Swindon in the Past Lane

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.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon first published in The Times September 1914 following the Battle of the Marne Scenes from the Field of Remembrance at Lydiard Park. Children from Corsham Primary School Sally Challoner from BBC Points West

Quite frankly I think it's time to name names. People might not thank me for it, but I think Swindon in the Past Lane readers deserve to know who you are. So what has sparked this outburst? Funnily enough it was having a jolly nice time at the official opening of the new Arkell's hotel at The Sun Inn, Coate overlooking historic Jefferies land. It was a super event with a posh ploughman's lunch and scrummy scones.The Swindon Heritage team were among the invited guests along with members of the press, civic dignitaries and the people who designed, built and colour co-ordinated the beautiful rooms. And quite naturally the conversation turned to all things heritage - well it would with us there! We started talking about shared acquaintances and the valuable research work being undertaken by volunteers and I decided there and then to name on this blog just a few of the people I know who work so hard to promote Swindon's wonderful heritage. So, let's hear it ...

These daring highline walkers are helping fund raise to send Jake Hirsch Holland to Ocotal, Nicaragua to work with Performers Without Borders. They are performing at the Spectrum Renault building until 5pm today, so if you rush over to West Swindon you might just catch them. Young would be highliners What it's all about

And then in the afternoon we went to Rouen - there was no hanging about on this trip! Famous for its medieval streets and the Notre Dame Cathedral, we were deposited for a mere two hours to explore this ancient city. With so little time we were restricted as to how much we could actually visit. The Notre Dame Cathedral was, of course a must, but even here we only had time to walk briskly round. Building began on the present cathedral in the 12th century but a church has stood on the site since the 4th century. In 1876 the construction of the Tour Lanterne (Lantern Tower) elevated the cathedral to the tallest building in the world, a record it retained for just four years. Monet painted the cathedral more than 30 times between 1892-93, capturing it in different light and weather conditions. In April and June 1944 WWII bombing raids badly damaged the south aisle while the North Tower was burned. Since then the Cathedral has been in a permanent state of repair. On the day of our vi...