News and articles
Ghost signs: fragile reminders of times past
A haunting memory of the past are the so-called 'ghost signs' - those faded historic advertisements and old shop signs hand-painted on masonry or brickwork. Most date from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.
Can a period house be energy efficient?
In the first of two articles, Gillian Livingstone and Richard Williams describe their experience of improving the energy efficiency of their 17th century cottage.
Heritage Celebration
Two days of fun and activities for all ages are on offer next month as part of the Discover Christ Church! project. The Heritage Celebration takes place on 6 and 7 July
Architecture in the spotlight
Klas Hyllén, architect and founder of Klas Hyllén Architecture, will be speaking about The Vintners at our talk next week at the Priory Barn. This project converted a Grade II listed wine warehouse in Bradford on Avon into a family home.
Our response to the Local Plan
The Trust’s Planning Committee responded to consultation on the Wiltshire Local Plan: Planning for Bradford on Avon/September 2023.
Sing Around the Christmas Tree 2023
We’ll be Singing Around the Christmas Tree with the Courage Choir at Barton Farmyard on Sunday 17th December, from 4-5pm.
The nuns at the Priory
Ivor Slocombe reassesses the history of the Priory, and the community of Anglican nuns who lived there in the mid-19th century.
Apple Day – a new town tradition in the making
Crowds turned up at Barton Farmyard for Bradford on Avon's first Apple Day. Gillian Livingstone explains the thinking behind this 'fun event with a serious purpose.
1930s comedy crime caper features Bradford railway locations
Bradford’s railway line and station provided the locations for an exciting – if somewhat surreal – sequence in A Fire Has Been Arranged, a 1935 film directed by Leslie S Hiscott.
The Bradford on Avon station woodland project
An eco-friendly woodland area is being created alongside the Bath-bound platform by the Friends of Bradford on Avon Station. John Baxter recounts the story behind the scheme
Low bridges and dodgy sewers
Trust member Stephen Hills recalls some of the civil engineering challenges that accompanied the construction of Bradford on Avon’s Southway Park development.
Eric D Walrond – A life in Wiltshire in Search of Asylum
The name of Eric Walrond was completely unknown to me until a historian friend Dave Chapple who lives in Bridgwater mentioned his name to me, together with the fact that Eric had once lived in Bradford on Avon. This impelled me to find out more.
A Vanished World By Margaret Dobson
This book is a social history, of what it was like to work in the rubber factory and, as so many in the town worked in or for the factory, of its impact on the life of the town as a whole.
In search of the Hens
Kate Nicholls gathers recollections of the ‘China Hens’ – the two remarkable women who played a crucial role in the creation and development of Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust.
Twenty years on: the day the Prince flew in
Twenty years after the then Prince of Wales officially opened the newly restored West Barn, Margaret Dobson writes an entertaining account of the events leading up to the royal visit.
Coronation Community Picnic
On Sunday 7 May between 12 noon and 3pm, the Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust is hosting a family fun picnic in Barton Farmyard in front of the Tithe Barn.
Here we go a-wassailing
There has been a massive resurgence across the west country in recent years in the ancient tradition of wassailing and celebrating the fruit of the apple tree. A fine thing indeed.
Barton Orchard remembered
Our new regular columnist, Ralph Oswick, looks back (fairly) fondly to his days as a resident of Bradford on Avon
Poverty and protest: the dark side of the industry that enriched Bradford
Rosie MacGregor discusses the events and themes that inspired her latest book: Remnants and Yarns Poverty and protest in the woollen industry in Bradford on Avon.