News and articles

Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

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.

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Andrew Eberlin Andrew Eberlin

Barton Orchard remembered

Our new regular columnist, Ralph Oswick, looks back (fairly) fondly to his days as a resident of Bradford on Avon

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