Swindon in the Past Lane

Preparation for this year's Royal Wootton Bassett Field of Remembrance gets underway at Lydiard Park today. The 2019 Field of Remembrance opens in the historic 18th century Walled Garden at Lydiard Park on Friday November 1. A service of remembrance begins at 11 am with visitors requested to arrive before 10.45. The Field of Remembrance pays tribute to all service personnel who lost their lives in war, particularly the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Field of Remembrance was first opened by Prince Harry on November 9, 2010. During the ceremony Prince Harry planted a cross dedicated to his close colleague Lance Corporal Jonathan Woodgate, killed in action earlier that year. The Field of Remembrance will be open daily from 9 am to 4 pm and closes on Thursday November 21. Volunteers will be stewarding St Mary's Church at various times during November. Look out for the open sign outside the church.

Was this a good idea, I asked myself as I left Swindon in a deluge to visit the Art in the Garden exhibition at Avebury Manor? In 2011 Avebury Manor was the subject of a unique BBC and National Trust experiment during which the empty manor house was decorated in a time travel kaleidoscope of historical periods.  Visitors are able to relax in Alexander Keiller's sitting room and climb into Queen Anne's magnificent four poster bed. You can open cupboard drawers and fiddle with the fixtures but woe betide if you touch the hand painted Chinese wallpaper in the Georgian dining room, which is strictly off limits. Now in its fourth year the Art in the Garden exhibition includes work by 24 artists inspired by nature, history and the human form. The exhibition runs for another two weeks until October 13 and is open 11-5 every day. Today sees the final day in the Swindon Open Studios event, so hurry along to that as well.  And yes, the clouds parted and the sun sho...