You are here:
Spirthill
Spirthill maps
Historic maps of Spirthill and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Spirthill maps
Spirthill photos
We have no photos of Spirthill, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Bremhill| Calne| Compton Bassett| Quemerford| Derry Hill| Cherhill| Great Somerford| Clyffe Pypard| Chippenham| Wootton Bassett| Lacock| Beckhampton
Spirthill area books
Displaying 1 of 12 books about Spirthill and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Spirthill
No memories of Spirthill have been shared yet - be the first!
Add your memory of Spirthill
or of a photo of Spirthill.
Wiltshire memories
A Lucky Find Chestermans Farm.
Having started to work with a company in Fleet I needed to find somewhere to live that was commutable both to work and our home in Devon. Having spent a whole weekend looking at various properties in the surrounding area without any luck we had one more left on the list to look at before heading home again. To our delight it was just what we needed, plenty of space, peace and quiet and the dogs were well pleased. We stayed for two years before moving on again but we loved the farm and it still crops up in conversation.
The Village
I was born in the village in 1934, my grandfather Edgar Edwin Budge had Bremhill Grove Farm, we lived in the cottage attached to the farmhouse. I and my sister Janet went to the local school, where Miss Tavener was my teacher, Miss Simper was the head. We used to go to the local Sunday School and events in the village hall. In about 1942/43 my grandfather had foot and mouth on his farm when all his animals had to be killed, it was the last farm in the country to have foot and mouth at that time. During the Second World War my father was in the village Home Guard. We lived in the village until 1943 when we moved to Chippenham.
No 10
My name's David Meacham - When I was very small I used to live in the cottage on the right - Number 10 Bremhill.
It was a wonderful place to be a child - few cars then of course - and the freedom to roam the village without any fear.
The rooms were very small and on a slope - great for playing with Dinky toys.
The Beatles were just starting then - I remember sitting on the swing in the garden singing She Loves You Yes, Yes, Yes at the top of my voice and being told off by the lady next door.
All the kids in the village had 'Dillys' (go carts made from pramwheels and wood) - we used to have races down the hill and end up in the Vicar's garden at the bottom of the village to the right of the village cross.
I loved the school and went every day with Mark Kite and Tony Coward and my sister's friend Kay Frayling.
Happy and... 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.
Puppet Show
We went to a puppet show inside the Town Hall - organised by Sharpe's Toffees I think. It has to be around 1955 - 58. My father worked at RAF Yatesbury and we lived in Curzon Street. I can remember this view of the Town Hall quite clearly as I think the Calne Junior Infants went to school to the right of the building so we walked this way back from the church. We walked a lot on our own as well and I believe that the library was opposite this building, but that may be a false memory!
Calne,
I worked in Harris's factory in the early 70's, first in the sausage room then in the pre-pack bacon, then into the tinned ham room. Not the best job I have had but it kept the wolf from the door. My! how Calne has changed since then!
White Hart Hotel, London Road Calne
I worked for Jo & George Thomas (George & the Dragon) at the White Hart in Calne in the 70s. I often had to run up and down between 3 bars to work them all, and sometimes helped in the hotel by cleaning. Jo would say there's only 4 or 6 sheets today Sheila so not worth putting the washing machine on so wash them in the kitchen sink. This was a huge Belfast sink in the outhouses at the back. They had 3 parrots out the back that were quite scary and you daren't put your fingers near them. Although Jo was a bit of a dragon I had some fun there. Sometimes working until 2 or 3 in the morning when they had a lock-in. I made friends with many people including Doug Brittain, Heather & Tony Beamish, Barry Bryant, Bill Pellow and many more too numerous to mention. Oh! to be young again.
