Gossip
Well, nothing too bad anyway!
Find out about..........
Camilla Parker-Bowles
Well known as the close "companion" of Prince Charles and until late 1995 she was the towns most famous inhabitant. Camilla and her husband Andrew decided to divorce and as part of the divorce settlement the house in Corsham had to be sold and she has now moved a short distance to the village of LacockUntil these developments Lacock was probably better known to the outside world as the onetime home of William Fox Talbot, one of the early pioneers of photography.
Although relations between the press and Camilla Parker Bowles were initially rather frosty there are signs of a thaw. The following was in the Peterborough column in "The Daily Telegraph" ; - Sept 7th 1998 :
It has taken a while for some folk to get used to the rather formidable looking Camilla Parker Bowles. But, happily, she is increasingly being given the nod. As this happens, more and more unlikely supporters are coming out of the closet, as it were, "She is delightful," says Nick Mason, the drummer from Pink Floyd. Mason met Mrs Parker Bowles when he bought her Wiltshire home three years ago. But only now has he decided to tell of his admiration for Mrs P B. His revelation came out at the launch of "Into the Red", a book he has written about classic cars. "When I bought the house she was very helpful and gave me many tips about gardening," Mason says. "I also asked if there was a ghost in the house and she said she was afraid there wasn't but offered to arrange for one if we would like it."
Nick Mason
Now probably the best known resident in the town, the drummer with legendary rock band Pink Floyd. Nick bought Camilla Parker-Bowles property in late 1995.
Nick is also well known for his passion for historic racing cars. Maybe the very close proximity of the Castle Combe racing circuit influenced his move, or was it Real World Studios in nearby Box?!
Find out more about Pink Floyd at the Pink Floyd Official Home Page
Peter Gabriel
Living just down the road in the village of Box is Peter Gabriel, the rock star and one time front man for Genesis.
Peter runs the very successful recording studio Real World in Box. If you have a powerful machine, with a fast connection, then you will want to visit one of the very best music sites on the Net! Go to Real Worlds' own Web site at RealWorld on the Net.
Alongside Real World is the administration centre for WOMAD (Standing for World Of Music Arts and Dance) which Peter started in 1980 by getting a group of like-minded people for the promotion of World Music. These days Peter is an advisor on the board of WOMAD.
During the summer of 1996 Peter was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bath. The award-winning musician became a Doctor of Music at a graduation ceremony at the Claverton Down campus watched by hundreds of students.
Peter brought along his parents and daughter, Melanie, to the ceremony.
Wearing a yellow robe over a brown suit, white shirt and blue tie, and sporting a black hat with yellow cord, he joked: " If anyone shouts "Is there a doctor in the house?" I will be the first to jump up! "
" It is probably horribly respectable. But I am delighted to be honoured in this way in my home city - I could not get a degree any other way!"
Past recipients of honorary degrees from Bath include journalists Kate Adie and Michael Buerk, naturalist David Attenborough and rugby coach Jack Rowell.
Find out more about Peter Gabriel himself at one of the best fan sites :-
"and through the wire"
The Queens Bunker
Passing through Corsham is the Great Western Railway, the main line from London to Bristol and South Wales. On the outskirts of the town is the entrance of the Box railway tunnel, which was, or maybe still is, the longest railway tunnel in Europe.
Partway through the tunnel there is a siding into underground workings which allegedly was the site to which the Royal Family would flee from London should there have been the threat of nuclear war.
I am indebted to Nat Bocking, an expatriate now living in the States for emailing me with tales of when he was a lad living in Corsham. "Even us kids back then knew the Queens Bunker was around there. We used to walk through the Box tunnel on dares. If a train came through you'd have to hide in one of the cubby holes spaced every twenty yards or so."
Well Nat, I hope that was before the days of the 125 Inter City trains, as the West bound trains enter the tunnel at close to 100mph, so by the time you heard them it would be too late! The East bound trains are not quite so fast as they are travelling up the incline.
The latest on this is, that there is indeed a secret underground, complex code named Burlington, but it was intended for the government to flee to and continue the task of government during and after a nuclear war.
Read more about this on the Burlington page
UFO Research Centre?
In August of 1996 there was speculation on a BBC TV programme "Out of this World" that RAF Rudloe Manor, just on the outskirts of Corsham, is/was the centre for UFO research in the UK. It was even suggested that at the height of the Cold War serious consideration was given to collaborating with the then Soviet Union on UFO sightings.
This might make a nice story, but none of the locals that I know believe this is true! Still, we are only civilians, what would we know anyway?
Charles Dickens in Corsham
Just on the western edge of town, on the main A4 road to Bath is the area known as Pickwick and standing at one of the main junctions in the road is the "Hare and Hounds" public house.
The Hare and Hounds c.1850
In Charles Dickens day the "Hare and Hounds" was an important coaching inn. It is alleged that Dickens stayed at the inn and was so inspired by the characters that he saw, that he started writing the book which was to become "Pickwick Papers"
Copyright © 1998/9 by
Hugh Collins
Last Updated on
28 February 2000