Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.

Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.

Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!

Thanks to the website builder 1&1 and Rob Brown for the original idea.

Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/

It contains thoroughly professional, well-researched articles about Box and its people.

Contact rudloescene through the 'Contact' page.

Moonrise over Rudloe Social Club - Christmas 1999

Murphys, Kellys and an O'Shea. Many, or perhaps most, of the families on the Rudloe Estate were Irish. The working family members came, during the second world war, to work in the underground factories established to secure the manufacturing of aircraft parts against Hitler's bombs. Others worked in the underground armaments depots at Tunnel Quarry, Eastlays and Monkton Farleigh which were together known as the Central Ammunitions Depot. Later, families either joined the worker or were established in the traditional manner of the time (courting, engagement, marriage, children!). The Rudloe prefab estate, one of many in the Corsham area, had the identity 'Site 14'. The prefabs were demolished in the early 1960s and the current Rudloe Estate was completed in 1964. In the first photograph below, we see two Kelly boys and Martin O'Shea in Bankwaters Road (see later photo); the gallery that follows is a archive of photos taken in around 1953 at the Murphy family home which was located in the area of what is now the 'top' of Westwood Road.

From family photos, we turn to the heart of the community (which was torn out in 2002), Rudloe Social Club (and Rudloe Stores)

Demolition of Rudloe Club - 2002 (images 1 and 3 above); start of work on new Community Centre - 2000 (image 2). Click on image to enlarge and view caption. And below, we see the new Centre at right with demolition of the old 'Club' underway at left.