Archive
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We’ll rebuild lovely cottage, say couple
A COUPLE whose thatched cottage burnt down as they looked on helplessly have vowed to restore their chocolate-box home to its former glory. Alf and Gloss Harmer have been inundated with offers of a place to stay from complete strangers following the
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£250k cash bonanza in local attics
FAMILIES in Swindon have shown that cash really is in the attic as oriental items found stuffed away have fetched almost £250,000. Four families living in and around Swindon have taken various items of oriental china and furniture to the Kidson-Trigg
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Find out about your tenancy
TENANTS and leaseholders are invited to Swindon Council’s housing information event today. Council tenants will be able to raise queries about their tenancy with dedicated staff. There will be plenty of information available, along with the chance to
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Come along to the dojo
A NINJITSU club is looking for new faces after opening up a permanent dojo on Cheney Manor Industrial Estate recently. Bujin Martial Arts is based at Unit 68, Pembroke Centre and the chief instructor is Paul Stubbs, who has some 20 years’ experience
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Doggy day out at summer fete
DOG owners can display their pets’ talents at an upcoming event. The 2010 Watchfield Summer Fete and Dog Show will be held at the Watchfield Recreation Ground on June 5 from 1pm. The day includes a fun fair, companion dog show, car boot
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Poet's words to be brought to life
THE WORDS of a Swindon poet who died in November will be brought to life again during an evening of music at Christ Church in Old Town on Sunday. Dorothy French’s poem The Journey, which has been set to music by young organist Peter Eyles, will be sung
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Village actors offer seaside special
VILLAGE actors are hoping their latest offering will have something to suit every taste. Shrivenham Amateur Dramatic Society is presenting A Little of What You Fancy: Seaside Summer Revue at Shrivenham Memorial Hall, on Highworth Road, Shrivenham
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Letter from Des Morgan
YOUR correspondent Sue Lawford makes an interesting observation with regard to the fact that Swindon’s new MPs were voted into office by only 43 per cent of the town’s population (SA, May 12), I suspect she means 43 per cent of those who voted. However
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Late night at the museum
SWINDON Museum and Art Gallery is keeping its doors open late tomorrow in celebration of a national event. Museums at Night is a national campaign, showcasing the unique and vibrant museums, galleries, heritage sites, libraries and archives in the UK
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Letter from Peter Smith
DES Morgan refers to “a former chairman of the IPCC” being critical of that organisation’s overstatement of the impact of climate change. If Des means Robert Watson he should have quoted him properly. Watson says that to say the minor errors reported
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Letter from Greg Dunningham
RECENTLY I have become aware of the simple fact that just because it says 'lift' on a door it does not mean you have to actually lift it. Labels are things we sometimes read but never actually see properly. In a previous letter I detailed some of the
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Letter from Chris Youett
THE Friends of Swindon Railway Museum have kindly invited me to give another show featuring copies of early colour slides taken in West Wales on Monday at 7.15pm. If any of your readers have colour slides of the GWR and (later) Western Region taken in
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Letter from Spencer Bailey
YOUR newspaper very kindly ran a letter from Deafness Research UK on Tinnitus recently. This is fantastic, but we have discovered the telephone number was issued incorrectly in some of the original letters and I wonder if this could be amended? We all
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Pub night to bring back wartime spirit
THE SPIRIT of the Second World War is set to return to the village of Lyneham during a 1940s pub night in aid of Help for Heroes on Saturday, May 22. The ‘live exhibition’ at the White Hart, which will feature activities and artifacts from the era,
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Letter from Neil Cullen
I AGREE with J Marsiglia (SA, May 10) that the Jury’s Inn roundabouts can be tricky, and I sympathise. When not chauffeuring Madagascar Mayors’ Mountain Motorcycles (SA, page 15, May 10) I’m a DAS Approved Driving Instructor (ADI). Although this location
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Neive in the running to be the new baby face of Disney
NEIVE Donaldson, at just eight months, has taken the first step towards becoming the new baby face of Disney. Beating 7,000 other babies, Neive won the regional heat in Disney’s national competition, Magical Moments. Mum Emma, 26, from Redhouse, Swindon
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‘Heart of Old Town’ shutting its doors
A STORE described as ‘the heart of Old Town’ is set to close after trading for 13 years, despite support from dozens of loyal customers. Shoppers at Top Drug in Wood Street pledged to organise a protest when they heard their favourite shop would probably
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Car wash fun aids premature babies
TOTS at Busy Bees nursery pulled on their wellies and waterproof coats of a charity car wash. The little helpers may have got wetter than the cars they were cleaning but that didn’t stop them raking in the cash in aid of the Bliss charity, which provides
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Artists show work
Five local artists are staging a spring exhibition at the Inkspot art shop in Edgeware Road Craig Tilley is showing acrylic paintings of steam engines and racing cars, Michael Freeman has a more modern approach, while Carole Wakefield uses acrylics
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Julie's innovation takes the pressure off for community nurses
NURSE Julie Young has become a hero among her colleagues after saving them from a life of occupational aches and pains. Julie, 52, of Verulam Close, Coleview, turned inventor a year ago to create a kneeling rest, sparing her the knee and back
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‘You helped jail would-be dealer’
POLICE have thanked a local community in Swindon for helping them get a potential drug dealer jailed. Officers have said that it is purely down to intelligence gleaned from people in the Brookdene area that they were able to gather enough information
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Play-off ticket update
TOWN have sold more than 13,000 tickets for Friday night's League One play-off semi-final first leg against Charlton at the County Ground. The remaining tickets are selling quickly, and supporters can purchase a seat by calling Ticket Zone on 01271 335716
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No need to panic...
No need to Panic! Watching the Wycombe game away last Saturday, it could have been easy to concede that our season is falling down the drain, with our players cracking under the pressure and expectation that has come with with the promotion push.
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De Vere saves wedding day
A COUPLE, whose wedding dreams were shattered after the hotel they booked for their reception went bust, are celebrating after finding a new venue. Hotels flooded the offices of the Swindon Advertiser with calls offering to help after reading
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Triathlon in memory of airman Brian
SHE proudly wore his watch for the London Marathon and now Pauline Griffiths-Jeans plans to complete a triathlon in memory of her airman nephew Brian Connell. Swindon-born Brian was killed in an unexplained car accident while patrolling the Iraq-Kuwait
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Welcome Express, Swindon
I COULDN’T remember the name of the Chinese takeaway in Devizes Road, so I took a stroll around there, and I was glad I had. Not only did I discover that it served all kinds of Oriental dishes – not just Chinese – but also that it was beautifully
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The Feathers, Woodstock
OF ALL the gin joints in all the towns in all the world . . . you don’t expect to find one in Woodstock. But the rather refined Cotswold town has what it claims to be the UK’s first ever gin bar. We visited for a press event which included
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Sounds around town with Dave Franklin
Okay, so I had a bit of a rant last week, but I have taken the medication and calmed down a bit and so expect a balanced and restrained article this week. Though I will probably be back to my sarcastic self when the pills wear off. So here we go then
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Cheerful in Champagne
IT IS probably fair to say that within my circle of friends and family I’m known for liking drinks that have bubbles in them. So with five million bubbles in every bottle of champagne it is obviously at the top of my favourite tipples list, and the chance
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Spotlight on the Heretics with Sam Lee
Following last week’s general election, it looks as though there could well still be some uncertain times ahead of us. But I’m pretty sure there’s an old wives’ tale that says the best music always comes out of bad times. If that’s true, this could turn
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Curtains up and clothes off
THEY are among some of the best known faces in the UK but the cast of Calendar Girls have been showing audiences a lot more during the show’s tour. The play, which runs at the Bristol Hippodrome from May 17 - 22, is based on the real life tale of a
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Spoonfuls of silliness
WHILE his fellow comedians such as Joe Pasquale and Jim Davidson revel in the fact that the audience are just a hair’s-breadth away at the Wyvern Theatre, Stewart Francis isn’t convinced. He rather they were that bit further away. “I don’t know if that
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This is just for you Johnny
THE music of legendary musician Johnny Cash will be coming to life at the Arts Centre this week, courtesy of Roger Dean. Roger and his band The Lazy Boys are bringing The Johnny Cash Story, a homage to the life and music of the American legend, to Swindon
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Rest for Howell
DAVID Howell has chosen to take a break from competitive European Tour action with the BMW Championship at Wentworth just days away. The Swindon star, whose inconsistent form of late has seen him record both top 20 finishes and failures to make the cut
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BOWLS: Wiltshire ladies face Cornish contest
WILTSHIRE Women begin their competitive county campaign when they face Cornwall next week. They will play the Duchy County in their opening South Western Counties League match on the neutral green at Topsham, Exeter on Tuesday, May 18. The
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Packed house for poet laureate
IT WAS a proud moment for Swindon and in particular, for the Swindon Festival of Literature, when poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy came to town. Of course, it’s not the first time she’s been here – back in the late 1980s, she was the town’s poet in residence
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BOWLS: Mixed match
SWINDON & District Men’s Bowling Association endured mixed fortunes at the weekend in their double header against district sides from Hampshire. Their representative team produced a superb comeback in the final quarter at Swindon Bowls Club against Portsmouth
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Become a county champion
THE Wiltshire Darts Open takes place on Saturday, May 22 at the Phoenex Bar in Wootton Bassett. Entry is £10 with the winner picking up a guaranteed £750 and the runner-up scooping £300. Cash prizes are paid right down to the losing quarter-finalists
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Woman falls from multi-storey car park in Swindon
A WOMAN who fell from a multi-storey carpark in Swindon last night is said to not have life threatening injuries. Police and ambulance crews were called to the Islington Street car park in the town centre shortly after 5pm following concerns
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World Cup fever at Supermarine
AN elite football World Cup six-a-side tournament will be held at Swindon Supermarine on Saturday. Teams can enter online and the sides that take part will battle it out to win a replica World Cup trophy. All finalists will win official
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RUGBY LEAGUE: St George crushed by Giants
SWINDON St George began their league campaign with a 44-4 defeat to Guildford Giants. Swindon travelled to Guildford missing key players, and with the hosts having a full strength squad, the game looked a tough prospect for the Dragonslayers
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Bassett youngsters celebrate superb season
OVER 150 boys and girls, aged between six and 12, from Wootton Bassett Rugby Club’s minis section were presented with trophies by Gloucester and England Under 20 international Jonny May at their annual presentation day. AWARD WINNERS Under
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Rampant Ciren retain cup
CIRENCESTER finished a successful season by retaining the Stroud and District Senior Cup after a comprehensive 48-12 defeat of Painswick. Solid phase play from the forwards created space for the backs and led to three early tries, including
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Dad attacked boy who had been bullying his son
A DAD who took the law into his own hands and attacked a 15-year-old he thought was bullying his son has been ordered to do community service. Dustyn Finch pulled the youngster to the ground and punched him twice as he ran into a supermarket to try and
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Sevens heaven
CIRENCESTER Rugby Club’s youth department celebrated the end of the season with its rugby sevens tournament at the Whiteway. Teams from every age group between Under 11s and Under 18s took part in the event, in which matches lasted 10 minutes. In the
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CRAIG EASTON COLUMN: No joy in battle for second promotion seat
VICTORY in our last home game against Brentford set up a nail-biting fight for second place against Millwall at the New Den last Saturday. As always, the atmosphere was brilliant with both sets of fans believing their side would go up with
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Bodin - Seize your chance
PAUL Bodin has urged Swindon’s current crop of players to grasp their chance of playing at Wembley, with play-off fever bringing back some pleasant memories for the County Ground legend. The former Welsh international was part of the Swindon
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Role models
DANNY Wilson believes Town can use Blackpool as an inspiration for their own play-off semi-finals. The Seasiders completed a memorable two-legged victory over Nottingham Forest earlier this week to book their place at Wembley and now stand
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Dogs stolen from home
TWO hunting dogs famed for their trapping and coursing abilities have been stolen from a family’s garden. Rachel Pickford, who lives in Chiseldon and owns three lurchers – a mix between a greyhound and a terrier – says two of her dogs, Jinx and Sketch
