In Memoriam

Here we remember some of the characters who have contributed to the success of Malmesbury Carnival but are no longer with us.

If you have a memory of someone who made a significant contribution to the Carnival, please send us details at info@malmesburycarnival.co.uk.

Tribute to Kate Waterfield of Malmesbury who died 8th June 2025

Kate Waterfield initially got involved in carnival well over 20 years ago by opening up her garden in Holloway as part of Malmesbury Carnival open gardens. Her house in Holloway had a large conservatory so became the location for open gardens coffee and cakes

After a period of difficulty for the carnival, Kate took over as chairperson and with a degree of exceptional dedication, together with a small number of the new carnival committee, rebuilt carnival as a registered charity with proper governance. For over 10 years Kate put a very large part of her spare time into Malmesbury carnival, which became very successful once again.

Her husband Paul Barton said it was actually a lot more than her spare time; she put a large part of her life into carnival. She loved Malmesbury carnival and thought it was so important to life in Malmesbury. Kate was awarded Malmesbury citizen of the year in 2011 for her dedication to carnival.

Kate was involved in carnival for over 13 years

It is with the greatest sorrow that the Carnival Committee learned of the passing of Derek Tilney, a stalwart supporter of Carnival over many years, and an enthusiast of the Scarecrow Trail. His family’s Coldstream Guardsman in the Sentry Box brought BBC South West into town and gave that particular event a huge publicity boost.

Derek had been the Chairman of the Royal British legion since 1974 and in 2024 had been awarded the Gold Medal from the RBL for his magnificent and loyal service to that organisation and to the town of Malmesbury as a whole. Derek was a magistrate for Malmesbury between 1978 and 1988 and received the British empire Medal in June 2017.

An enthusiastic supporter of all that carnival does he took part in many of the Processions that round off the August programme, especially with his old friend Norman and his mobility scooter. He leaves a proud daughter and son, Judie and Richard, to whom we extend our deepest sympathies.

Paul Overton
Chair Malmesbury Carnival

For more than four decades, Bob was a central figure in the Carnival Procession. His creations were legendary: Postman Pat; Thomas the Tank Engine; The Titanic (complete with iceberg); The Joys of Cricket; 100 Years of Cinema; Two Knights on Horseback; Treasure Island; The Tamworth Two; a walking War Memorial; a Pod of Dolphins; the return of the Bustard to Wiltshire; The Flying Barrows (drop the “B” and it becomes clear); The Red Baron; a Canal Boat with canal and tunnel; Living Books; a Heron; a Jackdaw; a Jazz Band; and finally, in 2015, the “Hiking, Biking, Nike Viking” with longboat and full regalia.

While these entries showcased his eye for detail and love of the absurd, Bob also used the Procession to express his views on local issues. When the Abbey banned artwork from its railings while promoting a skateboard track, he staged a “railing protest”, dressed as a priest with a skateboard hat, accompanied by friends dressed as Abbey railings. He also protested the potential decline of the High Street with the arrival of major supermarkets.

Bob’s “Nostalgia Evenings” became the hottest ticket of Carnival season. With his west country lilt, impeccable timing and a hint of naughtiness (nudity was a recurring theme), he guided audiences through the eccentricities of Malmesbury and its people. His slides and commentary were enchanting, mischievous and utterly unique.

His sense of the absurd reached its peak when, inspired by Tetbury’s Wool Sack Race and the Abbey Gardens’ “Clothes Optional” days, he staged a “naked wool sack race” up the Abbey steps. Wearing only a wide brimmed hat, a wool sack and a sign reading “Censored”, he was immortalised in an early edition of the Jackdaw. He later posed naked with an orange traffic bollard as an extra “statue” in Antony Gormley’s Another Place, briefly turning the 100 figures into 101.

Technical hiccups were part of the early charm: upside down slides, jammed projectors and the occasional meltdown. Eventually he turned to PowerPoint, which is where I became involved. One August afternoon he rang: “Graham, I need your help. It’s not urgent, but it would be great if it was now.” His laptop and slideshow had collapsed the day before a show. We rebuilt the entire presentation over two frantic days, finishing minutes before the Town Hall doors opened. From then on, we worked together as Bustard Productions, a name born of whisky and laughter.

Together we gathered photographs, films and memorabilia from across the town. Bob feared that Malmesbury’s recent history was being lost – discarded photos, degrading VHS tapes, forgotten stories. We digitised everything we could and shared it through the Nostalgia Evenings. Much of this work fed into Bob’s book on the history of Malmesbury Carnival.

Bob was also a collector – most famously of coat hangers. He loved the branding burned into wooden hangers from hotels and dry cleaners. After organising a Collectors’ Fayre, he realised he needed a collection of his own and settled on hangers. By 2000 his collection had attracted HTV and Channel 4, and he appeared on The Antiques Trail and Collectors’ Hobby, showing off pieces including Beatles hangers, one from the liner turned troopship Berengaria, and many from famous hotels. He even made page 3 of The Sun under the headline “Barmy Bob is hooked on hangers”.

As an artist, Bob created beautiful driftwood collages from materials gathered on west country beaches. In 2011, Bustard Productions made Driftwood Master, in which he introduced himself as “the proud owner of a bus pass, a Jack Russell terrier and a Cotswold cottage.”

He was also a keen historian. In 2006 he and Fred Goudie produced a film on Cowbridge House to accompany Bob’s book on its history and decline. Their second major project came from a remarkable discovery: the long lost HTV film Betjeman’s Malmesbury. After years of searching, a battered box of VHS tapes turned up. I called him immediately: “Bob, drop everything and get round here now.” Together we watched the film for the first time. Bob and Fred then created a superb updated version, shot in the same locations as the 1964 original. Ironically, the day after we premiered both versions, HTV emailed to say they had found the full set of tapes and would soon release them.

At the end of his last Nostalgia Evening, Bob proudly displayed a bottle of his homemade gin. Its label read:

“For generations Wiltshire drunkards have picked the fruit of the blackthorn bush, always in the nude at full moon. Mixed with gin, sugar and two other ingredients, the resultant liquor relieves constipation, excessive ear wax and cures in growing toenails. But in rare cases it may cause hot flushes and erectile dysfunction. Drink irresponsibly, it’s 100% proof.”

He ended with: “I didn’t promise to behave myself … and I didn’t. I’m just a nosey old boy.”

But he was far more than that. Alongside Stan Paginton, Jim Gilmore and Max Woosnam, Bob Browning embodied everything good – and delightfully quirky – about Malmesbury. His passing in 2016 left a gaping hole in the community of Betjeman’s “Queen of hill top towns”.

Graham Cooke
Friend and collaborator