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Swindon in the Great War
Celebrate the launch of Swindon in the Great Warwiththe formal unveiling and dedication of theSanford Street School Roll of Honour MemorialThe memorial and its significance to Radnor Street Cemetery -...
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East End Preservation Society
Regular readers of this blog may wonder why I'm including a reference to the newly inaugurated East End Preservation Society... but then you may already know of my passion for the marvelous...
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Christmas 1940
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...
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Christmas 1910
If you battled yesterday's atrocious weather conditions to get home for Christmas, read about the Rebbeck family Christmas 113 years ago. When Albert Rebbeck travelled home to Wiltshire in 1910 the...
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..dreaming of a White Christmas..
If you were dreaming of a White Christmas, spare a thought for the folk of 1881. In January 1881 Britain witnessed hitherto unparalleled weather conditions and The Times reported 'a walk across London...
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Some models of respectability
While changes in welfare benefits and public sector pensions dominated the headlines in 2013, in 1909 the news was much better. The new old age pension came into effect on January 1, 1909 with...
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Frederick Gee - 'a painful sensation in the town'
Late afternoon on Tuesday April 14, 1896, a gang of five Swindon platelayers were engaged on some repairs to the line in the Sapperton tunnel, some four miles east of Stroud, between Swindon and...
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Rosa, Mabel and Florence Clarke
Debt collecting might not be an obvious career choice for genteel ladies but by 1915 the old social order was on the way out as women took to the streets demanding equality and the vote.In 1903...
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Geoffrey Drew - Architect
Following my post yesterday about the Clarke sisters and 57 Victoria Road, Brian Carter has contacted me with the story of another occupant of this once elegant property.Thanks, Frances, for an...
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Adopt a Tommy
Ironically the dedication on the official Swindon Roll of Honour reads 'Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out, Their Name Liveth For Evermore.' Whilst it might not be exactly blotted out, the...
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Jon Ratcliffe
Today is Jon Ratcliffe's last day behind the enquiry desk in Local Studies at Swindon Central Library as the busy department is reduced to one full time post and one part time.Jon has worked with the...
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Southbrook Inn
Regulars at the Southbrook Inn may be unaware that their favourite watering hole was once a dairy farm. In 1986 the 18thcentury building received a Grade II listing but a farm has stood on this site...
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Mattresses, blankets, sheets, quilts and coverlets.
Local newspapers can be a wonderful resource for the family historian, especially if a well to do ancestor hits upon hard times.The King family roots in the parish of Lydiard Tregoze date back to the...
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Love birds, hearts and Cupid's arrow
The summer of 2008 saw the BBC's Antiques Roadshow set up camp in the grounds of Lanhydrock, a country house in Cornwall where a piece of Lydiard Tregoze local history made a surprise appearance.Expert...
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Market Hall
Today in the East End of London a group of dedicated people are trying to save the Smithfield General Market Hall -'Behold the winged lion on the Holborn Viaduct looking down protectively upon the...
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Bradley - Building on a Name
During the 1930s building contractor E.H. Bradley was averaging more than 300 houses a year - and they also built Avebury stone circle as well!In 1939 when marmalade millionaire Alexander Keiller,...
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Holy Rood Church, Swindon
When Swindon Corporation bought the old Goddard mansion house and 52 acres of parkland, it also acquired the ruins of Holy Rood Church, the town's original parish church. In 1947 the borough surveyor...
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Hunt's Copse Farm, South Marston
Pigs might not fly but they certainly caused confusion on the runway at the South Marston airfield, built in 1940 to serve an aircraft factory on the same site. One persistent escapee proved to be a...
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Guided Walks - Radnor Street Cemetery
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has recently erected new signage at Radnor Street Cemetery where work continues apace to commemorate the centenary of the Great War.The Community Payback Team is...
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Ebenezer Humphrey Jones
Family historians grow accustomed to unearthing the occasional coincidence, but I was unprepared for a connection between the nearby Wiltshire parish of Lydiard Tregoze and my husband's family in...
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