Swindon in the Past Lane

I have just finished re-reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce . This is the story of a man who walks to save someone's life and discovers his own along the way. The eponymous hero walks from Kingsbridge in Devon to Berwick upon Tweed, an epic journey during which he examines his past and finds his future. It is an inspirational story. I'm a big fan of walking and now I want to embark upon my own pilgrimage. But for the time being I shall have to make do with my daily walk from Old Town to West Swindon, a distance of a mere three miles, but one which take me through both the old and newer areas of our town. My journey begins in Goddard Avenue named after the Goddard family, Lords of the Manor of Swindon from 1560 who continued to hold sway in the town until the death of Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard in 1927. Development in Goddard Avenue dates from 1896 when the avenue was laid out by engineer and architect James Rew Shopland. Numerous builders worke...

As we prepare for the Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale on November 12 at the Christ Church Community Centre, let's revisit the events we took part in last year as we celebrated Edith New, Swindon Suffragette . Yesterday saw the culmination of our Swindon Suffragette celebrations with a march through Old Town and a rally in the Radnor Street Cemetery chapel. Members of the Swindon Community Choir greeted the arrival of the procession at the cemetery with a rousing rendition of the suffragette anthem March of the Women and members of the Sixth Sense Youth Theatre Group gave a thought provoking performance in the chapel. There was pageantry, colourful costumes and beautiful hats, banter with local bobbies and comedy with Perry Barrett dressed in an authentic Edwardian police uniform, but there was much more to our programme of events than dressing up and having a laugh. The aim was to remember Swindon's own suffragette Edith New and the sacrifices made by her and ot...