Tower and Town, February 2016 (view the full edition)Editorial: Remembering MarlboroughMarlborough, the town that we live in, and which we think we know, has a past - say just before the Second World War and just after - that was fascinatingly different from what we see around us today. In the pieces that follow you will find a Marlborough of small shops, of railway stations, of many more pubs, a Marlborough without supermarkets, without twenty-six boutiques - a town where most of the people who lived here also worked here and vice versa. We can recover this past through people's memories, get an idea of how Marlborough was and judge how different our environment and our lives are now - still a community, still with its volunteer fire brigade, but with a different flavour. I thank all those who have talked to me and written for this issue, some of you off your own bat. Don't stop! We'd like more voluntary contributions, please! I thank Michael Gray, too, who allowed me a sight of the wonderful photo archive in the Merchant's House and filled me in on a score of historical details about the town. The pictures of old Marlborough here are taken from this archive, with his kind permission. Finally, a big 'thank you' to all the volunteers who have produced, managed and distributed Tower and Town in my time as Chairman, and to you, the subscribers, nearly 700 of you. I retire to the backbenches now as Hugh de Saram takes over as Chair. John Osborne |