Howard Widdows who has given years of outstanding serviceTHE winner of Cricklade's first ever community award thinks the town has a lot more to offer now than when he first arrived there in 1960.

Howard Widdows, 77, has given decades of voluntary service to the town and his efforts were recognised recently when he was given the award.

Earlier this year he stood down after spending 39 years on the Town Hall committee. For 18 of those years he was the chairman.

He said: "I'm absolutely thrilled about this.

"I do feel a little humble because lots people do the sort of thing I did, and I was very surprised to be chosen for the first award."

Mr Widdows, of Giles Avenue, said the highlight of his time of office was in 1990.

"We thought we had rather a nice painting hanging in the town hall."

The 'rather nice painting' was auctioned at Sothebys and went for £68,000.

The painting was 'School of Caravaggio'. A replica hangs in the town hall.

He said: "That was the most significant thing I negotiated. It had previously been valued at £50, and we had been thinking of throwing it in the bin.

"It made the town hall totally financially independent."

Howard and his wife Jean are both originally from Gloucester.

They have known each other since Howard was 11 years old, and they went to school together.

They came to Cricklade when Howard started work at Plessey.

He said: "When we came here the population was about 1,500.

"Now there about 1,500 houses, so that's a significant increase.

"We had three daughters, and we had to ship them round the district for activities.

"We always seemed to be taking them to Cirencester, but now you can do anything in Cricklade.

"Facilities for young people are much better."

He said that when they first arrived in the town, there were far more shops.

He said: "I suppose that is because of the supermarkets, but we have two cracking good butchers, which is very unusual for a town of this size.

"The sense of community has, if anything, deteriorated.

"It's now difficult to get people to join in things that take any degree of commitment, like running a town hall.

"But generally the ambience of the town is very close-knit and friendly.

"There are so many clubs and activities, which bind the community together.

"And another good thing is that they recognise you as a Crickladian if you've lived here for 50 years."

Clive Wilce, chairman of the town council, said: "Howard was chosen for his outstanding service to the community.

"This is a very special award, because it's the first.

"The awards will be very rare because we want to keep them special.

"He is a fine chap, and highly respected.

"Without his forethought I don't think the town hall would have survived."

David Andrew