Dame Sarah Troughton tours several key sites to mark family-run company’s 125th anniversary
ON Wednesday 22 October, Dame Sarah Troughton, representing His Majesty King Charles III, was welcomed by The Hills Group’s chairman, Mike Hill, and accompanied on a tour of several key sites operated by the Wiltshire-based business, including locations in Lower Compton near Calne, South Cerney, and Swindon.The visit began at the Materials Recovery Facility at Sands Farm in Lower Compton. Opened in March 2020 by Hills Waste Solutions, the facility serves nearly a quarter of a million homes across Wiltshire and is designed to sort and separate up to 52,000 tonnes of dry mixed recycling each year.
Whilst in the area, Dame Sarah and Mike Hill viewed the Lower Compton concrete site, operated by Hills Quarry Products, as well as High Penn Park, a 200-home development completed last year by Hills Homes.
The Lord Lieutenant then toured Cerney Wick Quarry in South Cerney, where she was shown the plant operations and aggregate bagging process. She also learned about Hills Quarry Products’ long-standing restoration partnerships with the Cotswold Lakes Trust and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.
Travelling past The Paddocks, a smaller Hills development of 53 homes, the visit concluded at Wiltshire House, The Hills Group’s head office in County Park, Swindon. Here, Dame Sarah was welcomed to the Robert Hills Lounge, where she met members of staff and visited the charity committee’s bake sale in support of Cats Protection.
The Lord Lieutenant also admired fossils found by archaeologists Sally and Neville Hollingworth, who led three excavations over the years at Cerney Wick Quarry that uncovered a 200,000-year-old mammoth graveyard. This attracted David Attenborough to the quarry, and led to a BBC documentary.
The Hills Group said they were honoured to welcome the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, representing His Majesty the King, as part of their 125th anniversary celebrations. Founded in 1900 by a 28-year-old Edward Hill, with a brickworks in Rodbourne, Swindon, the company remains a family-run business today, with Mike Hill representing the fourth generation of Hills family involvement.
Mr Hill said: ‘It was an honour to accompany the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Dame Sarah Troughton, on a tour of some of our sites, in recognition of the company’s 125th anniversary since my great-grandfather Edward opened his first brickworks in Morris Street, Swindon.
‘Dame Sarah fully engaged with all the staff she met and found the trip truly enlightening. To achieve this milestone and host the King’s representative in the county makes me very proud and is due to the dedication of my forebears and many thousands of loyal employees since Edward first fired up his kiln.’
Dame Sarah Troughton said: ‘My tour of Hills and its different and diverse businesses has been a fascinating experience. As a lay person, I was intrigued to discover what really happens to our rubbish – something most of us never think about and watching the sorting process at the Materials Recovery Facility in Lower Compton was mesmerising.
‘We also visited the beautiful Hills Homes development at High Penn Park in Calne and The Paddocks in Blunsdon. I was particularly interested to see the washing plant at Cerney Wick Quarry, learning how materials are extracted and how quarry restoration partnerships make such a positive impact. My sincere thanks to Mike Hill and everyone at the company for such an informative and inspiring visit.’
