Sam James

May 12, 2013, 3:31 am

I first met Sam James when he was three. I was a play group assistant at Lower Shaw Farm and so was his mum, Madeline. He enjoyed climbing and exploring – and painting, although we had to watch him as he liked to lick the paintbrushes.

He’s come a long way since then and twenty years later I caught up with him at his Swindon home. Sam, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is the eldest of six children. He attended Robert le Kynge Primary School, transferring to Commonweal School, and then going on to Cirencester College and graduating from the Royal Holloway University of London.

In conversation Sam discusses education, his political beliefs and what the future might hold.

It was nice going to Cirencester (College) as there was a real separation between work and home. When I was at college I worked obsessively and when I was at home I vegetated in front of the television. It was nice to have that separation.

I went to Royal Holloway University of London in Egham in Surrey. It was actually quite nice as it was 20 minutes away from London on the train. I was there for four years because I did my under grad in Politics and International Relations and then I got a scholarship to do a Masters in Democracy and Governance for a year, which was very fun. I enjoyed the Masters year very much, I would describe it as the most rewarding year of my entire education.

Provisions for help were always enough. If I needed to do an essay I would call up someone on the list of student helpers and ask if they were available to work. The problem with that is often when I had pressing deadlines to meet the people I relied on for help were as well. Generally the provision was good. Universities are such a vast variant and disabilities are such a vast variant but I had an all right experience.

I would say to anyone with a disability, or anyone at all really, don’t be put off university because you think you can’t do it. If you’ve got evidence that you can do well at GCSE or more importantly ‘A’ level there’s no reason at all why anyone can’t go to University. Universities are very wired in to access and equality so don’t be put off because you’re dyslexic or that you’re worried about getting into debt, that’s not the way it works.

There’s absolutely no additional expense for those with special needs because that’s covered by budget that you don’t have to repay. Life is more expensive for a disabled person for various reasons, but that’s life in general. I lived in halls, which worked very well because I was able to get fed on campus and someone came in to do my cleaning once a week; that was nice.

I’m now ready for something new - anything interesting. I don’t really want to work in the private sector; I would like to do something directly involved with politics or third sector, or trade unions; the old cliché of wanting to work to make a difference rather than making a profit.

I’m at the stage of getting a CV together and tapping into the limited contacts I have. It’s not the nicest time to be a graduate entering the labour market, but you’ve got to kinda go for it and I know full well I want to go off and do something interesting and if you don’t and if you don’t try you’re not going to end up doing something interesting. I’m determined to try and go with the flow.

Last summer I went on a leadership course in Liverpool. One thing they said was that there’s a great tendency, especially if you’re ambitious, to over plan everything and sometimes if you just go with the flow and see what happens you end up somewhere better and more interesting.

I’ve got a mentor I’ve been working with all the way through university, and who I continue to work with now. I’m signed up with a very good career service at Holloway. I’m just largely going with what comes up. The ideal is to be on a graduate scheme so that I’m not just taking a random job somewhere. I’d like to be involved in something that is integrated into a wider career structure.

I’m qualified as a Youth Worker so that’s another string to my bow. And that’s just an opportunity that came up because I attended a youth club and then became a volunteer. The Rowdy Bunch (Swindon based) is a very good organisation run by a wonderful woman named Jackie Stevens. It’s a youth club for people with various special needs.

In 2007 Sam visited No 10 accompanied by South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove.

It was a reception for gifted youth at Downing Street, I was very honoured and it was nice to meet Gordon Brown. It was lovely to go to Downing Street. What surprised me was how relaxed they were, there was this beautiful furniture everywhere and they were completed relaxed about people putting their drinks down on it and leaving marks.

So what does Sam think about the present Labour Leader, Ed Miliband.

He’d make a much better Prime Minister than the present incumbent. He has some interesting ideas to take the country forward.

When asked if he might stand for parliament Sam said ‘not now.’

I am an active member of the Labour Party, and I’m very committed to that. That has been the great advantage of being back in Swindon. Obviously being in rural Surrey there wasn’t much Labour presence, but I’ve taken the opportunity to get back involved with the local Labour Party. I’ve done quite a lot of canvassing. But I’m open to anything. I don’t really want to be an MP at this stage but certainly at some stage it would be interesting to be a councillor maybe an MEP and I’d certainly like to work in politics.

Asked what tips he had for Labour MPs on how to engage the non voting public, Sam replied.

I think you’ve got to have a real sense of why you’re in politics and why you’re doing a certain thing. You’ve got to be full of empathy, an overused word, but you’ve got to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Certainly if you’re a Labour MP in opposition you’ve got to avoid the risk of doing anything silly. There’s something in the adage that ‘oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them.’ So, don’t be spooked by the headlines, have a sense of the overall strategy of what you want to achieve and I think we can do that.

I think New Labour was a natural response to four successive defeats. No party likes being defeated. I can see why people are upset at New Labour and certainly not everything Tony Blair didwas defensible and good.

Again we are living in a different environment under our post financial crisis. We can’t go back to Old Labour because Old Labour for various historical and economic reasons tore itself to pieces. New Labour was what replaced that and it was successful for awhile and it achieved a lot. It’s not going to be Old Labour but it’s not going to be New Labour because New Labour wasn’t some messianic coming of a new religion - it was just a stage the party had to go through and now we’re evolving on to something, which can hopefully meet the challenge of the post crisis age much better.

You’re never going to get a perfect leader because they don’t exist, but you’re going to get a better leader – and you know Cameron isn’t evil, he’s just misguided. I think he’s got the wrong underlying values and the wrong underlying approach to the problems to be solved. Miliband and Labour’s approach and values are much closer to what we need, but you know they’re not ideal, no one is ever going to have their ideal Prime Minister.

And finally ..

Things can be better under Labour and I think Ed Miliband is much more intellectually curious than any Prime Minister we’ve had since Thatcher really. I think he’ll examine the status quo in a much more fundamental and strategic way than Blair or Brown ever did, even Callaghan or Wilson. So I think there is a real opportunity if Labour gets in at the next election, certainly with a substantial majority, that Ed can look at the status quo in a fundamental and more far reaching way.

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Little London

May 28, 2013, 12:49 am

≫ Next: William A. Townsend

≪ Previous: Sam James

Little London Court is today a complex of smart, new offices, but the area once had the dubious reputation of being the meanest street in Old Swindon.

The area was named after a small community from London who settled there at the beginning of the 19^th century. By 1807 it was known as London Lane and in 1855 as London Street. Photographs exist of a thatched cottage still standing shortly before the area was flattened during the 1960s.

In 1850 George T. Clark, an officer from the Board of Health, made his damning inspection of Old Swindon. There he found the town lacked a sewer system with the effluent from houses draining into cesspools. All the town’s wells were contaminated while the public water supply was the dirty church pond.

Inspector Clark’s report and accompanying map published in 1851 noted blood flowing down Newport Street from one of three slaughter houses in the vicinity, tainted water on Prospect Place and a filthy open pit in Albert Street. In 1848 even the local doctor had been laid up with typhus fever and the inspector reported continuous typhus fever during 1850-51. In one house in Cricklade Street five children had died during a seven week period.

Albert Street, built in around 1848 and named after Queen Victoria’s virtuous husband, was the red light district of mid Victorian Old Swindon. At the centre of this maelstrom of depravity was the Rhinoceros public house, once described in court as ‘the most notorious house in town.’ The first landlady at the Rhinoceros when it opened in July 1845 was Lucy Rogers, a former dressmaker. Frequently the scene of bad behaviour where landlords flaunted licensing laws and one was even accused of the manslaughter of his mother in law. The property was demolished in 1963 to make room for garage extensions for Wiltshire Newspapers.

When the substantial premises came up for sale in 1859 it was described as having five bedrooms on the first floor, a large bar, parlour, smaller bar, little back room, taproom, underground cellar, large brick and stone club room at the back with a shooting gallery, back kitchen with rooms over and back entrance from Back Lane.

One person who tried to make a difference in this den of iniquity was Angelo Vitti. Born in Sette Frate, a small village in the Province of Frosinone, just south of Rome, Vitti stopped off in France before moving to England in the early 1890s. He purchased the former Rhinoceros, by then a lodging house, and eventually bought up the adjoining cottages as well.

But Angelo Vitti wasn’t the first to rent out rooms at the premises in Albert Street. In 1881 Sarah White was the lodging house keeper at number 25 and 26 Albert Street where among her lodgers were musicians John Lewis, Henry Culverwell and John Fliseney.

‘Swindon has lost a colourful and romantic personality by the death of Mr Angelo Vitti,’ the Advertiser reported following Angelo’s death on Sunday April 21, 1940. As a lodging house proprietor he became the friend, and earned the respect, of thousands of men and women, a genuine family man and a friend of poor people.

1957: Albert Street and Little London, Swindon

1964: Albert Street during demolition, Swindon

Little London Court today

Angelo Vitti

Old views of Little London and Albert Street are published courtesy of Swindon Local Studies Collection - visit the website on www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal

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William A. Townsend

June 27, 2013, 3:07 am

≫ Next: Fanny Catherine Hall

≪ Previous: Little London

The Local Defence Volunteers, later known as the Home Guard, was launched on May 14, 1940 in response to Germany’s invasion of the Low Countries, and within 24 hours more than a quarter of a million men had come forward to join.

One such volunteer was William Arthur Townsend, the son of John, a moulder at the GWR works and his wife Elizabeth. William, also known as Art, was born in 1903 and grew up at 280 Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill. On leaving school he followed his father ‘inside’ to begin a boilermaker’s apprenticeship. By the time war was declared in 1939 William was married with a young family.

In a collection of pocket diaries William recorded his daily routine providing a unique account of one man’s war time experience in the GWR 13^th Battalion of the Home Guard.

The official age range for Home Guard volunteers was from 17-65 but there were reports of more than just a few old soldiers joining the ranks, some in their 80s. By June 1940 more than 1,4000,000 men had joined the LDV and in July Winston Churchill changed the name of the organisation to what he felt was the more inspirational Home Guard.

Regular army ranks were introduced in the Home Guard in February 1941 and in December 1942 William records that he was made a Lance Corporal. On Saturday April 12, 1941 he registered for National Service. His diary entry for that day records he went to bed early as he was on Home Guard duty at the GWR Transfer Yard from 1.15am to 5 am the next day.

William’s diaries give an indication of the number of air raids Swindon suffered. Some were reasonably short, others much longer such as the one on Saturday January 4, 1941 when the warning sounded at 10.40 pm with the all clear coming at 7am. And during one eleven day period in March 1941 the town was subjected to ten air raids with just two night’s respite.

‘Bombs dropped (Kembrey Street) 11.30 pm,” William recorded on Monday August 17, 1942. ‘House damaged, Front Roof off.’ He spent the following day ‘clearing up Air Raid Damage all day.’ At the end of that month William writes of another raid to hit Swindon – Saturday August 29, Bombs dropped on Drove Road 9.00am.

Throughout 1943 William records his ongoing training – firing practise on the rifle range, lectures on ammunition, gas, AA batteries, grenades and on Sten Gun firing and on Saturday July 29^th 1944 William wrote – ‘HG Camp at Lydiard Tregoze for 1 week.’ The men received intensive LMG instruction, but there proved to be time to entertain their families as well.

The standing down of the Home Guard took place in December 1944 and William’s last entries record the final events. A Home Guard parade on Sunday October 15 was followed by B Coy concert at Whitehouse. He makes just one entry in November – Sunday 12 Home Guard photos taken.

On Sunday December 3 William writes – ‘HG Parade FINIS Took Shelter Down, Sleeping upstairs.’ At the end of that week he writes quite simply ‘Ret HG Equipment,’ marking the end of one man’s wartime service.

1943 GWR (Wilts) Home Guard Training

1944 GWR Home Guard at Swindon Works

Photographs courtesy of Swindon Local Studies visit the website on www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal

Many thanks to Bob Townsend for access to his father's diaries.

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Fanny Catherine Hall

August 17, 2013, 12:10 am

≫ Next: My Week

≪ Previous: William A. Townsend

During the 1860s the property, then known as Morden House, served as a school with one former pupil who had a very famous local connection.

Fanny Catherine Hall was the eldest of Martha and William Hall’s five surviving children. She was born at a house in Wood Street but the family later moved to 5 Prospect Terrace.

Fanny was a cousin of local literary giant Richard Jefferies. Her mother, the former Martha Jefferies was the sister of Richard’s father James Luckett Jefferies.

In an account of her schooldays Fanny wrote about the establishment at Morden House, a large house with a big schoolroom at the back and a fair sized playground where girls and boys played together.

“The food was on the whole good and plentiful, though of the plainest,” remembered Fanny. “The bedrooms were closely packed, the boys sleeping in the attic.”

Schoolmistresses Eliza Ann Large and her sister Jane Cox were related by marriage to their eleven year old pupil. The two women were the sisters in law of Fanny’s aunt, Fanny Cox, also aunt to Richard Jefferies. “The second in command was a personal friend of Mother’s,” she wrote and another cousin was a pupil teacher in charge to prevent ‘high jinks.’

Perhaps Fanny’s mother thought this was sufficient recommendation, but Fanny was to discover her relatives employed some Draconian methods of punishment.

“The teaching was very elementary, and there were some rather drastic punishments e.g. standing in the stocks nearly heel to heel holding a blackboard,” wrote Fanny. “I remember once seeing a girl and then a boy fall down in a faint after the ordeal.”

Fanny remembered attending church at Rodbourne Cheney where the ‘keen faced’ incumbent wore a black gown in the pulpit and black gloves.

“We had the Easter Hymn once every Sunday as the organ was of the old barrel type containing, [with] I believe 6 tunes,” wrote Fanny.

But despite the plain food and the terrifying punishments Fanny states that she was quite happy at Morden House, noting that she enjoyed the games in the playground.

Fanny spent three months during 1862 at the school in the former farmhouse. In September 1863 she was sent to Marlborough to a school kept by a Mrs Byfield who she remembered as “one of the handsomest of women though totally unfit to educate budding humanity.”

The experience of her schooldays did not deter Fanny from entering the teaching profession herself. In 1871 she was working as an assistant teacher at a school in Ashford, Kent. Twenty years later Fanny was Joint Principal at Longford School in Bristol where 19 girls aged 10-17 boarded on census night 1891. She died in 1939 aged 89 years old.

On March 31, 1868 Rev Arthur Evans, the owner, signed an agreement with Mr Robert Bird for letting Morden House and premises from year to year at an annual rent of £40 and the property returned to use as a farmhouse.

Today the former Morden House survives as Park Farm, sheltered housing for older people. And the home of Fanny's famous ancestor Richard Jefferies is open to the public, visit the Richard Jefferies' Society website for further details.

Two views of Park Farm.

Richard Jefferies

The Richard Jefferies Museum at Coate, Marlborough Road, Swindon.

Swindon poet and storyteller Hilda Sheehan at a recent family event held at the Museum - Wood Magic Picnic

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My Week

August 25, 2013, 7:25 am

≫ Next: Southbrook Inn

≪ Previous: Fanny Catherine Hall

The week began with a walk around Lydiard Park in the company of my lovely daughter and granddaughter Maysie. It was fortunate we took advantage of a window in everyone's busy calender as little Maysie has been unwell for the rest of the week.

Lydiard House and the history of the St John family are two subjects close to my heart and the Autumn edition of Swindon Heritage includes a feature on Lady Diana Spencer and her connection to the youngest member of our Royal family, Prince George. Before you all leave comments at the bottom of this post saying 'she's his grandmother,' you need to buy a copy of the magazine. Check out the website for local stockists and how to subscribe.

On Tuesday I was invited to the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Les Gowing House in Penhill. It was my privilege to talk to some of the 36 residents, most of whom have lived in the Penhill area since the estate was built in the 1950s. Edie Parsons, who moved in on August 21, 1988 and has lived at Les Gowing House the longest, talked about her life and times and how she was employed in the GWR Rolling Mills during WWII, working 12 hour shifts, two weeks on days and two weeks on nights. Our November edition will include a celebration of all things Penhill.

This week has been one of intense anticipation as we awaited the delivery of the third edition of Swindon Heritage. And as ever Acorn Press have done us proud. As Sue Davies commented on BBC Wiltshire - 'it looks just like a glossy magazine!' You're not wrong there Sue.

Friday evening saw us bagging up the magazines ready for delivery to our fast growing list of subscribers. Postcodes cover a surprisingly large area as we discovered when delivering the May edition, so this time round we have a fool proof plan. (Did I mention we hand deliver free to SN postcodes?) Graham is pictured plotting out a method of delivery to minimise back doubling on ourselves. Let's hope all those little stickers don't drop off the map!

If you see us on our deliveries, stop and say hello! We'll probably have a spare magazine to sell you as well.

Maysie enjoying a drink on the lawn at Lydiard House

Prince George - so what's the Lydiard House connection?

Edie Parsons

From l to r: Pamela, Rene and Johanna.

Labour Councillor for Penhill and Upper Stratton Paul Baker and his father John

Lovely Les Gowing ladies - left Susan Hewer 'Chief Hygiene Engineer' and Sheltered Housing Officer Tracey Lee, right.

The team - plotting!

The Autumn edition of Swindon Heritage

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Southbrook Inn

September 1, 2013, 12:02 am

≫ Next: A week in which I discover the joys of living in Toothill, Rodbourne and Gorse Hill.

≪ Previous: My Week

Regulars at the Southbrook Inn may be unaware that their favourite watering hole was once a dairy farm. In 1986 the 18^thcentury building received a Grade II listing but a farm has stood on this site for much longer.

When the property came up for sale in 1763 Thomas Goddard, Lord of the Manor of Swindon, was ready to sign on the dotted line, having informed his attorney, Mr Thomas Athawes, that he was ‘very well satisfied with the Title of Southbrook Farm.’

The Abstract of Title over which Thomas Goddard had cast his discerning eye dated from 1669 and is available for consultation at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham. This document provides a detailed history of the property and its various owners and occupiers across nearly 100 years.

The property in Rodbourne Cheney was included in the marriage settlement of local couple Thomas Richmond alias Webb and Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir William Thomson in 1690.

By 1763 the property and 90 acres of land in Rodbourne Cheney belonged to Sir Benet Garrard of Lamer in Hertfordshire and consisted of the farmhouse and outbuildings and closes of land called Great and Little Southbrook, Little Pining, Twenty Swaiths and Bottom Mead. As part of the sale Thomas Goddard also bought fields named Sheep Sleight, Hedges Ground, a ten acre field named after an earlier tenant farmer called Thomas Hedges, and Long Furlong adding a further 39 acres to the holding. At the time of the sale the farm was occupied by Anthony Wetherston with former tenant Charles Pike also receiving a mention.

Thomas Goddard paid £3,700, worth today in the region of £5 million, when he signed the indenture on Southbrooke House on April 5, 1763.

Thirty years later Ambrose, another member of the Goddard dynasty, agreed a 14 year lease on the property with Thomas Washbourne, John Brunsden and Charles Barrett who paid an annual rent of £157 10s to jointly farm the 132 acre farm.

Following the Tithe Computation Act of 1836 maps were drawn up of every parish in England and Wales and the properties along with land usage, owners and occupiers were recorded, an invaluable resource for local and family historians.

In 1841 the Tithe Apportionments reveal that Thomas Wiltshire was the tenant at Southbrook, then measuring 198 acres. The familiar 17^th century field names of Southbrook, Long Furlong, Twenty Swaths and Sheep Street are still listed along with one parcel of land called Dining Room Corner and a lane called Rogues Road.

By the mid 1840s the Butler family had begun their long tenancy at the farm, first William Butler and later his son John Handy Butler. The 19^th century closed with William Davis signing a year to year lease on the property.

In 1898 Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard sold part of the land to builder William Hobbs, heralding the end of the farming at Southbrook. However despite the continuing development at Gorse Hill north of the railway line, Southbrook Farm retained its buffer of open fields into the 20^thcentury.

The former farmhouse opened as a public house on March 15, 1956 when the license was transferred from the Golden Lion on Bridge Street which had closed that same year.

Southbrook Street was built in 1906 on the former farm track. Architect P.H. Thomas designed All Saint’s Church which opened in 1937.

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A week in which I discover the joys of living in Toothill, Rodbourne and Gorse Hill.

September 2, 2013, 5:29 am

≫ Next: Cheers and happy 170th birthday Arkell's

≪ Previous: Southbrook Inn

This week began with an endurance test, included a significant birthday, some excellent cemetery news and ended with an 10th anniversary and a fete.

Across the Bank Holiday weekend the Swindon Heritage team was out pounding the streets, delivering copies of the magazine. I covered the length and breadth of West Swindon while my two colleagues delivered the rest! I got to see areas of Toothill I didn't know existed, and how beautiful it is too, with stunning views across to Wroughton.

By the end of the week the job was done, or so we thought, until we discovered a glitch in our less-than-foolpoof system. Too big a job for pedal power, Graham left his trusty cycle behind and drove more than 70 miles, delivering to subscribers who had dropped off the list.

But by now subscribers should be satisfied, stockists stocked and with just Lydiard House to deliver to tomorrow, the Autumn edition of Swindon Heritage is out there. Enjoy!

Followers of events at Radnor Street Cemetery will know that we have had a difficult few months. An extremely successful 2011 with guided cemetery walks and local history exhibitions in the chapel was followed by months of nail chewing, heavy sighs and council doings (or should that be not-doings). I'm now delighted to report that with the support of Swindon Borough Council CEO Gavin Jones and Swindon South MP Robert Buckland, events are all set to resume at the historically significant Swindon cemetery.

There will be no more of this ...

as the Community Payback Team get to grips with tidying up the cemetery and more of these ...

as we resume our popular walks.

There will even be events like this again ...

especially as we prepare for the Great War centenary commemorations.

On Saturday we joined the good folk of Rodbourne Cheney Community History Group to celebrate their 10th anniversary at Even Swindon Community Centre. There were visitors aplenty to mull over the photographs, reminisce with neighbours and catch up with old friends who had moved away. With a number of Rodbourne residents already subscribers to Swindon Heritage we didn't expect to sell so many magazines. Glen, Brenda and Ann kept the cups of tea coming and the cakes were jolly good as well.

Then on Sunday we did it all over again, this time at the annual Southbrook Inn fete. With a Bouncy Castle, facepainting and numerous other activities in the pub grounds, our friends Diane Everett and Bob Townsend had organised a local history extravaganza in the function room at the back of the pub. Gorse Hill residents told us how much they liked living on their patch, a message we hear from every area of Swindon we visit, which must mean Swindon is a pretty alright place to live - despite what the comedians might say.

Even Swindon Community Centre - built on the site of the former Jennings Street School

Southbrook Inn annual fete

And in the function room family historians take a trip down memory lane.

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Cheers and happy 170th birthday Arkell's

September 8, 2013, 12:17 am

≫ Next: Lydiard House and Park - safe?

≪ Previous: A week in which I discover the joys of living in Toothill, Rodbourne and Gorse Hill.

Bees still busy at work in the Walled Garden at Lydiard House

Who would have thought Swindon could boast two literature festivals and a heritage magazine, along with all the other fantastic activities that take place across the year? While the weather most definitely had an end of summer feel about it, there was no end to the summer activities in Swindon this week.

Thursday saw the launch of the second Swindon Festival of Poetry at the Arts Centre in Devizes Road with words of wit and wisdom from festival organisers and guest speaker BBC Wiltshire presenter Mark O'Donnell.

Matt Holland, Michael Scott and Hilda Sheehan have put together a fabulous four day festival of words and wit, kicking off on National Poetry Day, October 3 with high points including a M4 Corridor Poetry Day and visits by Roger McGough and Alice Oswald.

Michael Scott will be accompanying Swindon Heritage editor Graham Carter on a Vintage Bus Tour. Tickets cost £10 and sell like hotcakes, so make sure you get yours soon. The tour leaves from The Sun Inn at Coate at 10am and includes poems, heritage, and mystery locations. Telephone 01793 466454 for more details.

And on Saturday Arkell's threw open their Kingsdown Brewery for the mother of all celebrations as Swindon's oldest family firm celebrated its 170th anniversary. Beer festival organisers needn't have worried about the inclement weather forecast earlier in the week as the sun shone down on the hundreds who gathered to sample more than 40 beers from across the UK. There were classic cars and motor bikes, a vintage Daimler double decker bus and a steam engine. Music was courtesy of the Ashton Keynes Ukelele Strummers. The Swindon Heritage team were there as well, and although festival goers might have had other priorities, we sold a fair few copies of the magazine and met some interesting people. If you'd like to know more about the history of the brewery and it's founder John Arkell read the Spring edition of Swindon Heritage. For a list of stockists and how to subscribe visit our website.

For me the herald of the end of the summer is that annual jamboree, the Last Night of the Proms and this year Swindon received a mention. With an indescribable performance of Monti's Csardas by Aston Villa shirt wearing, violin virtuoso Nigel Kennedy and a rousing rendition of Rule Britannia by American mezzo soprano Joyce Didonato, this year's Last Night was a record breaker. For the first time in 119 years of Promenade Concerts the Last Night conductor was - shock, horror - a woman. Marin Alsop led the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Chorus in a flawless evening of entertainment, and yes, she mentioned Swindon. I heard it quite clearly - she welcomed listeners and viewers across the world, adding "hello Parks."

Next weekend I'm spoilt for choice, there is so much going on in Swindon from the Swindon Railway Festival at STEAM to the Mela in the Town Gardens.

Matt Holland

Hilda Sheehan

Michael Scott

Sign writer at work

Beer drinkers at work - just some of the brews on offer

Vintage scooters

Vintage Parkas

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Lydiard House and Park - safe?

September 15, 2013, 11:11 am

≫ Next: Season of mists in Radnor Street Cemetery

≪ Previous: Cheers and happy 170th birthday Arkell's

This week I intended writing an affectionate, whimsical piece – about my little granddaughter and all things Lower Shaw Farm related, about the Mela and the wonderful Dorothy Clarke and how the amazing Bhangra drummers quite alarmingly changed the rhythm to which my heart beat - no seriously. And I was going to write about samosas and chick pea curry and cream tea in the Bowl’s Club pavilion.

Then today I visited Lydiard House and my joie de vie quite deserted me. Popular Collections Manager Sophie Cummings is to move to a new job at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, and while I am delighted for Sophie, and the museum will fare excellently under her curatorship, now what happens to Lydiard House?

On the list of things Swindon Borough Council most wants to get shot of, what happens to the beautifully restored Palladian mansion and 260 acres of parkland. Will there be a new person in charge? Members of staff I spoke to today haven’t been informed yet – which in itself is pretty remiss, if you ask me. And can’t you just hear the sound of persistent property developers gleefully rubbing together their palms? Alarmist, me, of course that won’t happen, of course it won’t!

While I was visiting today I photographed some recent comments made in the visitors’ book. From near and far, from Toothill to San Diego, visitors congratulate Swindon Borough Council for saving and maintaining the property and urge them to continue to do so.

Owned for 500 years by possibly one of the most interesting aristocratic families, the St John’s had relatives both sides of the royal bedsheets. They were cousins to Henry VII through St John matriarch Lady Margaret Beauchamp, who made an appearance in the recent popular BBC War of the Roses saga The White Queen. The family numbered a traitor and a murderer and a famous royal mistress Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine who bore Charles II five illegitimate children. They include among the boughs of their family tree naughty Restoration playwright and poet John Wilmot, 2^nd Earl Rochester, politicians by the barrow load, Royalist Cavaliers and Puritan Roundheads. Even the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, have Lydiard connections through their Leighton and Spencer ancestors.

In these cash strapped times perhaps Councillors should look a little closer to home when it comes to saving money. The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is currently reviewing the number of Councillors they employ. With a population of 302,400 and 63 Councillors there is a proposal to reduce the number by 9, while the Recovery Board suggest the number of serving Councillors should actually be nearer 48. The population of Swindon is around the 200,000 mark and we have 57 Councillors; my West Swindon ward of Shaw has three, Nick Martin, Garry Perkins and Keith Williams.

With the recent Swindon Heritage Strategy still to go before Cabinet, let’s make sure Lydiard House is made safe for future generations to enjoy and learn about their local history, and not sold off to the highest bidder.

If you would like to know more about the St John family and the history of Lydiard House visit my other blogs on Good Gentlewoman and Status, Scandal and Subterfuge.

The beautifully restored walled garden

Volunteer Ranger Mike Newman tells visitors about the Lydiard House state of the art Ice House

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Season of mists in Radnor Street Cemetery

September 26, 2013, 4:20 am

≫ Next: Season of mists Pt II

≪ Previous: Lydiard House and Park - safe?

The popular guided Radnor Street Cemetery walks are about to resume with our first event taking place on October 19. You can book a place here in the comments section of this blog post or on our facebook page. Walks take place at 11 am and 2 pm.

Until then I thought you might like to make a return visit to a series of virtual walks we took last year.

It is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and time for another virtual walk among the memorials at Radnor Street Cemetery. I shall don my raincoat and carry an umbrella as the weather forecast is not good, but you can put on the kettle, make a cup of tea and join me from the comfort of your computer.

We begin with a stranger to Swindon and a gravestone in a precarious condition. As you can see there is a crack beginning to creep around the edge. Invariably when this happens the whole surface of the stone shears off when all record of that person is lost. Sadly there are a number that have so suffered when you look around the cemetery.

This is the last resting place of Jane Martinelli who died in 1893 aged 65. From the brief details on the gravestone I wondered if Jane and Thomas might be Italian, but further research has revealed that Jane was born in Worcester, and this is about all that can be discovered about her.

The Martinelli story, on the other hand, is one of fluctuating fortunes. In the 1891 census Jane is living with husband Thomas at 13 John Street, Swindon. Thomas worked as a Railway Coach Builder and states his place of birth as St. Pancras, London. He was baptised at Trinity Church on December 26, 1831, the son of Louis Martinelli, also a coach maker.

Still no Italian birthplace though as Louis was born in Holborn in 1799. Business as a coach maker must have been good because when Louis died in 1884 he left £6,180 2s 10d worth today about £3.2 million.

Back another generation and at last the Italian connection.

Thomas’ grandfather was Aloysious Louis Martinelli born in Italy in 1761. A barometer maker Aloysious married Abigail Marshall at St. Anne’s Church, Soho in 1799. Sadly Aloysious died in Lambeth Workhouse in 1845 aged 84. Perhaps son Louis hadn’t made his fortune by then!

Returning to Swindon and Jane’s story. The Martinelli’s don’t appear to have had any children. Tracking them through the Victorian census returns revealed they lived in Manchester and Birmingham before arriving in Swindon.

Thomas married again in 1894, the year after Jane’s death. It would appear the original intention was for Thomas to join Jane here as there is plenty of space on the gravestone for an additional inscription.

The leaves may be falling but the lush ivy never deserts the cemetery.

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Season of mists Pt II

September 27, 2013, 4:52 am

≫ Next: Season of mists Pt III

≪ Previous: Season of mists in Radnor Street Cemetery

This is the final resting place of members of the Wall family, husband and wife William and Mary Ann, and their son Arthur Henry.

Arthur was born in 1899, one of six children born to William and Mary Ann of whom only three sons survived childhood. He grew up in Rodbourne living at addresses in Redcliffe Street, Drew Street, Linslade Street, Montague Street and Jennings Street. William worked as a Boiler Maker in the railway factory and when young Arthur left school he followed him into the GWR Works and the same trade.

Following the outbreak of war in 1914 Arthur was keen to join up and enlisted in the 2nd Wiltshire Battalion on January 12, 1915. He gave his age as 19. He was in fact not yet 16, but recruiting officers were apt to turn a blind eye to fresh faced, eager young volunteers. He was posted to France on June 1 where his age was quickly detected and on July 7, 1915 he was sent back to England as being 'under age and physically unfit for service at the front.' He spent the following year in service on the home front before returning to France in June 1916, this time in the 1st Hertfordshires.

His service records reveal that on May 12, 1918 he was gassed. His medical records state that his capacity was lessened by 40% and he was left with defective vision and suffering from headaches. He was discharged on November 23, 1918 as being no longer physically fit for war service. He received a pension of 11s and returned to Swindon where he married Mabel Pinnegar in 1919.

Whether Arthur was able to return to work as a boiler maker remains unknown. In 1920 he wrote to the Infantry Record Office asking if he was entitled to anything under Army Order 325/19 concerning the Territorial extra allowances. He received this reply:

'I regret to inform you that you are not entitled to any extra pay or allowances under Army Order 325 of 1919 as you were discharged on 23rd November, 1918.

The increase of pay authorised under the Army Order in question was only granted from 1st July, 1919 to soldiers who were actually serving on the date of the order, viz 13th September 1919.

Arthur died on May 22, 1922 aged just 23 years old. Further research is required to establish if his death was as a direct result of his military service. If so it is possible he would be entitled to an official Commonwealth War Graves headstone. His father William died on the same day as his son Arthur, another event which requires further research. Such tragedy for one Swindon family.

Well the rain held off - hope to see you again tomorrow.

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Season of mists Pt III

September 28, 2013, 1:22 am

≫ Next: Season of mists Pt IV

≪ Previous: Season of mists Pt II

The popular guided Radnor Street Cemetery walks are about to resume with our first event taking place on October 19. You can book a place here in the comments section of this blog post or on our facebook page. Walks take place at 11 am and 2 pm.

Until then I thought you might like to make a return visit to a series of virtual walks we took last year.

There has been heavy rainfall over night and underfoot is very damp and slippy. But I have come prepared as today I am taking you to a crowded corner of the cemetery where there are some magnificent monuments with some classic funeral iconography. The IHS on this cross is the Greek representation of Jesus Christ's name. The garland of flowers around the cross represents victory in death.

This is the last resting place of Edward Henry Sammes. It’s interesting that his family should make a point of adding ‘of Swindon’ to the inscription because Edward was not originally from Swindon but was born in Lambeth in January 1842, the son of William and Sarah Sammes.

The first reference to Edward in Swindon is in the 1871 census when he is 29 years old and living a 1 Belle Vue Road where he describes himself as a grocer. That same year he married Sarah Anne Spackman from Wootton Bassett and the couple had two children William and Millicent who are both buried here as well.

At the time of the 1881 census Edward described himself as a retired grocer. By 1889 he was a member of the Old Swindon Local Board, so well placed to know plans for development in the town. The family was then living at Wycliffe House in Devizes Road.

In 1892 Edward submitted planning application to build eight houses on the corner of Kent Road and Maidstone Road. The land had orginally come on the market in the 1870s but development was slow to take off. However, by the 1890s the area was pretty much one huge building site.

A map of Edward’s project shows an empty site next door on the corner of Kent Road and Ashford Road with another empty site opposite. The building specifications for Edward’s houses describe three bedrooms, a parlor, sitting room, kitchen, conservatory, scullery, WC, coals and pantry. At the other end of the road rival builder William Chambers had a yard opposite his own development at Ashford Terrace. We will learn more about William Chambers later in our walk.

Edward died in 1897 aged 55. He left £5,814 18s 6d to his widow Sarah and son William, worth today somewhere in the region of £2.7 million.

I’m not sure if his son William ever worked or whether he spent his whole life living off his inheritance. The last census available to researchers is the 1911 when the family are living at 31 Devizes Road where William, then aged 35, and his sister Millicent 27 are both living on private means.

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Season of mists Pt IV

September 29, 2013, 1:36 am

≫ Next: Season of mists - last day

≪ Previous: Season of mists Pt III

It’s easy to almost miss this magnificent pink granite monument to another railway father and son. Like the Carlton obelisk opposite that we visited on our summer walk, this memorial was also paid for by employees at the GWR Works.

James Haydon was born in Bristol in 1826. The Railway Employment Records available on the Ancestry website, indicate that James entered the railway employment in March 1851 when he was about 25 years old.

By 1861 he was working as an engine fitter in the Swindon Works. He lived with his wife Ellen, their young son Lancelot and his wife’s nephew Henry Wardle at 9 London Road. Sharing number 9 were Ellen’s parents, Lancelot Young who at 64 was still working as a boilersmith, Eleanor Young and two more Wardle children. Thomas Watson and his wife Ann with yet another Wardle child also lived at number 9. Things must have been very cosy at number 9.

By 1871 James was Deputy Manager at the Works and was living in a house in what was then still known as Sheppard Fields. This later became Sheppard Street, named after the former owner of this area, John Harding Sheppard.

James died on July 5, 1888. He had been Assistant Manager in the Loco Works for 22 years. The inscription reads 'this monument has been erected as a token of affection and esteem by his fellow officers and employes.'

Also remembered on this memorial is James’s son, Lancelot who died in 1894 aged just 38. Lancelot followed his father into the works and his career can be charted through the same railway records.

He began work as a pattern maker in 1871 when he was 14. In 1877, presumably after he had finished his apprenticeship, he transferred to the Drawing Office. In 1881, by then a mechanical draughtsman, Lancelot left the GWR for an appointment on the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway, but by 1888 he was back at the GWR firstly as Assistant Draughtsman and later as Chief Draughtsman.

At the time of the 1891 census he was living at his old family home, 21 Sheppard Street, with his wife Isabella and their young daughter. The following year Lancelot was on the move again, this time to Newton Abbott as Assistant District Superintendent Loco Carriage Dept. He died less than two years later.

Tomorrow we meet another man who has left his mark on Swindon.

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Season of mists - last day

September 30, 2013, 11:16 pm

≫ Next: Monet's Garden - in need of the National Trust

≪ Previous: Season of mists Pt IV

Despite a shortage of readily available building land and a depression in the railway industry during the 1870s, Swindon enjoyed a building boom throughout much of the late Victorian period. Many of our street names bear testimony to a number of local builders, George Street, Crombey Street, Colbourne Street, Ponting Street, Turner Street.

William Chambers lived and worked as builder and funeral director in the end house in Ashford Road, the one with the Calvary cross in the brickwork. The silhouette of the shop sign can still be seen. As we have already discovered William Chambers was building on the Kingshill estate in the 1890s.

William was born in Stroud in 1839 the son of Samuel, a handloom weaver, and his wife Maria. In 1859 he married Sarah Tyler and the couple raised their family of eight children in nearby Bisley where William then worked as an agricultural labourer.

In 1871 he was working as a bricklayer and by 1884 the family had moved to Swindon where William established himself as a builder and contractor. His four sons would eventually join him in the business, William and Alfred both bricklayers and Robert and Samuel who were joiners.

From 1884-1897 William was engaged in building projects in Stafford Street and Hythe, Kent and Maidstone Roads. In the last decade of the nineteenth century William was also busy building in Ashford Road.

At the time of the 1891 census eldest married sons Alfred and William both had homes in Stafford Street. Family folklore tells how so many relatives once lived in Stafford Street that it was known locally as Chambers Street.

William’s son Samuel took over the family business after his father’s death. A 1906 trade directory entry describes the business at 1 Ashford Road under new management – S. Chambers (late W. Chambers) builder & contractor, dealer in all kinds of building material, funerals completely furnished, repairs promptly attended to at moderate charges.

William died in 1901 and Sarah in 1926. I think this stylish headstone befits a couple who spent their lives in the funeral business.

My next guided walk will be on Remembrance Sunday when we visit a few of the 104 Commonwealth War Graves in Radnor Street Cemetery.

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Monet's Garden - in need of the National Trust

October 3, 2013, 8:20 am

≫ Next: Rouen

≪ Previous: Season of mists - last day

I don't very often leave the confines of Swindon, but I recently marked a significant birthday and my daughter treated me to a weekend in France to lessen the pain.

We had a wonderful, if frenetic, two days courtesy of Newmarket Holidays and saw some amazing sights. We stayed at the Best Western, St Quentin, Maurepas, an adequate hotel where they were oddly very precious about how many croissants one ate at breakfast, and woe betide guests if you messed up the ticket system, as I managed to!

Our first trip was to Monet's magnificent gardens at Giverny. Now, I hate to be a typical moaning Brit abroad, but really, the National Trust would do it so much better!

Monet moved to the idyllic village of Giverny in 1883 where he began work on the garden that inspired him for more than 43 years. Ten years after moving in, Monet bought a neighbouring piece of land where he created his water gardens, inspired by the Japanese gardens he loved so much. Sadly today the gardens are separated by a busy road and accessed by a dreary underpass.

Apparently 500,000 people visit during the seven months that the gardens are open so I doubt whether it is ever possible to wander around without hoards of tourists, but I couldn't help but wonder if there might be better ways of handling the traffic. Yes, the guide at the door did hold back the crowds, but for nowhere near long enough and there didn't appear to be a ceiling on how many people were allowed in the house at any one time as everyone pushed and jostled up the stairs and through the rooms.

The water gardens are breathtakingly beautiful and despite the hundreds of visitors it was still possible to take unspoiled photos, but unfortunately the iconic Japanese bridge was never free of people. Another suggestion - why not have a guide in place who can occasionally stop the flow of traffic here as well.

The house and gardens were beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. However, if you were hoping to garner a flavour of how the property might have felt during Monet's time, you would be out of luck.

So my helpful suggestions would be - traffic control through the house and on the Japanese bridge and cheer up that dank, depressing underpass. There's this French Impressionist artist who painted stonking great big pictures of water lilies that would look really great reproduced here.

The iconic Japanese bridge.

With photographs prohibited in the house it's fortunate there is this one on the official website of the yellow dining room.

Monet's favourite watering hole in the village of Giverny.

The parish church in Giverny

Monet's grave

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Rouen

October 8, 2013, 1:38 pm

≫ Next: Performers Without Borders (or safety nets)

≪ Previous: Monet's Garden - in need of the National Trust

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 visit there was some kind of fair in front of the cathedral with a display of folk dancing taking place. Visitors were encouraged to participate. It looked quite simple but I know from past experience this is not always the case. I was once persuaded to join a line-dancing display at the County Ground and discovered that I have absolutely no sense of rhythm and lack coordination or the ability to remember half a dozen repeating steps, an embarrassment I was unprepared to revisit. We pulled odd faces and shrugged, a caricature of the noncomprehending French tourist abroad - quite why I'm not sure, it just seemed to come naturally!

We gazed in admiration at the 12th century Gros Horloge - an astronomical clock - and the footings of another building, which looked as if they were probably very significant, but unfortunately not to us.

And then it was a sprint back to our coach, where we sat for more than half an hour as two of our party had misheard the time directions. I hoped we might clap and cheer in the spirit of our coach confinement and camaraderie when at last they arrived, but we sat in silence and tactfully ignored the fact they had kept us waiting so long.

Montmartre here we come - and it's still only Saturday.

published courtesy of Jeri Dansky

published courtesy of Ben Bawden

Gros Horloge - the astronomical clock

Our meeting place - minus two

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Performers Without Borders (or safety nets)

October 26, 2013, 7:36 am

≫ Next: In which I engage in a bit of name dropping!

≪ Previous: Rouen

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

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In which I engage in a bit of name dropping!

November 6, 2013, 9:07 am

≫ Next: For the Fallen

≪ Previous: Performers Without Borders (or safety nets)

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 for Clive Carter, Chairman of Wiltshire Building Records, who is painstakingly plotting the former farms on which our town is built.

And put your hands together for Jan Flanagan. Jan is not only recording the history of the Wilts and Berks Canal but she is also creating an archive of Swindon's brickyards and brick makers.

Take a bow Mike Pringle, arts and heritage maestro, who in recent months secured a £30,000 Heritage Lottery Fund to help develop a dedicated Trust at the birthplace of celebrated nature writer, Richard Jefferies. Mike is also one of the key figures behind the Swindon in the Great War project with a whole raft of innovative events lined up to commemorate the 2014 centenary.

Next in the line up is poet Hilda Sheehan, the driving force of the poetry scene in Swindon, already burning the midnight oil as she plans next year's Swindon Festival of Poetry - with a dash of heritage thrown in!

Have you heard about Alfred Williams, Swindon's Hammerman Poet? If you have it's probably thanks to Graham Carter, editor of Swindon Heritage, who regularly gives talks about his own personal hero.

Students at the Commonweal School have just returned from a visit to the Great War battlefields and cemeteries in the company of Mark Sutton. Mark has spent a lifetime researching and commemorating Swindon's sons who served. Three cheers for Mark!

Next we have the unsung heroes of the local history groups and societies.

Stand up please, Andy, Diane and Bob from the Swindon Society who give talks to groups and societies across the town on subjects as diverse as the Beaney collection and A Man With A Stick. Then there's Gordon, Sharon, Brenda - and not forgetting Ernie - with their walks and talks about and around Rodbourne.

And don't think I've finished there - let's take a trip to Wroughton where Hilary, Alan, Danny and company have garnered material for no fewer than nine books on the history of their village. And Sheridan in Royal Wootton Bassett, we salute you. Meanwhile over in Chiseldon Lynn, Elaine and members of the local history group are gearing up for the unveiling of the Chiseldon Cauldron.

From Purton to Highworth and beyond, members of the Swindon and District History Network are researching, writing and recording the history of this neck of the woods. And how much do they earn from this - the clue is in the job title - volunteer.

So there we are - consider yourself named!