It’s not too much – it’s too little

“The trouble with this place is that we don’t have a big enough hotel,” he remarked. “By big I mean a hundred bedrooms. You need that number in order to accommodate a coach-load of visitors.”

The arithmetic was simple: coaches carry about 50 passengers, and tour operators dislike splitting up groups. In order to pre-book, operators needed a large-capacity hotel – something we couldn’t offer.

His may or may not have been a valid claim, but it’s noticeable that visitors arriving by coach rarely spend more than an hour or so here before re-boarding and heading off for Bath or Stratford-upon-Avon via Stonehenge. And if the problem isn’t lack of suitable hotel accommodation, what is it?

That’s why these latest proposals for two small new Salisbury hotels don’t make sense. The Southampton Road site is too far out to benefit city centre businesses. And while a 65-bed hotel in Castle Street would certainly do well, it’s still too small to take a coachload of well-heeled tourists. The harsh reality is not that the developers are offering too much new accommodation, but too little for what’s needed.

• Eight Salisbury Hospital governors recently visited Tedworth House to see the facilities provided by Help for Heroes for service personnel injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was inspiring.

Odstock’s close relationship with the military has grown since the closure of the MoD’s hospitals at Tidworth, Wroughton and Gosport, and many of the most severely wounded, including multiple amputees, have their limbs – and lives – rebuilt here.

Tedworth’s rehabilitation is the next stage in the process. Where possible the military keep the casualties on-strength. But if they can’t, the stress is on finding suitable employment. That means rebuilding self-confidence, and helping them realise they’re not on the scrapheap.

We heard of a Second World War veteran who struck up a conversation with a young soldier who’d lost a leg in Afghanistan. The youngster was polite but despondent as the elderly gentleman described his successful postwar career.

But as he left, the man rolled up his trousers and tapped his prosthetic leg. “I left mine at Anzio,” he said. “Cheer up, you’ll find that life still has a lot to offer.” It should be the Tedworth motto.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here