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.
17th August 2019 - on one of Imber's open days this year we see the church of St Giles from the High Street. On the memorial are the names of three men of this small village killed in action in the first world war and twenty-five others who served. Their reward? To have themselves (the survivors), their relatives, descendents and fellow villagers turfed out of the village never to return.
The Plain in the region of Imber
Yellow-flowered apiaceae are abundant on the Plain - so some kind of wild carrot but it's not fennel as the seeds do not have the typical aniseed smell when crushed. Further investigation required - watch this space.
Old, unidentified conifer (also see later picture in gallery) in St Giles churchyard - again, watch this space
The High Street verge with Plain beyond just outside Imber
A little further outside the village, the yellow-flowered apiacae is clumped with nettle
Roadside grasses, yellow-flowered apiacae, viper's bugloss, dock and yarrow with the Plain beyond
Roadside ash and sycamore to the east of the village
The view north from the main road just outside the village
A patch of horseradish just outside the village and we begin to see the paraphernalia associated with modern tourism along with some of the tourists
This vintage London bus was one of scores, mainly Routemasters, ferrying tourists across the Plain
A close-up of the destination board
The throng of tourists towards mid-afternoon which was, apparently, just a shadow of the midday throng
The bus routes across the Plain. We went by car and initially took the wrong route to New Zealand Farm Camp* where a rock festival was being held (we gave a couple of rockers a lift).
*The following Spire FM article dates from October 2016. Strange that with such a substantial investment, the DIO would give the facility over to a rock concert!
It's the biggest single spend on the Salisbury Plain Training Area since 'Copehill Down' in the late 80s
£2.4m has just been spent improving an old World War II army training camp on Salisbury Plain.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has invested huge amounts of cash in the project at New Zealand Farm Camp on the huge Wiltshire training area bringing it in line with modern day and future training requirements. The MOD say it's delivered a 'versatile and modern facility' for troops training in the South West.
The project has seen 12 buildings demolished and replaced with 11 multi-functional structures, known as 'stone tents'.
According to the MOD the new facilities will provide a modern, multi-purpose training camp that will provide an exercise base for troops training in the local area.
In addition it can also be used to replicate a terrorist camp, refugee camp, a 'Forward Operating Base' or a 'Non-Governmental Organisation Base', or as part of a complex manoeuvre environment.
Buses at the New Zealand Farm Camp terminus with rockers disembarking
A knocked-out tank twixt Imber and Warminster - surely the days of tank battles across the Northern European Plain are long gone?
Departing tourists heading towards Warminster across the Plain
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