Malmesbury is a small town at the northern-most tip of Wiltshire, on the edge of the Cotswold district. It is positioned approximately 30 miles north-east of Bristol and 15 miles west of Swindon.
It is credited with being the oldest borough in England, having being given a charter by Alfred the Great around 880AD. Alfres's grandson, Athelstan, came to the throne in 925AD and made the town his capital. Upon his death in 939AD, he was buried in Malmesbury Abbey, where his tomb still remains.
Malmesbury's most famous landmark, by far, is the Abbey which dates from 1180AD. The Abbey dominates the surroundings of the town even though it is now a fraction of its original size (after several towers collapsed in the Middle Ages) and it was supposedly even taller than Salisbury Cathedral!
One of Malmesbury's most famous past residents was Eilmer the monk. He was one of the early pioneers of aviation, having decided to strap two wings on himself and leap from the top of the tower in 1010AD. He apparently covered a distance of about 200 metres before panicking, causing him to crash breaking both of his legs in the process!
Rich moved to Malmesbury in 1998 after gaining employment at Dyson (the famous vacuum cleaner manufacturers), whose facilities are based in the town (see RICH'S JOB for more details).
Malmesbury is a quiet town, but has everything you might need, with plenty of good pubs (including The Smoking Dog and The Whole Hog), a chinese takeaway, Carlos' kebab van and an excellent Indian restaurant, the Rajah!
