400 free pumpkins in Chippenham on Friday

Published Thursday 22 October 2026

See birds of prey at Bowood, try line dancing at Lansdowne Hall and catch the mobile library on Tuesday.

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Free pumpkins in Chippenham Market Place

Chippenham Town Council will give away 400 free pumpkins in the Market Place from 10am on Friday 23 October, for you to take home and carve. The Pumpkin Patch will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

Rooftop solar panels proposed for Kingsbury Green

Kingsbury Green Academy, the secondary school in Calne, could generate more of its own electricity with solar panels on its existing roofs, without using extra land. Derry Hill Primary is one of its feeder schools, whose pupils receive admissions priority when applications outnumber available places.

Before installation, checks would need to establish that the roofs can support the panels. You can read the plans and comment until 16 November. No decision or installation date has been confirmed.

Dates For Your Diary

Thursday 19 November · 6–8pm · £30

Pottery painting evening in Calne

Paint a selected piece of pottery at Serenity Ceramics’ Christmas evening, 7 Bank Row, Church Street. The £30 ticket includes pottery and buffet snacks; upgrades cost extra and you can bring your own bottle. Reserve with a £5 deposit, with £25 payable later.

Saturday 28 November · 2–6pm

Calne’s lantern parade and Christmas lights

Calne’s town-centre Christmas Festival of Lights will bring a lantern parade, live entertainment, stalls, food and drink, Santa’s grotto and the light switch-on. If you would like to make a lantern ahead of the parade, request a kit from Calne Town Council at calne@calne.gov.uk.

What's On

Thursday 22 October

Make a miniature witch’s shop in Chippenham, 6.30–9.30pm · £25. Create a tiny witch’s potion shop at Bargammon’s Tavern, 35 Market Place. Materials are included and no experience is needed. The craft workshop page links to the organiser for booking.

Saturday 24 October

See new additions to Chippenham Museum’s collection, 10am–4pm · free. Bronze Age finds and modern art feature in What’s in Store at 9–10 Market Place. Saturday is one chance to visit this ongoing exhibition, which shares recent additions to the collection and community projects.

Line-dancing social at Lansdowne Hall, 7–10pm · £10. Line-dancing organiser Get In Line’s evening social at Lansdowne Hall, Petty Lane, is for over-16s. The afternoon dance workshop and full-day tickets were sold out when checked; the £10 evening ticket was still offered. Book through the event page.

Sunday 25 October

Falconry joins Bowood’s half-term trail, Falconry: 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm. Sunday brings the first birds-of-prey flying displays of Bowood Halloween Adventures, at 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm, each lasting half an hour. The pumpkin trail runs from today, Thursday 22 October, to 1 November; crafts run noon–3pm from 24 October to 1 November. All are included with a House & Gardens day ticket. Wear wellies or walking boots for the muddy trail.

Tuesday 27 October

Revisit a Victorian murder trial in Chippenham, 7pm · booking required. Historian Lucy Whitfield’s Historical Murder Club at Wine Monkey, Borough Parade, invites you to examine evidence from an 1863 death and the trial held in Chippenham. Booking is essential: £10 for members and first-time visitors, £14 for returning non-members, and £5 for under-18s.