Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · 5h

John Veitch (1856 - 1920), Royal Navy, then Coastguard at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex and in retirement landlord at both the Crown and Blue Boar pubs in Aldbourne. Remembered at the weekend at the St Michael's Church Discovery Day - our village links with the sea
#31DaysOfGraves #OnePlaceWednesday

The grave of John and Emily Veitch in Aldbourne churchyard shows an anchor on the cross

The grave of John and Emily Veitch in Aldbourne churchyard shows an anchor on the cross. This photo shows a close up of the anchor.

1 2 11

Reposted by Aldbourne Archive

Society for One-Place Studies @oneplacestudies.bsky.social · 16h

Welcome once again to #OnePlaceWednesday! As always, we’ll be using the hashtag throughout the day in posts about #OnePlaceStudies, that brilliant blend of #FamilyHistory and #LocalHistory, and we hope you will join us by sharing your OPS news, views, links, pics, questions, suggestions, and more.

#OnePlaceWednesday.
Image: A photo of open countryside with fields, trees, hedgerows, the occasional building, and some low, rolling hills. In the centre, and in the near distance, there is a tree in some sheep pasture, casting a long, early morning shadow while around a couple of dozen sheep are gathered beneath its leafy boughs.
One-Place Studies, where family history and local history unite.

2 2

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · 11d

The railway didn't quite make it to Aldbourne, although it looked like a possibility in 1883 - read on ...
#OnePlaceStudies #Railway200 @railway200.bsky.social
aldbournearchive.wordpress.com/2020/12/05/a...

All Aboard the Aldbourne Express

Way back in 1999 I was puzzled by a photo of a postcard. It was part of the preparations for the Aldbourne Civic Society exhibition in the Old School Room, Millennium Festival 2000. This coloured i…

aldbournearchive.wordpress.com

3 2

Reposted by Aldbourne Archive

Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre @heritagewshc.bsky.social · 22d

Join us this Saturday 20th for our annual #heritageopenday this year celebrating all things architectural from our #archives & #localstudies collections. Meet the experts on #househistory & #familyhistory and why not drop in for a cuppa at our pop-up Heritage Café. See poster for more details.👇

Poster for Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre’s “Architecture in the Archives” Open Day on 20 September, 10am–4pm. Includes event details: archive displays, behind-the-scenes tours, conservation lab visits (10am–1pm), and a pop-up café. Poster includes photo of the History Centre plus logos for Wiltshire Council, Heritage Open Days, and Swindon Borough Council. A pink banner reads “FREE TO EXPLORE.”

3 3

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · 28d

"Aldbourne can boast that her name was formerly written Auburn; she can remember that Richard Jefferies, thus misled, sought to identify her with Goldsmith's "Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain"
Source: @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social scrapbooks 1920
#OnePlaceWednesday

Richard Jefferies Award @rjaward.bsky.social · Sep 8

Nominations so far:

2 4

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Sep 3

Thomas Fairchild (1667-1729) was baptised in Aldbourne. The location of his memorial became known as the Hackney Road Recreation Ground. Renamed Fairchild's Garden in 2017, this open space has now been rejuvenated aldbournearchive.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/t... #OnePlaceWednesday #OnePlaceBaptisms

Thomas Fairchild 1667 – 1729

3 September 2025 update: The rejuvenated garden; as described by the creators of the bespoke street furniture and incorporating some excellent photos. Fairchild’s Garden, London – A former di…

aldbournearchive.wordpress.com

1 5

Reposted by Aldbourne Archive

Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre @heritagewshc.bsky.social · Aug 18

There's a full day of expert speakers lined up for Wiltshire Buildings Record Study Day on Saturday 18th October on topics as diverse as Model Farms, historic racecourses, William Morris, Quaker architect Brightwen Binyon, & Victorian architectural ornament:
wshc.org.uk/the-age-of-i... #architecture

The Age of Innovation – Building in the 19th century - Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Expert speakers at Wiltshire Buildings Record's Study Day on 'The Age of Innovation' will cover diverse topics including Model Farms, historic racecourses and William Morris.

wshc.org.uk

1 4

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Aug 30

Last weekend I met with a WWII evacuee to Aldbourne in 1939 with many memories and photographs to share. Inspired by this connection, I've been researching Raphael Tuck & Sons postcards. Love this one, showing the 'village council' gathering by the bench in the square
Source: www.tuckdbpostcards.org

Aldbourne village pond in sepia tint with Pond House the Crown Inn and St Michael's Church. There is a gathering near the bench in the square where village worthies have long rested to chat and to put the world to rights.

1 2

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Aug 20

John Robinson, who played Professor Bernard Quatermass in the 1955 BBC Television serial, lived in Aldbourne from the early 1940s until 1946. His wife Kathleen was the granddaughter of Charles Smith 1818-1886, Maltster and Farmer in South Street #OnePlaceWednesday
www.newspapers.com/article/even...

Article clipped from Evening Express

Clipping found in Evening Express published in Liverpool, Merseyside, England on 4/17/1933.

www.newspapers.com

1 4

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Aug 16

A simple and intensely moving commemoration. The National Two Minute Silence for VJ Day 80 at Aldbourne Memorial Hall on Friday 15 August 2025

Photo includes a poppy wreath labelled VJ 80 which was placed on the Aldbourne Memorial Hall at the commemoration also an arrangement of yellow flowers laid in tribute for a father who served in the Burma campaign. Other photos show the names of those who died in the Second World War remembered on the Aldbourne Memorial Hall and the chalkboard giving notice of the Two Minute Silence that was placed by the hall committee to alert passers by during the days leading up to VJ Day. Our vicar and two representatives from the village who gave readings are shown during the service with the wreath and flowers in position.

4

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Aug 13

Love this little tree. Blossoms and berries make frames in their season.
#DiggingBandOfBrothers Operation Nightingale
#OnePlaceWednesday #Aldbourne

Football field Farm Lane Aldbourne. Site of the American Army Camp during the second World War. The Pitch with goalposts and houses in the distance are framed by haw berries and green leaves.

3 10

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Aug 10

TODAY: A long standing village institution, supporting an even older village institution! The 21st Aldbourne Artists Exhibition (founded by Andrea & Peter West) in the Aldbourne Memorial Hall. Free entry to view and find a work of art. Profits to Hall funds. 10-4 Sunday 10 August 2025 🎨

A banner advertising the Aldbourne Art Exhibition beside the bench commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Aldbourne Memorial Hall opening in 1922. The Art Exhibition is raising funds for the Hall which can be seen in the background.

1

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Aug 6

As VJ Day 80 approaches, my thoughts turn to the memories shared in Aldbourne for earlier commemorations. #OnePlaceStudies #OnePlaceWednesday

Some #VJDay75 Recollections

Aldbourne Memorial Hall VE and VJ Day 75th Anniversary commemorations have been vastly different to those originally envisaged. On 15 August 2020 there will be national events to mark the occasion,…

aldbournearchive.wordpress.com

1 4

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 30

I would really like to share a 1967 Village in the Downs: Harvest film presented by Desmond Hawkins @bbcarchive.bsky.social but can't get the link to work here. The film can be found at bbcrewind.co.uk and search for Aldbourne.

Rewind

What will you find? Explore thousands of recent archive clips from around the UK.

bbcrewind.co.uk

1 1

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 30

The magic of Google tells me that the machine is a hay-binder

1 1

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 30

Harvest at Eastleaze, Aldbourne circa 1941. From the Aldbourne Civic Society archives #OnePlaceStudies #OnePlaceWednesday

Two large horses possibly Shires standing still hitched to what looks like a baling machine. One of the horses has a nosebag. The driver of the machine may also have his lunch which was brought to him by a woman in a summer dress standing by the baler. Two traditional hayricks can be seen in the distance and beyond those the rolling Aldbourne downs.

1 2 11

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 20

In 2023 (and the first year I noticed these delicate little flowers) the harebells appeared by the grave of Robert Cresser, and inspired this article later in the year aldbournearchive.wordpress.com/2023/10/29/h...

Harvest Festivals 1903 & 2023

St Michael’s Church – Community Harvest Service 29 October 2023 For over a decade, the Aldbourne Churches Together have organised the Aldbourne Harvest Appeal (A-Ha!) in support of the …

aldbournearchive.wordpress.com

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 20

In 2024 the harebells graced the grave of Frances Frampton (1830 - 1912). Her mother and three siblings are buried nearby. Members of the Frampton family lived at Upham Farm and what is now Beech Knoll.

1

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 20

Each year harebells spring up in a different place in the churchyard, and focus our attention on a different family grave. This year we are thinking about Florence Kate Bowes, died aged 9 years 6 months in March 1914, and her parents Joseph and Rose #HarebellChallenge @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

Harebell soft blue flowers growing in long grass beside a gravestone with the churchyard of St Michael's, Aldbourne in the distance

1 1 6

Reposted by Aldbourne Archive

wildflowerhour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social · Jul 16

Is there a wildflower more evocative of long summer days than the beautiful Harebell?! Campanula rotundifolia is of course also known as the Scottish Bluebell. The challenge this week is to see if you can find one for #Wildflowerhour! Share your pics this Sunday 8-9pm! 💙

The beautiful milky-blue, bell-shaped flowers of Campanula rotundifolia, commonly known as the Harebell or Scottish Bluebell. Can you find one in bloom for #WildflowerHour this Sunday? Share your pics 8-9pm.

3 28 120

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 13

Definitely not a Dabchick!
Thank you to everyone concerned with the Aldbourne Scarecrow Trail this weekend. A truly community inspired event supporting Aldbourne Churches Together and St Michael's School, Aldbourne PSA.

Aldbourne village pond, famous for the origin of the Dabchick legend. A a little grebe spotted in the dim and distant past or was it a sea woodcock or bobchick? Over the weekend 12 and 13 July the pond had a new occupant. A Loch Ness monster swam amongst the water lilies.

3

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 9

Aldbourne Over 60's Club (later Silver Threads) started in 1952, organised by Mrs Marjory Sergeant and a group of friends. Meetings were originally in the Church Room, Marlborough Road. This may be a photo of the First Birthday Party for this excellent group. #OnePlaceWednesday #OnePlaceStudies

A gathering of older folk at the Silver Threads in Aldbourne. Centre stage is a cake with a single candle, so we think this was a first birthday celebration for the group.

1 6

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 7

I have added William S Pike, who lives in Berkshire, to the 'Hall of Fame' aka my Aldbourne in Art Curation with @artukdotorg.bsky.social and hope to view Aldbourne Pond I and III very soon billpike.co.uk

Bill Pike's Web Page

Bill Pike's web page with examples of his art, paintings of water reflections

billpike.co.uk

1

Aldbourne Archive @aldbournearchive.bsky.social · Jul 7

Missed out on the purchase of Aldbourne Pond II by Bill Pike at auction recently, with reflections of the fair in the water, and a sketch showing the fountain in place for 1977. I wonder how it looked for Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee? Was a centrepiece created as per the request in the Parish News?

Photo from the Aldbourne Heritage Centre collection shows the village pond at night. This was possibly how it looked for Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee in 1977. Jets of water from a central fountain lit by coloured lights below the water. Lights also hanging around the pond.

Cover of the Silver Jubilee 1977 programme for Aldbourne. Red letters spell out The Silver Jubilee 1977 and the royal crest is below in silver print.

Aldbourne Parish News April 1977
We invite ideas from anyone who may be interested, for a suitable Pond Fountain Display during the forthcoming Jubilee Celebrations. The Carnival Fountain will be used for the central display, and if someone can design and make an attractive centrepiece to fix to the fountain, it will add to the pleasures of the occasion. This provides a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate one's artistic ability, and at the same time provide enjoyment to others. There must surely be SOMEONE prepared to help the village and come to our aid?
A suitable centrepiece might become a permanent part of the Pond fountain display. Time is not with us, hence the urgency of the this appeal. Will persons having serious thoughts on this problem be good enough to contact the Editor as soon as possible so that action can be taken.

1 1

Reposted by Aldbourne Archive

The Tides of Time @tidesoftime-oxdw.bsky.social · Jun 23

Currently popular on the website - Mark Learey's account of Jon Pertwee's last convention appearance at Aldbourne in 1996, which we published in 2019. oxforddoctorwho-tidesoftime.blog/2019/09/16/p...

Pertwee’s Last Daemons

oxforddoctorwho-tidesoftime.blog

2 4