Sociocean offers a new way to network and meet others while travelling on business. It’s free to join and we aim to make your business trips more enjoyable, productive and a better all-round social experience. In this post we take a look at Melksham, Wiltshire in England.

Melksham is a medium sized Town in Wiltshire, set on the River Avon, approximately 12 miles from Bath and centred between Chippenham, Trowbridge and Devizes. There are a number of business parks in the vicinity of the Town Centre and Bowerhill Industrial Estate is just a short taxi ride away. Its larger employers include Cooper Avon Tires and Avon Technical Products.

Transportation
Chances are that you’d have to get to Melksham by car one way or another. The nearest motorway junction is 17 of the M4 at Chippenham - around 8 miles away.

Airports - The closet airports (Bristol and Heathrow, London) are both an hour and a half away by car. It is possible to get from/to either by Public Transport but will be significantly longer with a number of changes involved.

Trains – Melkshams train station is on the TranWilts line depicted below. Just a few years back the service was terrible with many trains passing through and just two a day stopping in the town. The service has significantly improved over recent years but still worth checking times so you don’t end up stranded in Melksham – although if you do, you will be armed with all the information you need in this post to make your extended stay enjoyable.  

 Accommodation
Hotels are few and far between in the town itself. The Kings Arms is the only real option centrally. It’s essentially a pub with a warm and cosy feel and friendly staff and locals. There are other options close to the town centre but the Kings Arms is our recommendation if you’re there on business alone and the best place to find other Sociocean members!

Other options include the Conigre just a short walk from the town centre or Beechfield House, both of which offer meeting rooms as below.

The Conigre has a meeting room which accommodates up to 30 people and is available for breakfast meetings, lunch or all day events.  

Just a mile outside Melksham is Beechfield House. Ideal if you are entertaining clients or there are a number of you. There are several meeting rooms available for hire and there’s also outdoor team building events on offer such as archery and clay pigeon shooting. 

Forgotten Anything?

Phone adaptors, chargers or clothes are typical items one forgets when travelling on business. Luckily there are various shops that can cater for your needs. Melksham town centre is renowned for its number of ‘cheap’ shops up and down the high street. The Market Place is the towns central focal point and working your way through the town centre from here you will find a number of factory and other shops where you may be lucky enough to purchase your forgotten items. Once you’ve made it to the end there is a choice of supermarkets, both of which stay open until nine or so at night and as you might expect should have everything you need.

Staying in the town centre you have a choice of restaurants. As well as the usual pub meals there’s a very popular Italian restaurant called Casa, a Japanese and no less than three Indian restaurants. If you’re looking for Chinese there are only takeaways in the town centre, you would need to walk (approx. 15 mins) or drive outside of the town centre to find Lee’s Chinese restaurant. The cheapest place for a sit down meal is The Bear, a Wetherspoons pub (enough said). Our recommendation for a first time visitor would be Casa.

If you’re working all day and only have the evening available then you may be lucky enough to find some entertainment on locally. Failing that, if it’s still light then a walk around the town is always a possibility. Heading down the main street, take a left into Church Street, past the post office and into Canons square. As you might expect by the street name you will find a church at the end (St Michaels) and continuing past that you can take a walk up to the river.

 

  

There’s a swimming pool and gym just off the Market Place or if you travel a bit further to the towns industrial estate at Bowerhill you can go ten pin bowling at the local sports centre.

If you have a car a visit to Lacock is a must for any tourist, particularly if you’re from out the country and want to see some proper ‘Olde Worlde’ England. Head for Chippenham and you’ll see the signposts for Lacock where you’ll find a village steeped in history. The village is owned almost entirely by The National trust and has played host to many film crews over the years. As a result the village (and several of it’s residents) has been on both the big and small screen, it’s most notable appearances being Harry Potter, Downton Abbey and the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice.

If you’ve got time for a few cheeky holes you’re spoilt for choice, but once again you’d need a car or to take a taxi. The nearest, within a mile of the town is Whitley Golf Club, a small, 9 hole course and driving range has a family feel and challenging course. If you’re of a high standard and looking for a championship environment you have two options, Cumberwell Golf Course or Bowood which also offers spa days and some very impressive grounds. All welcome non-members.