Swindon in the Past Lane

The members of Swindon WI put their best foot forward on Saturday evening when they were among 700 people who took part in the Prospect Hospice fund raising Starlight Walk. The WI members braved torrential rain to complete the 10k walk as part of their 2016 Walking Challenge. Conditions were marginally better yesterday when I joined them for a guided walk around Old Town following in the footsteps of  Swindon Suffragette  Edith New and other Old Town women. First stop was Apsley House, which today houses the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery but was once home to the Toomer family. In the 1870s Apsley House was an L shaped property with land stretching back as far as the cottages on Prospect Place and boasted not only a coal yard but formal gardens and a paddock. A photograph on display in the museum shows one of the Toomer daughters on her pony at the back of the house, giving some idea of the the extent of the property. Following John Toomer's death in 1882 five of his ...

Swindon's first Lady Mayor, May George. Described as the most active and progressive member to occupy a seat on the Town Council, May George was the first woman to hold the office of Mayor of Swindon.  And apparently no one knew quite how to address her with speakers at public meetings unsure whether to call her Mr or Mrs Mayor. Sarah May Williams was born in 1883 in Craven Arms, Shropshire on the Welsh Borders, the daughter of George Williams, a railway guard and his wife Eliza.  May grew up at 2, Tabernacle Terrace, Carmarthen, one of six daughters and two sons.  No surprise that she championed the well being of mothers and children during her political career.  She served a pupil teacher apprenticeship in Carmarthen before marrying Charles Ferdinando George, a fellow teacher at Pentrepoeth Council School, in 1903. By 1911 May, Charles and their young son had moved to Swindon and were living at 85 Avenue Road. Although not a native Swindonian, Ma...

In 1952 Swindon embarked upon an ambitious programme of expansion. One of the objectives was to encourage London based industries to relocate and thereby revitalise a town too dependent on a declining railway industry. As central government made an attempt to tackle the chronic housing shortage in the post war capital, country towns were given incentives to develop and expand. But Swindon had first to address a few pressing housing problems of its own. A memorandum from the Medical Officer of Health to the Town Clerk dated September 11, 1951 confirmed that Swindon had '138 sub-standard dwelling houses.' Some were considered to be 'in such a condition as to be a potential danger to life and limb, or to the health of the occupants'. The state of Swindon' housing was already causing concern in the 1930s. Wilfred Moss with his wife and daughter lived in a bungalow at Lower Walcot Farm, described as having four small rooms with timber partitions, two of which ...

On June 25, 2016 the recently created  Lydiard Park Heritage Trust  announced the names of the inaugural trustees. Mike Bowden (Chair) - Former FTSE 100 Managing Director and Company Secretary and currently CEO Swindon Speedway Per-Axel Warensjo (Vice-Chair) – Former Finance and HR Director within the technology sector and currently a local Parish chairman and CFO of Swindon Speedway. Kevin Fisher - Swindon resident for 54 years, electronics engineer background and former employee of a multinational technology company where he held various European level management roles. Currently chair of the Shaw Residents' Association Sarah Finch Crisp - Former Director of Chiswick House and Gardens Trust and previously Head of Heritage at Swindon Borough Council and led The Lydiard Park Restoration Project Richard Howroyd - Chartered Accountant and procurement professional with significant public/private sector experience. He has lived in Swindon for over 15 years. He is curr...

Swindon solicitor Henry Fox Townsend was feeling as fit as a fiddle when he boarded the 3pm train for Paddington on Thursday December 13, 1894. The purpose of his London visit was to bid farewell to his brother Charles, a tea planter, who was returning to India the following day. The brothers had a table booked at the Holborn Restaurant on the Friday but Charles was to report that Henry failed to turn up. 'Upon the arrival of the train at Paddington it was noticed by one of the railway officials that Mr. Townsend was in an insensible condition, apparently suffering from a fit,' reported the Swindon Advertiser. 'He was at once removed and conveyed to St. Mary's Hospital, where he died shortly afterwards without regaining consciousness. His death at the early age of 34 shocked all who knew him. His friends told how he had recently purchased a property called the Firs in Wroughton where he intended 'settling down and enjoying what appeared to be, in all prob...

A busy day at St Mary's yesterday. Lovely new contacts made and a request from the stewards in the church for a guided churchyard walk. Here are photographs of some of the graves we visited. Next guided churchyard walk takes place Sunday June 26. Jonas Clark from Wick Farm Henry and Rebecca Rudler from Banner's Ash Farm Delicate detail on this tabletop memorial Mary Ody  Intricate detail Says it all 

Yesterday Radnor Street Cemetery resembled something straight out of a Victorian novel. Gravestones crouched half hidden among the grasses as wild flowers sprung out of once lovingly tended plots where far flung families seldom visit.  It was wild, beautiful and with an air of abandonment, and for a moment I was lost in the world of Essie Fox , writer of dark haunting Gothic stories. Her debut novel, The Somnambulist, takes it's title from a painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais and was chosen by Channel 4's TV Book Club as one of the best reads of 2012. Essie followed this with Elijah's Mermaid, a sinister tale that begins with the story of Pearl - a web-toed child who is found half drowned and floating in the Thames one night.  Her third novel, The Goddess and the Thief,  is an exotic and sensual tale of theft, obsession and 'other worlds'   Visit  The Virtual Victorian , and read about Essie's inspiration for her work, which is what...

To the Memory of Jacob Hayward who departed this Life  the 19th Sept. 1801 in the 57th year of his Age I was so long with Pain opprest, That work my Strength away, It made me long for Endless Rest Which never can decay  Also to the Memory of Jane wife of  Jacob Hayward who departed this Life the 29th of Nove. 1828 Aged 71 years Spare a thought for poor Jacob Hayward, whose demise appears to have been a welcome release from a long illness. This magnificent table top memorial is one of several listed monuments in the churchyard at St Mary's and is evidence that Jacob was a wealthy man. His will reveals that he farmed at Chaddington and Bassett Down and that he owned the freehold of Cotmarsh Farm in Broad Hinton.This very matter of fact document bequeaths his property and his money to wife Jane and daughter Mary and was signed just 12 days before Jacob's death. There is no mention of any personal effects and just one reference ...

On one of our guided cemetery walks one of our followers told me about Reading Old Cemetery and now that is top of my list of places to visit. Measuring eleven and a half acres the cemetery is the same size as Radnor Street and an aerial view reveals it is also a very similar shape. It is bounded on two sides by the busy London and Wokingham Roads and even has a junction named after it - Cemetery Junction. Reading Old Cemetery Radnor Street Cemetery There is a magnificent Grade II listed memorial to young pilot Bernard Laurence Hiett, a record breaking motor cyclist who lost his life during a race at Brooklands in 1930 aged 21. In Radnor Street Cemetery we have our own local hero, Battle of Britain pilot Sqd. Ldr. Harold Morley Starr who was gunned down as he bailed out of his Hurricane on August 31, 1940. Bernard Laurence Hiett Sqd. Ldr. Harold Morley Starr There are 18,327 burials in Reading Old Cemetery while Radnor Street Cemetery contains 33,000. Read...

Our regular guided cemetery walk takes place today, Sunday June 12 meet at Radnor Street Cemetery for 2 pm. It looks like the weather might be a bit unpredictable, but don't let that put you off - the cemetery is a beautiful place in all seasons. This week I met up with two ladies researching their Alley family ancestors. Wendy is no stranger to Swindon having grown up here, but Di had made the journey from Australia after discovering some shocking news a couple of years ago. Read more in the Autumn edition of Swindon Heritag e. There are more than 100 Commonwealth War Graves in Radnor Street Cemetery published courtesy of Andy Preston published courtesy of Andy Preston Wendy and Di