Swindon in the Past Lane

The team from Swindon Heritage will be launching the publication of the Autumn edition of the magazine at the Richard Jefferies Museum tomorrow. The farmhouse at Coate was the home of Victorian naturist, novelist, poet and journalist Richard Jefferies and throughout the day Dr Mike Pringle will be conducting tours of the property. Mike will also be signing copies of his own book Swindon - Remembering 1914-18, the story of how Swindonians served in and survived the Great War. Read about Kate Tryon in the Autumn edition of Swindon Heritage. An American artist and Jefferies devotee, Kate wrote an account of the first of her three visits to Jefferies Land to accompany a series of paintings, some of which will be on display at the museum tomorrow. Visitors are invited to join the Bluegate Poets annual open day and barbecue, which begins at 3pm. Come and make a day of it at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate . Mike Pringle Richard Jefferies Kate Tryon ...

The people of Swindon marked the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War across the town in a variety of events this week. On Monday August 4 Dr Mike Pringle (pictured below) launched the publication of his book Great War Britain - Swindon: Remembering 1914-18. A professional in the arts and heritage sector, Mike follows in the footsteps of headteacher WD Bavin who in 1922 was commissioned by Swindon Corporation to write Swindon's War Record. Read more about Mike's book in The Link Magazine . Tuesday was a busy day for Swindon in the Great War volunteers who welcomed Swindon Mayor Teresa Page to open their exhibition - One Town's War - at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Bath Road, Swindon. The exhibition, created by volunteers and funded by an HLF grant, features exhibits and artefacts donated by Great War historians Mark Sutton and Richard Fisher. The exhibition will run until January 31, 2015. The Museum is open Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 3pm. On Frida...

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has recently erected new signage at Radnor Street Cemetery where work continues apace to commemorate the centenary of the Great War. The Community Payback Team is doing a marvelous job clearing overgrown areas and revealing gravestones long hidden while in the chapel boarded up windows have been replaced with Perspex. Unfortunately work on a small damaged area of the roof, promised by Swindon Borough Council some months ago, has still to be completed. The Swindon in the Great War team will begin guided tours of the cemetery next month with local military historian Mark Sutton talking about Swindon men who fought and fell while I will be looking at some of the other memorials and the stories behind the families. In August local historical societies will come together in to produce an exhibition in the cemetery chapel. Dates for your diary: Thursday, May 22 - An Evening Walk through Radnor Street Cemetery - 6.30 pm.  Saturday June...

Ironically the dedication on the official Swindon Roll of Honour reads 'Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out, Their Name Liveth For Evermore.' Whilst it might not be exactly blotted out, the magnificent memorial lies hidden behind curtains in the dance studio at Swindon's Town Hall and today is seldom seen. The memorial was erected by public subscription and in the same spirit the Swindon in the Great War committee launched its own fund raising memorial project 'Adopt a Tommy.' You are invited to adopt one of the servicemen whose name appears on the memorial. For £10 you will receive a certificate based on the one the returning soldiers, sailors and airmen received and details of that man's service. I've 'adopted' Edward William Reginald Bevan. Why? He is no relation, but I share his surname and because he served at sea. My husband comes from Milford Haven, a small former fishing town on the Pembrokeshire coast. Generations of his ...

Celebrate the launch of  Swindon in the Great War with the formal unveiling and dedication of the Sanford Street School Roll of Honour Memorial The memorial and its significance to Radnor Street Cemetery - a talk by Mark Sutton  Saturday November 23, 11.30 am Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel  and  The launch of the Swindon Heritage Winter edition  Swindon Heritage subscribers – come and collect your copy of the Winter edition and pick up a copy of Mark Sutton’s book Tell Them of Us free on the day only Have you been with us from the first issue - come and renew your 2014 subscription in the historic Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel? Want to send a Christmas gift subscription for 2014 – we can organize this too - come and see us at Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel 11- 2 pm November 23. Want to join our growing list of subscribers - if you love local history, come and meet us. Other attractio...

If Ye Forget Let me forget — Let me forget, I am weary of remembrance, And my brow is ever wet, With the tears of my remembrance, With the tears and bloody sweat, Let me forget. If ye forget — If ye forget, Then your children must remember, And their brow be ever wet, With tears of their remembrance, With tears and bloody sweat, If ye forget. G.A. Studdert Kennedy. Remembrance Day Service 2013 - Radnor Street Cemetery, Swindon.