A stroll in Chippenham

More specifically, an evening stroll, one fine Sunday evening, from the Angel Hotel in the market place at Chippenham, mostly along the road called the Causeway. A road which, in due course, turned into London Road, eventually becoming the A4.

This part of Chippenham was very quiet on this occasion. Not much action for the youngsters. And the overall impression was of a once prosperous provincial town which has yet to adjust to the new millennium. Lots of buildings, both commercial and residential, which no longer suited either purpose. One of what must be a large number of such towns scattered across Europe, the United States and Canada. And no doubt elsewhere, but I don't know about them.

What appears to be an old house, with a good line in both wisteria and front hedge. Street right.

It was not clear whether this building started life as a workshop or a church, but investigation this evening reveals a Grade II listed building which started life in the mid 19th century Methodist chapel which found new life as a printing works.

A very old format butcher. I thought long gone, but BH, although she only had my telephone to go on, was not so sure. No website, but according to Yell: 'We are a family run and owned butcher's shop, founded by Mr. John Iles in 1883. We stock traditional cuts of meat that you would probably remember your Grandmother buying when you went to her local butcher! Also we try our best to accommodate modern cuts. We source all of our products locally, with the majority of our commodities sourced within a 10 mile radius of our business...', so if gone, not that long gone. Digging a bit deeper I get to a piece in a local paper from 2017: '... Richard Iles and his son John decided to call it a day on their business John Iles and Son, which has been in the family since 1886, after Richard's wife fell ill...'. So my guess would be, not doing terribly well, but closure precipitated by illness rather than insolvency.

Heading back into town, a substantial church which looks as if it would have been well-worth a visit during the day. Reasonably likely to have been home to a decent piano.

A relic of the days when every town had one. And most of them offered billiards or snooker on the first floor. 

The river. Which has been noticed before, at reference 2. Kept full and good looking by a strategically placed weir. Possibly not so good in its natural state.

One end of the once proud Chippenham Cooperative Society. A movement which has known better days. Perhaps someone has produced a lavishly illustrated book of such past glories.

It would be interesting to be able to fast-forward to what the town will be like in say ten years time. But I should be surprised, assuming we are still around, if we were able to muster the energy for a tour.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/05/balanced-score-card.html. The public houses were noticed here.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-church-of-st-andrew.html. The church has been visited and the piano scored. It was, indeed, a respectable instrument.