Swindon in the Past Lane

I wrote this blog post two years ago! November 2015 and Swindon Borough Council continue to ensure us that there are no plans to sell off Lydiard House and Park but to lease it out to partners, drawing on the so say success of the recent handover of our leisure centres.  But I feel there are other options we could try first before the local authority makes such a drastic move.  Come along to my talk this evening 'Who Would Live in a House Like This? at Swindon Central Library, November 5, 7.15. Perhaps the St John family could save Lydiard House more than 70 years after they packed up and moved out. September 15, 2013. This week I intended writing an affectionate, whimsical piece – about my little granddaughter and all things Lower Shaw Farm related, about the Mela and the wonderful Dorothy Clarke and how the amazing Bhangra drummers quite alarmingly changed the rhythm to which my heart beat - no seriously. And I was going to write about samos...

Bees still busy at work in the Walled Garden at Lydiard House Who would have thought Swindon could boast two literature festivals and a heritage magazine, along with all the other fantastic activities that take place across the year? While the weather most definitely had an end of summer feel about it, there was no end to the summer activities in Swindon this week.  Thursday saw the launch of the second Swindon Festival of Poetry at the Arts Centre in Devizes Road with words of wit and wisdom from festival organisers and guest speaker BBC Wiltshire presenter Mark O'Donnell. Matt Holland, Michael Scott and Hilda Sheehan have put together a fabulous four day festival of words and wit, kicking off on National Poetry Day, October 3 with high points including a M4 Corridor Poetry Day and visits by Roger McGough and Alice Oswald.  Michael Scott will be accompanying Swindon Heritage editor Graham Carter on a Vintage Bus Tour. Tickets cost £10 and sell like hotca...