Aldbourne

Church of St. Michael and The Green, Aldbourne

Aldbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire in the United Kingdom.

People from Aldbourne are nicknamed "dabchicks" after the little grebe. Initially it is believed this was intended as an insult begun by the resients of nearby Ramsbury but has been adapted to a badge of pride.

Local government

Aldbourne is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet ya District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

Community

The village has its own website at [1] and is, perhaps, most famous for its brass band [2].

Location

Aldbourne is located in a valley in the south slope of the Lambourn Downs, a part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. From here an unnamed winterbourne flows to join the River Kennet 4 miles south near the village of Ramsbury.

Position:

Nearby towns and cities: Hungerford, Marlborough, Newbury, Swindon

Nearby villages: Baydon, Ramsbury, Lambourn, Ogbourne St. George, Ogbourne St. Andrew, Mildenhall

Trivia

In 1971, Aldbourne was used to represent the fictional town of Devil's End in the Doctor Who serial "The Dæmons". The final episode ended with the parish church blowing up. For some years afterwards, visitors were perplexed to see it still standing. Aldbourne was also the place where Easy Company of the US 101st Airborne Division was based pre D-Day. Easy Company was much famed in the HBO series Band of Brothers.

See also

*List of places in Wiltshire
*List of civil parishes in England

Sources

*Aldbourne Community Website
*Wiltshire County Council Website page on Aldbourne, retrieved 15:30 Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)
*Kennet District Council Website page on Aldbourne parish, retrieved 01:00 Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)
*Office for National Statistics Census Data on Aldbourne, retrieved 01:20 Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)