Tower and Town, May 2015

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Family News

Janet and Geoffrey Snelgrove celebrated their Diamond Wedding on March 26th. Having had family parties for their previous special anniversaries they chose to spend the week quietly in Sidmouth. But the Queen discovered where they were and sent her card to their hotel! Congratulations from us too.

Allan Pegrum’s funeral was held at St. Mary’s on March 24th. Born in Cheshunt, he came to Wiltshire in1947. He met Phyllis at the Old Time Dances in Lockeridge and they married in Fyfield Church in 1953. They have lived in Tin Pit for 51 years. He has worked in Savernake Forest, for Gale’s Bee Farm and Burt’s . He loved to travel. He kept Labradors, bees and canaries and he played table tennis for many years. He helped Phyllis as a member of the Scouts Fellowship, many members were at the funeral to support the family.

Tony Plank, Purlyn Acre, died in March after a long illness. He is mourned by wife, Memory, and his children, Andrew, Simon and Kay. He was born in Manningford and came to Marlborough in 1977, working mainly in the building trade. Memory said that he had been a keen gardener and won prizes for his dahlias in the Annual Show in the Town Hall. Tony enjoyed his grandchildren and took special delight in his baby great-granddaughter, Imogen.

Muriel Coburn has died in a care home in Market Lavington. She was 87 years old. She told me that she came as a child to live in 7, The Green where her father helped manage his uncle’s hardware shop. When her father died she and her mother lived in various houses here but spent a few years in Cornwall and Chippenham. They ran a sweet shop at the bottom of The Parade after the war. Muriel had an extensive knowledge of local history. When she moved from her bungalow in Manton, Anna Marsden and Sarah Holden helped with the mammoth task of sorting out her thousands of papers which Muriel wanted to go to the Merchants House.

Audrey Tomlin died in Aldbourne Nursing Home in February. She was Head of East Kennet School for some years, She and her husband, Reg, retired to College Fields. She was a ‘people’ person, always ready with happy conversation, and a keen amateur artist.

Alec Stephens, who died in March, was very involved with the Carnival and Fun Day committees. He leaves Marion, his wife and stepchildren, Tracey and Christopher. He and Marion met in 1962, went their separate ways, and married when they met again many years later. He ran the Queen’s Head for a year in 1993, was a steward at Bromham and returned to live in the Mead. His main hobby was genealogy.

The Revd. Howard Gilbert , son of Eileen and Eric, will be licensed as Area Dean in the South Cotswolds on Sunday 10th May in Tetbury at 3.00pm. He has been a priest in Cirencester for the last five years since completing his Curacy in Dulwich and will have responsibilities for forty-seven parishes. Susie and Howard have two young daughters, Daisy who is four and Lucy who is two.