Castle House Garden Project

On November 26th 2007 CARP was awarded a grant of £68,600 towards the restoration of part of the park, Castle House Gardens, by the National lottery 'Big Lottery Fund', after a hard fought battle for votes on the ITV News West program. The people of Calne and the surrounding area, and beyond!, voted in their droves after the project was highlighted on the early evening news program. The work will involve selective vegetation clearance, paths, seating and other ground works. The idea is to make this area fully accessible and attractive to local people and visitors to Calne. The initial tree and clearance work has commenced. For more details click here.

Paths and access improvements

North Wilts District Council, the owners of Castle Park, have obtained funding through S106, and Landfill Tax Credits, to improve the drainage and surfaces to the paths and cycleway at the entrance to, and within Castle park. Work on these improvements are due to start shortly.

The riverside pocket park

With the help of a grant from the Living Spaces scheme CARP have completed a pocket park at the edge of the River Marden on land formally part of the gardens of Marden House. the pocket park has been fully planted and is now into it's third year of growth.

Seating areas with artworks designed by local children and other ceramics by a local artist have been incorporated in the park.

Other artwork features, including a piece to celebrate the 30th year of the Calne Music & Arts Festival, are to be added in due course.

Some of the artworks and seating in the pocket park		Spring flowers in the park

Wild Flower Meadow

The wild flower meadow is cut twice a year in accordance with the Wildlife Trust's recommendations. . The first cut, around June, is designed to knock back thistles and vigorous grasses that may have taken hold over the winter and the autumn cut gives the meadow plants the best chance to flower and set seed

The bench seat installed on the edge of the meadow is in regular use and a stone cairn has been erected at the entrance to the meadow. The cairn incorporates an information panel which was designed by a student at Lackham Agricultural College, Lacock, as part of her studies on the HND countryside manage course.

The stone cairn, the beginning of the Fitness Trail and one of the Nature Trail brass rubbing posts, in the wild flower meadow

Some of the fitness trail equipment around the wild flower meadow.

Activities within Castle park include:

Nature trail:

                         A series of eight brass etchings around the park. Children, or adults, can follow the arrows and collect 'rubbings' from the brasses using a crayon and some paper.

Fitness trail:

                         A series of six exercise platforms around the park enabling a person to jog from one to another performing a different exercise on each.

Calne Town Lock

Restoration on the brickwork at the downstream end of the lock is now complete. Volunteers from the Waterway Recovery Group have held several work parties at the site and the Melksham, Calne & Chippenham Branch of the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust have continued with the brickwork along the lock chamber since then. The next phase of the Town lock restoration will continue as funds allow.

The eventual aim is to restore the brickwork at the upstream end and to fit a lock gate at both ends giving the impression of a fully working lock. The Trust are also hoping to install a pipe along the floor of the lock chamber to facilitate, subject to abstraction approval, a water flow into the canal. When these works are completed, they will not only provide a future water supply for the Wilts and Berks Canal through the Calne branch, but will establish the lock as a historic feature within the park and so provide a visible link to the Wilts & Berks Canal as part of Calne's industrial heritage.

Interpretation Boards

There are two main interpretation boards, one situated at the entrance to the Park in Station Road, Calne and the other along the cycleway as you enter the Park from the direction of Chippenham, near Black Dog Halt.
They continue to be a great success in promoting the Castlefields Canal and River Park vision, as well as supplying general information to our visitors.
A further board by Chaveywell Bridge shows Castle Park’s position with respect to the Wilts & Berks Canal.

Bi-monthly Meetings

CARP now hold bi-monthly Committee Meetings, usually in the Council Chamber of Calne Town Hall, at 7.00pm on the third Thursday of each alternate month starting January 2008. Visitors are welcome. Please come along and learn of CARP’s activities. If you would like to join us, become a member and participate in the future planning and programming of works you will be most welcome.

updated 23/1/2008