Wiltshire in pictures: Welcoming the troops home

Our weekly round-up of pictures from the news in Wiltshire includes an emu gone 'awol' and tiger cubs preparing for life at a safari park.

Welcome home: Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Edinburgh welcomed home soldiers from 5th Battalion, The Rifles at a homecoming event in Bulford, Wiltshire following their recent deployment to Estonia.

The forlorn picture of Irwin, who disappeared from Malmesbury Animal Sanctuary this week, prompted an appeal for people to check their gardens to help in the search.

With no sign of the missing bird after seven days, Gary Nageb, who works at the sanctuary, said: "While optimism is dwindling, we are forever hopeful."

In full bloom: Living History interpreters posed for photos at The Grand Stonehenge Dahlia Show, which saw spectacular floral displays at the ancient monument, portraying the dahlia shows of Victorian times, which attracted thousands of people.

The four female Amur cubs were born at Longleat in May

Family time: Pictures from Longleat Safari Park of rare tiger cubs becoming "increasingly confident" as they acclimatise to their new habitat.

The four female Amur tiger cubs were born in May and, now fully vaccinated, the cubs are gradually exploring the outdoors in short bursts.

Well played: Brass Roots, the children's section of Bratton Community Brass Band, based near Westbury, has won a Classic FM award for Best Music Learning Initiative, after being set up last year.

Lydia Grace-Hills, musical director, said: "Brass banding is the best type of mindfulness you can get. There is nothing better than making music together."

A home for history: A library the size of a netball court at the National Trust's Avebury Manor is to house thousands of historical artefacts from the local area.

About 1,700 boxes full of 30-40,000 individual items are being moved into the library to allow the archive to be more accessible.

"We hope it won't take too long," said archaeologist Dr Ros Cleal.