Red Lion. Drinks are also sold at the White Horse Members' Club and the leisure centre. An above-average proportion of the ward population ward was retired at the time of the 2011 census. There is a local museum in Calcutt Street run by the Cricklade Historical Society, housed in a former Baptist chapel. T. R. Thomson of Costorphine was a long-time resident of Cricklade and a moving spirit behind the establishment of the society. His book Materials for a History of Cricklade and various articles have enhanced the study of local history in the town. Notable people In birth date order: Robert of Cricklade (c. 1100 – c. 1174–1179) was a teacher and later prominent writer based in Cirencester Abbey and the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford. John Hungerford (c. 1566–1635) was a politician whose interest in Cricklade led him to build the market house in the High Street and a flying buttress for the Lady Chapel of St Sampson's Church. Robert Jenner (1584–1651), merchant and politician, founded a school in Cricklade and was buried here. Nevil Maskelyne (1611–1679), was a landowner and MP for Cricklade. He gained the town a weekly market and four fairs a year from 1662. George R. Poulton (born 1828), the American composer of the song "Aura", was born here. Reginald Arkell (1882–1959), scriptwriter, novelist and humorist, died here. Ellis Peters (1913–1995), set her medieval mystery novel Brother Cadfael's Penance in Cricklade. Francis Maddison (1927–2006), historian and Arabist, directed archaeological excavations in Cricklade. Transport The Thames Path runs through Cricklade then continues downstream on the south bank to Eysey Footbridge, where it crosses to the other bank. The North Wilts Canal, opened in 1819, passed to the west of the town, linking the Thames and Severn Canal with the Wilts and Berks Canal. Abandoned in the early 20th century, parts are now being restored. The Town Bridge, built in 1812, marks the limits of navigation rights on the River Thames. Cricklade railway station on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway linked Swindon with Cirencester, but was closed in 1961 and no trace of the station remains. Part of the railway route forms a cycle path (National Cycle Route 45). South of the town, the Swindon and Cricklade Railway is restoring the line as a leisure facility. Since 2007 passenger trains have been run between Blunsdon and Hayes Knoll, and in 2014 the line was