During the summer, the Society was delighted to accept the gift of a most interesting manuscript. It is a bulky 15-inch by 12-inch folder, bound with string, entitled Corsham. Within its blue covers is an account of the history of Corsham, written in the late 1940s by John Logan. It is very much a labour of love, carefully written out in longhand, with pictures, maps and diagrams.
The Logan family came to Corsham in 1941, living first in the prefabs and then in Arnold’s Mead, later in the Flemish buildings. John was an engineer who worked for BAC. In 1948 or 1949 he became a schoolteacher, first at Chippenham Secondary Modern and then as headmaster at Biddestone School. His wife, Nellie, became well-known in Corsham for being a staunch socialist – she took part in the Aldermarston ‘Ban the Bomb’ marches and joined the protest at Greenham Common.
Bath Road in the 1940s
Bath Road in the present day
The manuscript has been generously donated by John Logan’s son, Ian, who lives in London and runs a design company. It will be placed with the Corsham Civic Society records held at the Wiltshire Record office in Chippenham. The Logan family story can be found in Corsham Memories 2: The Prefab Years.