The Newsletter of Drews Park Village Association Issue 44 spring extra 2020

Picture by Simon Folkard

A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

DEAR DREWS PARK RESIDENT

Welcome to another issue of Drews News. We thought you’d like something local to look at during lockdown. The normal peace and quiet of Drews Park are even more apparent, with few cars, fewer planes and little background traffic noise. We also have the bonus of cleaner air.

We’re glad to see many people taking exercise by walking or cycling round our estate, and also putting the cricket pitch to good use. Recent warm weather has encouraged everyone to come and enjoy all that our beautiful setting has to offer.

Being at home all the time does cause problems. We have tried to make sure that no one is left alone, and that everyone can get essential supplies. If you know of anyone who is in difficulty, for any reason, please tell one of the DVA committee, or Aster. This issue has contact information that may be useful.

Our local shops and suppliers have responded marvelously. Whether you want a book from the bookshop, meat from the butchers, or groceries, they are available with a phone call, unlike the supermarkets which are unable to do home deliveries for many of those who would like them.

Although there is plenty of room here, we are all close neighbours. We each have a right to peace and quiet. There is no objection to using the space outside your property, but we’d ask you to consider the needs of others, to take things indoors when not in use, and to respect social distancing.

Simon Evans Chair DPVA

2 LOCKDOWN LIFE… Mary Rennie reflects on the extraordinary situation we find ourselves in… As a naturally gregarious person with a full diary, the thought of self-isolation was a daunting, though necessary, prospect. However, I have been surprised how quickly I have adapted. Daily life is catered for by on-line shopping and deliveries from local shops. Cultural outings have morphed into Museum @Home, National Theatre screenings on YouTube and virtual Art Society lectures. Zoom and FaceTime keep me close to family and friends. The real solace, however, has been my location here at Drews Park. Every day I walk through Drews Pond Woods and watch the spring advance. Celandines, primroses, marsh marigolds, wood anemones and now the first bluebells and emerging Queen Anne’s lace delight the eye. Drifts of blackthorn blossom give way to the gracious froth of the wild cherry. Hawthorn and elderflower are a treat to come. Over 70 species of birds have been recorded in the woods. Some, such as goldfinch, tits and nuthatch are regular and welcome visitors to our feeders. On early morning walks I listen to the blackbird, song thrush, great tit, wren and chiffchaff. I hear the drumming of the great spotted woodpecker and the yaffling call of the green one. Above my head, the buzzards begin their aerobatic displays, and the occasional red Cont’d over page 3 kite wheels gracefully against the blue sky. At night, the eerie hoot of the tawny owl echoes thought the solitude.

At this time of uncertainty and fear, we are fortunate to live in this community. I feel comfort if the poet Ted Hughes lines: “The globe’s still working, the Creation’s still waking refreshed, our summer’s still all to come.” https://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/at-home/ http://www.wiltshirebirds.co.uk

FOOD AND DRINK!

We have heard from numerous people that supermarket delivery slots are hard to find, and some people have not been able to obtain any deliveries at all. Some of us are taking orders for several households which makes for some confusion on unpacking!

We should not forget the small providers who have adapted very well to delivering to the public instead of their usual job selling to hotels, pubs and restaurant. Heritage Foods in Coate do a great job. They will either deliver or you can arrange a contactless collection from their store. Five a day box, meat and other goods from Roses, Planks, who have a good selection ranging from fruit, vegetables, meat, ready meals and many other delicacies and hardware stores like Manleys all do a great service during this difficult time. If you have to go out M&S and Sainsbury have an early morning time for older shoppers, currently 8am on Mondays and Thursday. There are also reserved times at most supermarkets for NHS workers and Carers with the exception of Lidl but early mornings and late evenings are quieter.

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CRICKET FIELD AT DREWS PARK

During the existence of Hospital the cricket field was in constant use… Originally called the County asylum patients were known to be playing cricket here from around 1880. In recent years, up to the sale of the hospital, Melksham Cricket Club used the pitch. When the hospital closed and the grounds were sold, the orchard, the field and the cricket pitch were designated in the Section 106 agreement as amenity land for the new development. The orchard and the cricket field are now owned by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust who have agreed to keep the field available to the public.

We are lucky in that we are surrounded by these green spaces and it is important to get some fresh air and to get the limbs working., This has been a mitigating factor in the lockdown and in comparison, with others not so fortunate, it makes the isolation a little more bearable.

Sometime around 1995, when the hospital was sold there was still a sports pavilion to the rear of the field. It wasn’t large, but was a useful changing space. Unfortunately, around that time vandals burnt it to the ground. You can still see the concrete base to the right- hand rear of the field.

The orchard, cricket field and Drews Pond woods are a local facility and much appreciated by people.

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"YOUR FLIGHT HAS BEEN CANCELLED"

Norma Humphreys tells us about their fight to get home… Each year my husband Malcolm and I spend a few weeks in Thailand enjoying the sunshine, mostly with our friends at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Jomtien. We first heard about a Virus in China in early February although eating places and bars were becoming very poorly patronised due to lack of tourist and by mid-March the papers were full of reports of the Corona 19 outbreak worldwide.

Perhaps it is time to try for an earlier flight, we look on vain for a travel agent in town but they are all closed together with the tourist shops, Gogo bars and restaurants on the beach front.

Trying to get an earlier flight proves to be impossible so our next problem will be to extend Nearly empty Clubhouse! our Visas which expire on the 29th March, the day we should have been flying home. This is never easy! We set off for the Immigration office arriving at 8.30in the morning and join a queue which Malcolm counts with 300 people in front of us, little or no space between us. Fortunately, we were wearing masks. Then we had to have our temperature taken. We are now in the grounds with a long way to go. Having queued for over three hours we were eventually refused an extension as we didn't have a letter from the British Embassy. The result of this was that when checking in at Suvarnabhumi Airport we were both fined 3000baht each the

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equivalent of £160. (Recently we read that Thai visas are now being extended for three months free of charge).

Fortunately for us one of our friends a "young" sailing member who is a wiz with the computer eventually found 2 seats on a direct flight with EVA Air on Sunday 5th April.

However, just the day before the flight, another friend at the club told us that Bangkok Airport had been closed and to keep checking with him later as he had contacts in freight deliveries. Eventually later in the day he said don't worry the Airport is open again and your flight will take off as scheduled. *

After a short panic as the early morning taxi to take us to the Airport was waiting at the wrong address, we arrived in Bangkok in good time. Strange flight, all blinds drawn and lights dimmed for the whole 12 hours. Two meals with no choice and two drinks and staff in full PPE.

We arrived in the UK on time pick up our car from our daughter who had kindly shopped and placed food parcels in the boot. All waved at each other from a distance and drove home on very empty road.

Good to be back safely at Drews Park with fantastic weather to welcome us.

*We later learnt that the reason for the airport closure was because passengers on an incoming flight from Taipei ran away from passport control and disappeared resulting in Suvarnabhumi Airport being in temporary lockdown.

BOOK GROUP MEETINGS

Meetings have been postponed for the time being but we intend to reconvene on-line shortly.

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ROUNDWAY HOSPITAL IN FORMER TIMES

Simon writes - If you walk up Pans Lane there is a fine Victorian house at the intersection with Wick Lane. This was the lodge at the start of the Roundway Hospital estate. The term Roundway came into use after the grand New Park house became Roundway House, on the other side of Devizes. Wiltshire had seen the need for single institution capable of handling its mental patients under the Provisions of the Poor Law of that time. Anyone could be committed to an asylum on a doctor’s signature. Many who were in no modern sense mentally ill were put away. Girls and young women were often said to be hysterical, when all that was wrong was that a daughter was an extra mouth to feed.

Those committed would go past the gate lodge, up Pans Lane and turn right along what is now Thomas Wyatt Road. On their left would have been a fence, to enclose the asylum. They were conducted to what was then the porters lodge, but are now the two houses on either side of the clock in Clock Tower Court. In those days we can assume the clock was working, and would have governed the rhythm of the hospital, as wristwatches were by no means common in the 1850s. Patients would not go in through the grand entrance in what is Wyatt Court. That was reserved for medical staff and visiting dignitaries. It is tempting to think that some of those going to the hospital would have got off the train at Pans Lane Halt, only a few minutes’ walk away. This was unlikely, as the Halt did not open until 1929, and closed in 1966.

On their way in they might have caught sight of one of the two towers. Have you ever wondered about these towers? Apart from the fact they add to the attractiveness of the building (they have Venetian decorative features) they are there for a reason. They were originally put there to cont’d

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store water. Having it at a decent height ensures adequate water pressure, which is why the towers are so tall. It is doubtful that whatever public water servicer operated in Devizes at that time would have extended to Roundway, a good mile away. The water most likely came from local springs or streams. There are seven springs in Drews Pond Wood. Modern houses do not have water storage tanks, as water is always available under mains pressure. In Victorian times everyone who was connected to the water supply had a storage tank. The reason was that the supply only would be turned on for a few hours a day, so the tank was necessary to store all your water until the water was turned on again. You can imagine the planning that went on for the strict rationing of water in the domestic household. There was no running a bath when you felt like it.

The poor inmate may also have wondered what the ornate cupolas on the water towers were there. They are purely decorative. When the hospital was converted to housing in 1996/7 one of them was found to be defective and replaced. The original was not destroyed however, it sits forlornly in the open ground opposite Campfield House.

Once people were admitted they tended to stay until they died. For those who were mentally ill there were few effective cures. Consequently, many inmates were simply locked up, with little attempt to find a cure (sometimes impossible as there was nothing wrong with them anyway).

Many treatments had terrible effects on the patients, such as insulin shock therapy, now discredited. We must be thankful that the need for institutions such as the Wiltshire County Lunatic Asylum no longer exists Roundway Management Committee 1948

. Modern-day treatment of mental illness is much kinder, even if not all we want it to be.

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MYSTERIES OF DEVIZES Towns and cities throughout Britain proudly promote their historic but how many people know that in 1120 Devizes Castle was described as being “the finest and most splendid in Europe”. The town was the meeting point for three Parishes hence, originally ‘Devices!’

The first building, mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1080, was an early Norman motte and bailey with tower construction, however, it was made of wood and burned down. It was subsequently rebuilt in stone at the beginning of the 12th century and for the next 500 years this imposing fortress played a significant role in England’s history. It was always a Royal Castle and throughout the centuries many a Monarch dealt with family issues by incarcerating their loved ones in Devizes Castle! King Stephen and disputed ownership and it was only when Stephen threatened to kill her son that Matilda conceded, however, she subsequently took the Castle back and lived in it for some years. In 1206 King John imprisoned his wife Isabella at Devizes and locked up his eldest son. In Tudor times when Henry V111 owned the Castle, he gave it as a wedding gift to his wife, Catherine of Aragon, but took it back when he divorced her! Devizes Castle played a key role in the Civil War when in 1643 it became a Royalist Stronghold. Though it was briefly taken for three days by the

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10 Cont’d Parliamentarians, the Battle of Roundway restored it to the King’s Men. This all changed in 1645 when and 5000 heavily armed troops laid siege to the Castle and routed the Royalists. Cromwell subsequently issued a Parliamentary Order and the Castle was dismantled; a procedure known as . The stones were used to construct new buildings in the town.

In 1842 a successful Devizes Tradesman, Valentine Leach, purchased the site and built a Neo-Norman Castellated home for his family and it stayed in the family for many years. The 20th century brought changes of ownership and alterations, however, during the Second World War, Italian Prisoners of War were held at The Castle, which might make a good Pub Quiz question? Angela Powney

NOTICE BOARD Each Court has a representative. Just look out for new residents and put a Welcome Pack through their door. Phone any committee member to sign on! (May also lead to 10% contents insurance reduction) Peter Benns sour Neighbourhood Watch coordinator

COURT NO REPRESENTATIVE __ PHONE Bowes 18 Peter Benns 739419 Burnham 12 Wyatt Norma Humphreys 724950 Chapel Representative wanted Clock Tower 9 Wyatt Genevieve Mitchell 699164 Cooke 6 Paul Morgan 07919405077 Elliot 11 Edward Lockwood 730709 Speer 3 Simon Evans 730615 Thurnham (1-22) Representative wanted Thurnham (23-41) “ Wyatt 6 Lisa Penington 739588 Elm Emerson Smith 07428 791850 Cedar 5 Emerson Smith “

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Members’ Contact details Simon Evans Chair 3 Speer Court 730615 [email protected] Lisa Penington Secretary 6 Wyatt Court 739588 [email protected] Norma Humphreys Treasurer 12 Wyatt Court 724950 [email protected], Peter Benns Member 18 Bowes Court 739419 [email protected] Carol Holmes Member 14 Wyatt Court [email protected] Neil Geraghty Member 2 Thurnham Court [email protected]

Co-Opted Members Mathew Bevan 737370 Webmaster 4 Cooke Court [email protected] Judith Pamely Gardens 23 Thurnham Court 728179 [email protected]

IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WHICH YOU THINK WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP WITH, DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ANY MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION.

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