A bit of rain didn't stop our intrepid Our Town regulars from enjoying the first day of Chippenham's first ever Fringe February aka #FringeFeb! After coffee at Grounded they headed off into town to find what the streets and shops had to offer. First stop was the RSPCA charity shop where the Knatty Knitters group had set themselves up in the window for the weekend. We agreed this idea was genius and the ladies were a ray of sunshine that lit up the day. Chatty and welcoming and happy to pose for photos, so we were equally happy to take some for their records. They also had some wool for sale and eagle-eyed Michelle nabbed a ball of red wool for the forthcoming poppy project all Chippenham WI'

A blustery day didn't put us off for the latest Flexi-Club meeting and it turned out our morning rendezvous was the best time to see the snowdrops at Lacock Abbey's opening for the NGS. We started off with coffee and cake at the Stables tearooms as we arrived before the gardens opened... well, that's our excuse and we're sticking to it! At the Abbey, the crocuses were just coming into their own as well as the snowdrops and daffodils, plus we took the opportunity to explore the cloisters, which were noticeably sheltered compared to the blustery day outside. The lovely photos come courtesy of Fiona P (top) and Diane I (below). Future visitors should note to ask specifically for the snowdro

Wendy introduced a new way of prompting stories this month in the form of the Story Cubes she found last year. With pictures instead of numbers they present an intriguing set of possibilities. There are more cubes than those shown, but we decided to use just those images that 'spoke' to us in some way. Everyone had something to share this month and had managed to incorporate the prompts in clever ways, some quite tenuous, but still accepted by the group! Fiona shared a dark story of youths high on drugs accidentally setting fire to a tower, based on a true and intriguing story she'd found about Cammo Tower in Scotland. Michelle's partly finished story was inspired by seeing a relative fr

From Sue on Facebook: "A few of us made it to book club but fewer still managed to read Birdcage Walk and it scored an abysmal 3! On the bright side, a good chat was had by all." Michelle said: "It's a strange reversal of last month's read which had an unpromising start and became a delight. Here we have a book which started well, but when the main story started it morphed into complete boredom!" The next meeting is on 10th March to discuss The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by A. McCall Smith. Look out for a get together - possibly over coffee - for book collection.

The last few weeks of 2019 saw Gill kindly hold some extra Crafty Crew sessions to share her love of crochet and to pass on her skills. Her patience and enthusiasm saw everyone progress well. When it got out to the rest of Pewsham Belles, there was such an enthusiastic response that a new group The Happy Hookers was formed! There's now an active Happy Hookers chat group on Facebook Messenger, where Gill shared the pictured useful guidance on the hook size for various wools for everyone before they got started. Later, she shared a link to how to crochet picot stitch (used for decorative edging) in response to Diane's question. Last night saw their first meeting at Gill's, with an equally ha

There was plenty of time for a good chinwag as well as discussion of the public transport options available from Chippenham at Our Town's meeting this week. We had a good mix of members' locations, public transport users, and those born and bred in Chippenham to draw upon and give us a wealth of experience from both current and historical perspectives. Who knew that passengers used to catch buses outside the Jubilee Building instead of at the bus station in Timber Street? We started with looking at our nearest bus stop and found the potential destinations on offer are quite different depending on where we live. Pewsham and the London Road areas have the benefit of the regular 55 service to