THE last time I wrote about the proposal to move the Record Office away from Trowbridge I tried to enlist the support of the county councillors from west Wiltshire to extract a reason for doing so. So far, not one has replied.

Why not? The proposal is revolutionary, to move a county Record Office away from a county town, so becoming the only one in England in that position, except for the odd case of Surrey, where the county town is no longer in the county.

Now Chippenham is in the frame, becoming the only diocesan record office not in the diocese.

There must be some supposed reasons to take such a step, and the officers concerned, and the councillors who back them, ought to be made to state them, and outline the advantages which the move will give to users of the service. And, as I said before, I do mean real advantages, not fallacious ones.

I see that 'proximity to other heritage assets' is now replaced by 'proximity to educational assets', equally unconvincing to anybody who knows about archive work.

I wonder what the staff think about the Chippenham proposal. All will face longer journey times and greater and greater expense.

Has any councillor taken the trouble to walk across from County Hall and talk to them?

If not, why not?

K H ROGERS,

East Town,

West Ashton.