Broad Town News – August 2025
Keeping everyone in touch with what is going on in and around our parish.
DISCOVERING BROAD TOWN'S WHITE HORSE - Wednesday 30 July - 7.30pm Village Hall
Join us as we journey through the creation, the upkeep and, at times, loss of Wiltshire's white horses and hear about a new project to better understand Broad Town's white horse. The talk will start with Garry Gibbons giving an overview of the county's chalk horses before exploring how research can reveal fresh insights. We then move onto an exciting project at Broad Town's white horse, as a response to landslip activity close to the hill figure. The project will carry out archaeological surveys, track historical changes to the horse, and unearth stories by capturing memories from the community.
Free admission, Doors open 7pm, Refreshments available.
CALLING ALL DETECTIVES
It is believed that the above drawing was used by William Simmonds in 1864 to cut the White Horse. The drawing was found by Mrs Reeves and Mrs Telling when clearing out some cupboards in the old shop (behind the village hall) and at a later date inherited by Mary Hacker (Miss Reeves/Nora Little’s cousin). The White Horse project would very much like to look at this drawing so please get in touch with Andrew Law if you know Mary Hacker or any of her relatives. Andrew can be contacted on 07841381301 or andrewlaw456@gmail.com
THANK YOU
Judy Rendell rallied the troops to replant the village planters. Armed with their lethal trowels and gardening gloves Rosie Law, Linda Boyden, Carolyn Crocker and Christine Marshall set about clearing and restocking the 8 village planters. Linda Boyden, Roger Buckingham, Richard & Dawn Leppard, Richard & Abi Green, Jean Pearce, Christine Marshall and Richard Wykeham-Martin kindly water and tidy the planters regularly retaining their splendour for us all to enjoy. Thank you all for making Broad Town look loved and cared for.
CHURCH SERVICES
The services for August are as follows:
10th August at 10.30 Holy Communion (please note this replaces Morning Service for this month)
24th August at 10.30 Holy Communion
MADE IN BROAD TOWN CRAFTS & HOBBIES GROUP
School Holidays – free sessions for children!
Our August sessions will be on Wednesdays August 6th & 20th and as we are a group for the whole community, we would especially welcome children and their carers to come along to these free sessions. We will have some fun activities arranged for everyone to try including wrapping paper making and paper marbling on the 6th, and collage making and bracelet making on the 20th so come along to the Village Hall from 10am – 12 noon to join in the fun! Please note that all children should be accompanied by an adult during the sessions, and you may wish to bring an apron or overall with you.
We still have one July session arranged on the 30th – we will be continuing our ‘learn to crochet’ sessions or bring along your own craft or hobby.
May Plant Sale & Tea Update
Good news from the Wiltshire & Bath Air Ambulance that our plant sale total of £660 has now increased to £732.73 with the addition of Air Ambulance sales and direct donations on the day, so the grand total for that event including the £400 raised by the village church is now £1132.73. This is an amazing amount and thank you again to you all for your hard work both before and during the event, and to those who came along to support us.
Paper Iris Folding
This month we enjoyed a paper iris making session and ended up producing an array of colourful pictures.
Everyone is welcome to come along for refreshments and a chat, you don’t need to have any crafting skills. We’re very friendly, and if you do feel creative there are always activities available for you to try. We ask for a £2 voluntary donation please, to help cover hall hire and refreshment costs. If you have any questions, please email us, we would love to hear from you. Email Linda or Helen: madeinbroadtown@gmail.com
WHAT OUR S.I.D. SAW LAST MONTH
The SID has been located at Chapel Lane monitoring Northbound traffic (heading to RWB).
The SID captures traffic travelling in ONE direction only so the below figures represent approx. half of the overall traffic in both directions.
43,247 vehicles passed the SID which equates to approx. 1006 a day.
11% of vehicles were speeding
SOCIAL CLUB
The social club is open every Friday from 8pm and members and their guests are all welcome. If you are not a member you can join for just £3 for the year - just ask Trevor behind the bar. Draught beers and lagers are for sale at just £3 a pint and there is a free pool table, so why not pop in and check us out.
Food for Thought Evenings
Food for Thought will be selling their delicious Fish and Chips (and burgers, sausages, scampi etc) outside the Village Hall from 5 – 8pm on the last Friday in the month:
25th July
29th August
26th September
31st October (Halloween themed special – watch this space)
On these Fridays the Social Club opens at 5pm through to 11pm for you to enjoy your takeaway in the Village Hall with a drink or two. Feel free to bring your own cutlery and crockery if you wish but please take it home with you afterwards to wash up! Menu on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FoodForThoughtSwindon. For vegan, GF and other dietary requirements please contact them directly to discuss. They have limited space to carry stock but will gladly try to meet all requests. If you would like to pre-order or have any queries, they can be contacted via text, WhatsApp or Messenger on 07515 288414.
PARISH COUNCIL
Keep up to date at https://www.broadtownparishcouncil.org.uk
Do you have an unruly hedge overhanging a road or pavement and need some help? Contact the Parish Clerk to seek assistance and guidance BTPCCLERK@outlook.com
Let’s cut hedges back to the boundary rather than encroach on roads and pavements!
Next PC Meeting - Monday 11th August
The next Parish Council meeting will be at 6.30pm in the Village Hall on 11th August. All are welcome and the agenda will be posted on our website and on the notice boards in due course.
COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNINGS
Fundraising Coffee Morning – July 23rd
Our charity fundraising coffee morning for Breast Cancer Now was extremely well attended and we raised the magnificent sum of £248. We have added an additional £52 from surplus funds so we will be donating a total of £300 to Breast Cancer Now.
The raffle was very well supported and the bring and buy table offered items such as Broad Town grown plants and vegetables, jigsaws, cakes and stationery items, and the cake table was groaning under the weight of a wide assortment of donated cakes! Thank you to everyone for your generosity in donating raffle prizes and cakes, and for supporting our chosen charity.
August Break
Please remember that community coffee mornings will be taking their usual annual break in August, and we would like to thank you all for your support during the last year and wish everyone a happy summer!
We look forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday September 10th from 10am – 12 noon in the Village Hall.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Friday 25th July 5pm to 8pm - Village Hall - Food for Thought Fish & Chips.
Wednesday 30th July 10am – 12 noon - Village Hall - Made in Broad Town Crafts & Hobbies Group.
Wednesday 30th July 7:00pm for 7:30 start - Village Hall - Discovering Broad Town’s White Horse.
Wednesday 6th August 10am – 12 noon - Village Hall - Made in Broad Town Crafts & Hobbies Group.
Sunday 10th August at 10.30am - Church - Holy Communion.
Wednesday 20th B B TV August 10am – 12 noon - Village Hall - Made in Broad Town Crafts & Hobbies Group.
Sunday 24th August at 10.30am - Church - Holy Communion.
Friday 29th August 5pm to 8pm - Village Hall - Food for Thought Fish & Chips.
Wednesday September 10th from 10am – 12 noon - Village Hall - Community Coffee Morning.
DID YOU KNOW?
The first official Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom was on 5th August 1871. It was a designated day off so bank employees could attend a cricket match between England and Australia at the Kennington Oval. Responding to pressure from the holiday industry in 1964 Edward Heath moved the bank holiday to the end of August. The date was settled in statute with the passage of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 which remains in force today, with the date specified as "the last Monday in August".
PLEASE NOTE e-mail any queries or articles for publication to broadtownnews@gmail.com by the 22nd of the month except December.