大象传媒

Just another memory of wartime Trowbridge. Something that may one day be forgotten. The static war tanks which were placed in strategic points from the River Biss to the town centre. One of these was in St. James Church Yard and was connected to other tanks by a large pipe running along the side of the road. The idea was that if there were large fires then water would be pumped from the river via these tanks. I think they may have only been used one or twice when there were fires in the town centre - not as a result of raids -but when we went to buy the evening paper from Mrs White, who sold these from the street corner, the pipe alongside the pavement at Church Street provided an adventurous way home as we ran along it at speed trying not to fall off into the road! As there were very few vehicles about this in itself didn't present a real danger. Later on in the war the pipes were partially covered by asphalt to make make them less of an obstacle and danger to the older folk, especially in the blackout. Each water tank was something like 20 feet in diameter and about 5 feet deep with concete walls and covered over with wire mesh. As well as in Churchyard there were tanks in other places including the front of County Hall, Trinity Churchyard and in the Park, and it could be that the concrete bases are still there. During very hot and dry summers you can still sometimes see the outlines in the grass but the pipes have long gone and if you tried to follow the line of the one in Church Street you would now be in the middle of a busy road.

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