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CALNE

Calne is a town located in central Wiltshire, in the South West England region of the UK. It lies on the River Marden, the Wilts and Berks Canal and the A4 road 30 km (19 miles) east of Bath and 145 km (90 miles) west of London. It is a small (though expanding) town with a population of 13,606 according to the 2001 Census (14,900 est. 2006). It is situated on the northwestern edge of the North Wessex Downs AONB hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Contents

History

Calne's best known industry was the Harris Pork processing facility that dominated the town architecturally and provided employment directly and indirectly to many of the residents until the early-1980s - at its closure in 1983 for example it employed over 2,000 people out of a town population of 10,000. It is said that the pork curing industry developed because pigs reared in Ireland were landed at Bristol and then herded to London through Calne. The factory started in the second half of the 18th century when brothers John and Henry Harris started businesses which merged in 1888 as C. & T. Harris & Co. The factory has now been fully demolished and the area where it used to be located redeveloped as shops, housing and a library. As a result of the closure of the factory unemployment in the town increased considerably and for much of the 1980s Calne suffered many of the problems more normally associated with large cities. Calne also had a significant woollen industry in the past, and evidence of this can be seen on The Green in Calne, where many buildings such as cloth mills involved in this industry remain.

The Porte Marsh Industrial Estate on the north side of the town now provides the bulk of the town's employment - it is home to harbouring around 100 companies in predominantly light industries and IT. The Belgian company Deceuninck has invested considerably in this area and operates two large facilities at Porte Marsh, notably a new production and distribution centre which now dominates the north side of town.

Modern Calne

Calne is now considered to be one of the fastest-expanding towns in the Southwest England region. Its population is projected to peak at around 16,500 by 2008. The Lansdowne Park housing development (begun in the 1990s and due to be completed in 2007) has substantially increased the physical scale of the town, creating an entirely new northwestern suburb, inclusive of a new state-of-the-art primary school, medical surgery and a small shopping area. This area has particularly attracted professional workers from traditionally more expensive areas such as Bath, Bristol, Marlborough, Newbury and as far afield as the Thames Valley/'silicon valley' commuter-belt towns of central Berkshire. Plans are also afoot (pending further funding) for the creation of a new outdoor sports facility at Beversbrook on Calne's northern edge.

Notable Architecture

Notable buildings in the town include St Mary's Church, a wonderful array of houses on The Green and a splendid Town Hall. Of particular note is the new Library which has won awards for its innovative design and was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2001, although this is already in need of stonewashing.

There are also outline plans to redevelop the unsightly Phelps Parade shopping area in the town centre, an increasingly shabby-looking red brick shopping precinct which dates back to the early-1970s and does not fit kindly with the stonewall character of the town (one idea is to reclad it in the local buff stone). However, Calne town centre is blessed with a number of attractive old buildings which are worthy of renovation and regeneration, but which have unfortunately been left to erode. The second major phase of central Calne's redevelopment is still at the planning stage. One idea is an attempt to attract proper restaurants into the town, which the town is almost completely bereft of, aside from a scattering of fast-food takeaways and a couple of low-key Indian restaurants.

However, since the demolition of the Harris pork factory and the completion of the first phase redevelopment/regeneration in 2001, Calne has, in general, been successfully transformed into an attractive setting compared to its run-down image of the 1980s-90s.

Transport & Infrastructure

Calne railway station opened in 1863 on a branch line from Chippenham but the station was closed as a result of Beeching Axe in 1965.

A northern bypass (part of the A3102) was completed in 2001 and an eastern bypass is under consideration for possible construction in 2009-2011. The justification for construction would be to ease increasingly heavy rush-hour traffic congestion on the A4 which bissects the town, caused in part by the town's rapidly expanding population and the general increase in commercial traffic crossing through the town from all directions (the town becomes a major bottleneck during rush hours). However, it is feared that a new bypass may also lead to the premature development of east Calne, with many residents believing that the town should be free from further expansion for a few years in order for it to fully absorb and sustain the current wave of development.

The general concern with modern Calne is that the town's facilities and infrastructure are not perceived to be growing exponentially with the rapidly rising population. For example, the town's only public sports centre, The White Horse Leisure Centre built in 1976, has been allowed to become increasingly run down, forcing many residents to either join more expensive private sports centres or travel to nearby Devizes or Chippenham for better facilties. Calne is also known for harbouring both the most prosperous and least prosperous communities in Wiltshire.

The M4 motorway (at Swindon West) lies 19 km (12 miles) to the north of Calne, and the westbound M4, north of Chippenham, is 19 km (12 miles) to the west. The closest main passenger airport is Bristol International Airport, 38 miles (61 km) to the southwest. Calne is also one the largest UK towns not served by a rail station, nor does it have a bus station.

Education

St Mary's School [1] is regarded as one of the UK's most prestigious independent schools for girls, with sumptuous grounds and a modern sports centre. The John Bentley School [2] is the local comprehensive school situated on the southern periphery of Calne, and is a noted languages school. The closest further and higher education institutions are the Wiltshire College site in Chippenham (10 km / 6 miles away) (Wiltshire College also has a small centre at The Green in Calne) and the University of Bath campus at Claverton Down in Bath, 29 km (18 miles) to the west.

Representatives

Calne is located in the Devizes constituency and governed by Calne Town Council [3], North Wiltshire District Council [4] and Wiltshire County Council [5].

Famous People from Calne

Notable people from Calne include Saint Edmund, John Pym and the athlete Walter Goodall George who held the world record for the mile from 1886 to 1915. The country estate of Bowood House lies near Calne. It was here that Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774; there is a plaque in the town centre commemorating this. There is also a plaque on the wall of the house where Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed from 1814 to 1816 as part of the Morgan household whilst writing his Biographia Literaria. The singer-songwriter-author Julian Cope resides in a small village 7 km (4 miles) east of Calne, towards Avebury. The term Scramel originated in Calne, thought to have been modified from Cornish sayings.

Famous sites in the Calne locality

  • Cherhill White Horse - 4 km (2.5 miles) east of central Calne, carved into the south face of Morgan's Hill, in the village of Cherhill (pronounced 'Cheryl') on the A4 London to Bristol road.

Surprisingly, neither Avebury or Bowood are signposted from the town, nor is the nearby historic city of Bath or major town of Swindon, both within 30 km (19 miles) of Calne. Blackland Lakes is a large camping site on the southern edge of Calne which is popular with anglers and tourists alike. It is regarded as an ideal base for tourists wishing to visit the many and varied sites in the Calne area. The 'lakes' themselves are in fact large angling pools.

The town is also a cornerpoint of the Wiltshire crop circle triangle, which incorporates the area between Calne, Devizes and Warminster where a large concentration of initially unexplained formations have appeared in corn fields across the area, particularly since the 1970s. The majority of these formations have been handiwork of local hoaxers using rudimentary instruments to manifest surprisingly large and complex patterns in the fields, many of which feature fractalesque and 'alien lander' designs. However, a small number of recorded crop circles continue to defy explanation, though many scientists believe that as-yet unexplained micro-meteorological conditions rather than extraterrestrial visitations or Gaiaic forces are the cause of these. The small 'Silent Circle' information centre and roadside cafe at Cherhill, just to the east of Calne, is a good source of 'enlightenment' for the many visitors to the area looking for something unworldy to appear.

Calne Town Football Club play in the Western Premier League and finished in a respectable 5th position (of 20 teams) in the league table at the end of the 2005-2006 season. Their ground is located on the north side of the town.

Suburbs

Quemerford, Lansdowne Park, Calne Marsh

Twin Towns

Calne is twinned with the towns of :

Nearby Villages & Hamlets

Calne is surrounded by numerous settlements including :

Nearest Towns & Cities

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