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- The Royal Connection
- Wiltshire Eats
- Wiltshire VIPs
- Richard Remembers
- Owlbut's Birdwatch
There are just 3 towns in England
which are allowed to use the prefix "royal". One is Royal Leamington Spa which was granted the right in 1838 after a visit by Queen Victoria. The
second is Royal Tunbridge Wells, granted in 1909 by Edward VII and the third is Royal Wootton Bassett granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011.
Wootton Bassett is a small market town in Wiltshire with a population of about 11,000 people. From 2007 the bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan
were flown into the nearby RAF base at Lyneham and then driven to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. In the summer of that year the local members of the Royal
British Legion decided to formally show their respect as the hearses drove through Wootton Bassett. Soon there were often crowds of over 1,000 people lining the streets.
RAF Lyneham closed in September 2011 and from that date the planes landed at RAF Brize Norton and the journey to the hospital no longer went through
Wootton Bassett. In March 2011 the late Queen granted royal patronage to the town in thanks for the support the people had given to the military. The honour was
officially given in a ceremony on 16th October 2011 and, as you can see, it is a very rare award.
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Lardy Cake has been popular in Wiltshire
for many years. It is also known locally as "'Shaley Cake" and "Lardy Johns" but I need to tell you I have no idea why it has these other two
names.
The main ingredients of the cake are lard, dough and sugar so I do know why it is called lardy cake.
It was traditionally served hot with your afternoon tea on Saturdays and Sunday and you would spread butter on to your slice. In olden days though
Lardy cakes were mainly for special occasions as sugar and dried fruits were considered luxuries.
Follow our recipe on the video and enjoy your moment of luxury.
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Seven random people who were born in Wiltshire in the last 100 years:-
Billie Piper (Actor), David Mitchell (Comedian), James Blunt (Singer/Songwriter), Jazmin Carlin (Swimmer),
Jeremy Corbyn (Politician), Isabelle Allen (Actor) and Joe Sugg (YouTuber, Actor, Presenter).
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Wiltshire is not coastal so has never been a direct part of my previous 3 journeys. However I have driven into and
out of Wiltshire on my numerous trips down to Cornwall. In fact, due to the sometimes very heavy congestion on the A303, which used to be my chosen route
to the south-west, I have possibly spent slightly more time in Wiltshire than I intended.
I am also of an age where I have visited Stonehenge before the number of visitors were restricted and footpaths laid to try to control erosion.
I believe this occurred in 1978 and I was there in 1974. What do you mean did I help build it? How dare you?
I have also seen, while driving through Wiltshire, some of the dozen or so white horses which have been dug into the chalk hills. Only eight
remain today and the best, and oldest in Wiltshire, is the one on Westbury Hill, Bratton Down. It appeared in 1878, possible replacing an older one. These horses,
and other figures, are made by cutting deep into a hillside and creating chalk trenches which stand out against the natural landscape.
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The jay is a member of the crow family, actually the most colourful member of that family. However they can be quite difficult to
spot as they are very shy woodland birds and they don't often come out from the cover of the trees. They have a loud screaming call, usually given when they are flying.
Their feathers are all sorts of colours including, black, blue, brown, cream, pink and purple. They have a white patch on their bums. Their leg colour is brown and pink
and their beak is black, of medium length, powerful and chunky.
Jays eat nuts, seeds and insects but they love acorns. In the autumn you may see them collecting acorns and burying them to then find later in the year.
There are 170,000 territories of breeding jays in the UK. You can find them in most parts of England and they live in woods and parks and mature gardens. They're not
silly so they like to live near oak trees for a good supply of acorns.
Jays are about 35 cms in length and have a wingspan of 52 to 58 cms. They weigh between 140 and 190 grams.
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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 4 November 2024
