Wiltshire Guide - Whats on
Wiltshire - Whats on guide
Wiltshire is a big county in the South West of England. And the countryside seems to be littered with stuff left over from ancient history like bloody huge white horses, massive stones, and even a big man-made hill. I tell you what if those mesolithic, neolithic and bronze age people were around today they would be facing a huge fly-tipping fine. I suppose Stonehenge and Avebury would be the most famouse of these Neolithic sites.
Anyway, if you've never been to Wiltshire, the two main urban centres are Swindon and Salisbury at opposite ends of the county and they couldn't be more different. Salisbury is steeped in history with loads of stuff going on like cathedrals and the like while Swindon is a more modern massive town that has become a South West business hub.
There's loads of other places in between like Trowbridge,Bradford on Avon, Marlborough, Devizes, Upton Scudamore and Chippenham.
The local nickname for Wiltshire natives is moonrakers. This originated from a story of smugglers who managed to foil the local Excise men by hiding their alcohol, possibly French brandy in barrels or kegs, in a village pond. When confronted by the excise men they raked the surface in order to conceal the submerged contraband with ripples, and claimed that they were trying to rake in a large round cheese visible in the pond, really a reflection of the full moon. The officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, allowing them to continue with their illegal activities. Many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but the story is most commonly linked to The Crammer in Devizes.
