Swindon in the Past Lane

Swindonians celebrated a low key Christmas in 1940 following a year in which the war had bit hard.  But the town and district made sure that the most vulnerable citizens were catered for, especially the evacuees, so far from home for the festive period. Frank Leigh produced and starred in Jack and the Beanstalk, this year’s pantomime at the Playhouse.  Leigh scored a personal triumph in his role as Dame Durden according to the Advertiser reviewer who also commented on the ‘several pleasing specialities.’ At Lethbridge Road School, children from the infant class put on a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for their mothers with Jean Hawkins in the lead role of Snow White while local children and evacuees were treated to a Christmas tea and entertainment at the Club House, Shrivenham Road provided by the GWR Social Club. The Mayor and Mayoress, Alderman and Mrs F.E. Allen made a Christmas Day visit to various homes and institutions across Swindon ...

Staff and volunteers have decked the hall with boughs of holly and Lydiard House is all dressed up for a Victorian Christmas. But how did an earlier branch of the family celebrate the festive season? Custodians of the 17th century Lydiard House were Sir Walter St John and his wife Lady Johanna. In 1652 the austere Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, abolished Christmas all together and for eight years the people of Britain had little celebrate. However, with the restoration of the merry making monarch Charles II in 1660 it was party time again and records show that plans for Christmas at Lydiard House in 1661 were well underway by October. "I doe intend gd wiling to be at Cristmas at Lidiard," wrote Lady Johanna St John from the couple's London home in Battersea to Thomas Hardyman her steward at Lydiard. Ahead of the festivities Lady Johanna instructs Hardyman to brew 40 gallons of ale "so that it may be a month old before we begin it." However the ...

Swindon is most conveniently located for beautiful countryside, a whole host of heritage sites and some wonderful events, among them the Cheltenham Literature Festival. On this year's pilgrimage Leah and I listened to Clare Clark, Juliet Nicolson and Frances Osborne describe several Women of Substance, the subject of their latest novels.  Beautiful Lies by Clare Clark is the story of Maribel Campbell Lowe, wife of a Victorian radical MP, who is a lady with a past, but not necessarily the one she tells polite society.  Frances Osborne, author of The Bolter , talked about her latest book Park Lane , an upstairs, downstairs tale of the Votes for Women campaign and one that particularly appealed to me.  The third panelist was Juliet Nicolson talking about her book Abdication and the set that surrounded Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson.  Three more books to go on my wish list. In the Waterstones tent for the signing we rubbed shoulders, and I mean we rubbed shoulders, ...

l to r Bob Townsend, Diane Everett and Andy Binks - image courtesy of the Swindon Advertiser Members of the Swindon Society are now on their summer break, so I thought it was time to publish a couple of blogposts about the work they get up to. Scroll down to see what's on when the group reconvenes in September. In 1972 a house in Eldene cost £9,600, local lad Gilbert O'Sullivan was number one in the pop charts with his song Clair and Pressed Steel was the biggest consumer of electricity in town as Swindon struggled to cope with power cuts during the three day week.  These were just some of the facts and figures Andy Binks and Dave Bedford revealed at Sunday's Swindon Society 40th celebrations held at the Southbrook Inn. The local history society was founded in September 1972 following a series of WEA lectures given by local historian Eric Arman and at Sunday's party one of those original members was still taking an active role. Membership secretary Martin Va...

The doom laden weather forecast failed to dampen yesterday's 10th Swindon Mela where a multitude of Asian food, craft and alternative health therapy stands, plus traditional music and dance acts, managed to squeeze into the Town Gardens along with some 20,000 visitors. Swindon's multicultural festival attracts visitors from across the South West and organisers are rightly proud that the Mela has always been a safe, family friendly event. On the Showcase Stage Kizzy Kukreja introduced a wealth of local talent including the Bollywood Dreamers and the vibrant Swindon Stars while on the main stage in The Bowl a host of established stars had the crowd on their feet.  From up and coming Punjabi vocalist Lovely Singh to award winning Navin Kundra, who kept the audience entertained during a cloud burst. And even when the predicted storm arrived festival goers continued to party. Peacock Dance by children from the Tamil Association ...