Building Box After World War 2   Ken Oatley   October 2017
Views of the Bargate building site in 1950-51 (courtesy John Harris)
Robert Frederick Oatley
Just read the article with John Harris' memories about Bargates. It is so interesting and brings back many memories for me.
My dad, Robert Frederick Oatley, was demobbed from his army service in 1946. Bob (as he was known) was a Corsham boy who married Phyllis May Taverner from Bradford-on-Avon in August 1936. He trained as a carpenter and joiner, worked on the underground factories during the war and joined the army in 1942 as a driving instructor. He went to Juno Beach in the D-Day landings, travelling through to Germany.[1] After VE Day (Victory in Europe) he joined a performing concert party playing string bass and toured with Ian Carmichael and Terry Thomas, entertaining the troops, including British, American and Russian.
I wonder what they made of British humour.
Vine Court
Later he started working for Dyers, the Box builders. In 1954 he became the Buildings Superintendent for the Calne and Chippenham Rural District Council (RDC) and was responsible for overseeing the work on the three-storey block of flats at the bottom of Quarry Hill, Vine Court.

By that time I had been employed by Edwards & Webster, architects, who were involved with those flats. Of course they designed most of all the RDC's housing replacement of wartime prefabricated bungalows, on most of which(for my sins) a colleague and I did the major work. I wish I could have that time again, I would now plan them completely different and be of a much more efficient design.

It was great to read about all the building work in Box, now nearly seventy year ago. My father retired in 1978 and took up a retirement hobby of pigeon fancier and racer. My father died in 1991 and my mother in the year 2000.

Left: Ken, Myrna Joy, Bob and Phyllis in 1950s
Reference
[1] Some details courtesy Chippenham Times and News, 1 August 1986