Westbury heritage groups are saddened by the loss of Ivan Clark, the founder of Westbury Visitor Centre and former chairman of Westbury Heritage Society.
Ivan, who died on 2nd December, was born and grew up in Westbury, attending Westbury Secondary Modern School. His family say that he had a lifetime love of Westbury and its past.
He was in the RAF when he met his wife, Rose, but much of his working life was spent in cloth mills as a weaver. and loom tuner. He worked in the Angel Mill in Westbury and for a few years in a blanket mill in Oxfordshire.
After his retirement, he spent 19 years working part-time in Trowbridge Museum, showing visitors and schoolchildren the craft of weaving. Weavers from all over the world would consult him when their looms did not work because of his expertise as a loom tuner – he could tell why they did not work just by listening to the loom.
Throughout his life, Ivan amassed a huge collection of postcards of Westbury’s past. He instigated the setting up of Westbury Visitor Centre and led the Westbury Heritage Society. During his tenure, Ivan successfully secure a Lottery grant of £100,000 to preserve Westbury’s past in its own home, Westbury Visitor Centre, and also for heritage projects.
Ivan was always keen to pass on his knowledge of Westbury’s history to all ages and generously allowed White Horse News to print copies of his postcards showing Westbury in days gone by.
At home, Ivan spent years researching his own family history, which has roots in Westbury as far back as the 1500s.
Ivan is survived by his wife Rose, four children, Tony, Linda, Debbie and Christine, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
His funeral will take place at Semington crematorium on Tuesday 17th December at 10.45am.
