"What I particularly like about Chippenham and why. What I would like to see improved in Chippenham and why."

Essay by Lauren Simms.

Chippenham.  A wonderful place and my home town. So many great things about Chippenham, the list is endless!

Neither of my parents grew up in Chippenham, but they chose to live here because of its great location and wide range of facilities. Now I’m 11, I am beginning to understand why they chose this town as their home.

Chippenham is a medium sized town surrounded by gorgeous countryside and interesting historical places. It is also close to Bath, Swindon and Bristol. As a result, there are always things to do and places to visit!

Chippenham has a long and fascinating history and you can find out more about this by visiting the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre. There you can view photos of the town in days gone by when it was a wealthy market town and find out about some of the people who made important contributions to the town’s history. I would like other people to know the importance of Chippenham’s history. One suggestion would be a marked trail around the town, with information boards located by relevant buildings and sites. This trail could be accompanied by an information leaflet which could be distributed throughout the country in tourist information centres as a way of encouraging visitors to the town. Imagine how many railway enthusiasts would visit the town if they knew that they could see Brunel’s original GWR office!

Chippenham has a large range of sports facilities and play areas. From the super Olympiad Centre to the pitches of Stanley Park & Monkton Park, Chippenham is well equipped to allow children to have a go at whatever sport they fancy. There are also many cycle & walking paths in the area for families to enjoy a great day outdoors. The one thing I would add to the town is an indoor soft-play area for children under 8. This would give young children somewhere to run around in bad weather & offer their parents a place to meet up with friends.

After all that exercise, there are a wide range of places to enjoy a meal and meet up with friends.  There are also lots of modern Coffee shops and Cafés as well as cosy pubs and formal restaurants.

Now to the wide range of Entertainment facilities on offer in Chippenham. To begin with, there is the Town Hall. This is a great community hall as well as a fantastic place to hold a wedding reception. Next is the Neeld Hall. I have experience of going to the Neeld Hall to watch a dance performance from ‘That’s Entertainment’! It was super! The Neeld hall is a large venue which can be used for stage performances and community events. There is also the Cinema, on the road heading out of Chippenham, and we mustn’t for forget the annual Chippenham Folk Festival.

I am not aware that Chippenham holds many events for our artists, but I do have a suggestion on what we could do to help them. There are a number of lovely buildings in Chippenham which are not used in the week, these would be ideal to hold art exhibitions. I feel that the Neeld Hall would be a great venue for artists to display their work. People who enjoy art could make masterpieces to enter into the exhibition. It is great way for artists to be recognised, and a way to make money for the Council (if an entrance fee was put in place).

There are many facilities in Chippenham which encourage residents to recycle unwanted items. There is a Household Recycling Centre next to Junction 17 of the M4, where many people can take all sorts of unwanted household possessions to recycle. There are also the recycling sites at all the major supermarkets in the area. I believe that residents could be encouraged to recycle more if plastic bottles and cardboard were collected during the Kerbside Recycling. I also think some people are put off recycling when they see that the recycling bins at the supermarkets are full or overflowing and believe that these should be emptied more often.

Finally, I must mention the fantastic transport services Chippenham has to offer. From the Bus Park to the Train Station to Taxi Drop off and Pick up points – Chippenham has it all.

In this essay, I have talked about all the fabulous things Chippenham has to offer, with only a couple of things that the Council could do to improve the town! I really enjoy living in Chippenham and I think it is a great place.