
