salisburyplain

"The changing epoch began in 1898 when much of the parish was acquired by the army. From 1899 the part of Salisbury Plain to the north west of the village was used for artillery practice and a camp was set up on Durrington Down. By the beginning of the First World War there were three tented camps known as Durrington, Larkhill, and Fargo Camps. In 1914 the Larkhill light military railway was built from Ratfyn in Amesbury to Fargo Camp and a large military hospital was built at that camp. During the war the tents at Larkhill Camp were replaced by huts and in 1916 the Stonehenge Inn was rebuilt by the Portsmouth United Brewery, who had acquired it. The war memorial was built on the base of the ancient cross. From 1920 Larkhill Camp became the headquarters of the School of Artillery and permanent brick building were put up." history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcom.php?id=84

H.A.C. is probably Honourable Artillery Company. From what I can see "Fargo Camp" may have been on Salisbury Plain and not in Aldershot. See map at www.rgcrompton.info/crompton/1805info8c.html So far, I have not been able to connect the HAC with Fargo camp (other than through these captions). However, it may just have been a summer exercise,

More on this: "From 1899, part of Salisbury Plain to the north west of the village was used for artillery practice and a camp was set up on Durrington Down. By the beginning of the First World War there were three tented camps known as Durrington, Larkhill, and Fargo Camps; which were later replaced by permanent brick buildings. The military expansion caused a decline in all types of farming as the army occupied most of the land, however, the rapid rise in population brought about the establishment of many shops and business. After the Second World War the town expanded between Netheravon Road and the river Avon, including large council estates and two new schools. Durrington remains as an army-orientated community." www.wiltshire.gov.uk/south_wiltshire_settlement_setting_a...

LOC, Fargo Camp info should be added to description, as with others in this series.

Thanks artolog I'll ask that we put all info written on the bottom of the photo in our record.