Swindon in the Past Lane

Following an hiatus of more than a year, Swindon in the Past Lane is back with a smart new layout. And you might like to take a look at my latest venture, the Radnor Street Cemetery blog (published every Thursday) which shines a light on researched and re-imagined stories of the people who made our vibrant town. A lot has happened in the past 20 months. Sadly the beautiful Swindon Heritage magazine has ceased publication. Some back editions are still available at the Library Shop in Swindon Central Library and during Radnor Street Cemetery walks and Swindon Society meetings.  To re-launch Swindon in the Past Lane I am publishing a few of the stories I wrote for Swindon Heritage, beginning with the history of Swindon's brickworks and an interview with local historian Jan Flanagan. When Charles A Wheeler put his two acre brickworks on Stratton St Margaret Road up for sale in 1861 he knew it wouldn’t stay on the market for long. ‘The great demand for dwelling h...

Council Leader David Renard stated in his column in the Advertiser this week that 't he council works very closely with heritage groups within the town' but there are many volunteers who would refute this assertion. Cllr Renard was answering claims that Swindon Borough Council neglects heritage assets following the disastrous  fire at the Coate Agricultural Museum on New Year's Eve.  He concluded his column with the following statement: 'Unfortunately, the passage of time does not make it easy to bring these buildings back to their former glory, but that does not mean we should not try. Letting our heritage fall by the wayside is not on our agenda.' Well sadly Cllr Renard, many of us feel it is. Save Swindon’s Heritage , a new facebook group formed following council tenant GLL’s announcement to develop part of the historic Health Hydro, a Grade II listed building, has registered more than 720 members in just 9 days. The listing of buildings came out of...

St. Mary’s Church Lydiard Tregoze, which lies on the western edge of Swindon in historic Lydiard Park, has received initial support* from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to conserve its gorgeous interiors. The project aims include conserving the buildings extensive medieval wall paintings, 17th Century monuments like the famous Golden Cavalier, ancient carved woodwork and star spangled ceiling. The grant of £131,700 towards this £186,700 phase will enable the church to complete its development plans and progress to applying for a full grant of £746,700 in 2017/18. The project aims to rescue the church from deteriorating further and improve public access, re-open the hidden south porch and create a welcoming interpretation and activity area. The church plans a wide range of educational activities and events as well as offering training and volunteer opportunities for local people, families, school children and higher education students. These will include hands on conservation works...

Seller number 14 is Tikara’s Trinkets selling miniature, framed, cross stitches; wire and bead jewellery; and dreamcatchers. Tikara says: I create handmade, individual pieces, using a range of materials and textile processes. Handmade dreamcatchers, created with crocheted doilies, coloured wools and glass beads- a perfect gift for any occasion. Quirky, twisted wire, and bead jewellery, for people who like to stand out from the crowd! Miniature, framed, cross stitches, inspired by superheroes and unicorns! Can also be made to order, with a name and design of choice. I enjoy combining traditional and contemporary textile processes, to create beautiful, one-off, items, for both the home and person. For more information see her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Tikaras.Trinkets/ Meet Tikara at the Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale November 12 1-4pm Christ Church Community Centre.

For more information about the Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale visit the facebook page Swindon Suffragette. Poppy Seed Kitchen is our tenth seller providing handmade, bespoke wooden height charts; relaxation gift sets; delicate clay butterfly artwork, and personalised work. Sammi told us: I started Poppy Seed Kitchen after having my first daughter, Poppy, and wanted to spend as much time as I could at home. I left my job in Clinical Trials, moved to Swindon and started Poppy Seed Kitchen as more of hobby than anything else. It’s now become more than a hobby and I love creating bespoke items for families all over the UK and coming up with new and exciting ideas. But more importantly, it has given me the opportunity to take control of my own life and given me a bit of ‘me’ time back. If you can’t make our sale you can buy through etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PoppySeedKitchen…

Our seventh seller is ‘Crafted by Ruth’ and she will be selling crafts, jewellery, decoupage items and paintings. Ruth says: I started painting on retiring from work a little over 3 years ago although sewing and beading is something I have always enjoyed. The decoupage items have increased over time and is very relaxing. Ruth recently took part in the Swindon Open Studios and exhibited her work at Willows Counselling Service on Prospect Place alongside Marilyn Trew and Lisa Lane where they saw more than 60 art-lovers come through their doors on the first Saturday. You can see some examples of Ruth’s artwork here  http://community.saa.co.uk/art/artist/23980874.html… For more information about the Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale see Swindon Suffragette.

If you have a sweet tooth you’ll want to check out Ceri’s Cupcakes, our sixth seller. We asked Ceri about her motivation and experience: I have two passions in life; cars and cakes (apart from my gorgeous family of course!). I have come to the realisation that I will unfortunately never be a racing car driver so I have decided to concentrate on baking and decorating cupcakes instead (much to the annoyance of my waistline!). I gave up my career as a Showroom Manager at a local sports car dealership after giving birth to my beautiful daughter Leah in May 2015. I really wanted to be with her as much as possible and returning to work full time was really not as appealing as spending all day with my little girl, watching as she develops into a bright, inquisitive child who seems to learn and develop new skills every day. I thought long and hard about what I could do to try and bring in some extra pennies and then one day I went to my local WI meeting where we had a cupcake decorating d...

Continuing a series of blogposts in the lead up to the Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale on November 12 at the Christ Church Community Centre. In the February 11, 1909 edition of the Votes for Women newspaper a list was published naming those women who had already signed up for the Women’s Exhibition and Sale of Work. Kensington WSPU            One General Stall Kensington WSPU            Millinery Stall Streatham WSPU             Stall for Children’s Clothing Richmond WSPU              One Stall Chelsea WSPU                   Artists’ Stall London Western Unions (Hammersmith, Chiswick, Barnes)         ...

Continuing a series of blogposts about the Women's Exhibition and Sale of Work held in May 1909 in advance of our own Swindon Suffragette event on November 12. Emmeline Pethick Lawrence got the ball rolling for the Women's Exhibition and Sale of Work in the January 28th 1909 edition of the Votes for Women newspaper. The special scheme to which I have referred is connected, not directly with the militant side of this movement, but with its organising and its educational side, a side not one whit less important, a side absolutely essential to success. Everybody can take part in this scheme. Not one in our ranks is too poor, not one is too old or too young, or too frail to render some bit of service in connection with it. And everybody can begin at once – this very day. We are holding in May an exhibition. It will be an Exhibition of the Colours; an Exhibition and a Sale of women’s work, and will be open for a fortnight. During that time we shall attract and draw together ...

In the lead up to 2018, the 100th anniversary of when some (though not all) women got the vote, join us for events celebrating suffragettes and Edith New. Swindon Suffragette in collaboration with Swindon Heritage will be holding a Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale at Christ Church Community Rooms on November 12, 1-4. The inspiration for this event is the Women's Exhibition of 1909 held at the Prince's Skating Rink, Knightsbridge in 1909. During the lead up to the event I will be publishing extracts from the suffragette newspaper Votes for Women following preparations as they developed. The Women's Exhibition The arrangements for the great exhibition to be held in the Prince’s Skating Rink by the Women’s Social and Political Union from May 13 to May 26 are already in active progress. The response to the appeal of Mrs Pethick Lawrence is bearing splendid fruit, and a very large number of friends of the Union have already come forward and offered to ta...

So the weather could have been a bit kinder, but did it really matter? STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway was packed to the rafters with railway enthusiasts old and young, while outside eight traction engines blew in chorus to the sound of the replica hooter. There was something to interest everyone at the Swindon Railway Festival, and I'm going to do it all over again tomorrow. Come down to STEAM, Fire Fly Avenue for Part II of the Railway Festival 10 am - 5 pm. Bust of Daniel Gooch See the latest copy of Swindon Heritage for the story of the man who saved the Medical Fund Swindon Heritage editor Graham Carter on camera Colin Hatch from  Hatch Heritage & Steam Engineers Ltd  and Neil Lover Andy, Bob and Diane from the Swindon Society  Colin Hatch gives last minute instructions to music mogul and model railway enthusiast, Pete Waterman