The Swindon Advertiser Review of the Year

Shortly after leaving school he was interviewed for a different job at the Kingsdown brewery, but moved into a delivery role after10 months.

Jon, 57, said: “I heard there jobs going so I wanted to give it a try.

“They sent me there the day after the interview and I’ve never looked back. It’s been a good life.

“I love being outdoors and on the road, meeting a lot of different and interesting people.

“Every day is different. I’ve made so many friends and the staff here feel like family.

“It’s a very demanding job - it’s like going to the gym - but I take it all in my stride and I’ve not had any bad backs or injuries.

“The time has flown by; it does not feel like it’s been 40 years. I still look forward to work every day and hope to keep going until I retire.”

Jon estimated that during his four decades with the brewery he had delivered half a million barrels of Arkell’s beer to pubs across the Swindon and Wiltshire area, visiting the pubs more than 60,000 times.

He added: “Arkell’s has grown so much over the years, so it’s been great to visit new areas and meet new landlords as they add more and more pubs.

“The brewery has changed for the better - it’s a lot more modern and improved in every way.

“I enjoyed my early days in there but I love driving. I’ve been all over Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.

“I like all the Arkells pubs but my favourite is probably the Tawny Owl. It’s my local. My favourite beer is the Hoperation IPA.”

Head brewer Alex Arkell said: “We are thrilled to celebrate Jon’s 40th year of service with us.”

JULY: Swindon’s newest mural was unveiled near the Wyvern Theatre.

Called My Town, My World, it features warm colours, a quote from Swindon author Richard Jefferies about locality, and a great bustard – a bird that represents Swindon and Wiltshire.

It was the brainchild of Artsite and paid for by businesses through the inSwindon BID organisation.

Swindon-born street artist Martin Travers, who runs educational programmes in Amsterdam and Kathmandu travelled back to Swindon to work on the mural.

He worked alongside Peter Crowdy who lives in the town.

Peter said: “I was excited to have an opportunity like this in my town, and especially to work with Martin.

“When I saw his work, I was really excited for the opportunity.”

The mural was first planned to be at Aspen House but after Swindon Borough Council sold the property, Regent Close was chosen.

Peter said: “We wanted to highlight elements of Swindon that were positive, to give a sense of hope and positivity for the future.”

The quote by Richard Jefferies, the Victorian nature writer often said to be the town’s most famous literary export, runs: “If every plant and flower were found in all places, the charm of locality would not exist.

“Everything varies, and that gives the interest.”

Swindon, thanks largely to celebrated artist Ken White, helped to pioneer street murals in the 1970s.

JULY: A six-year-old Swindon gardener called Michael managed to produce a sunflower with 20 heads.

His mum, Helen Ashby, revealed that the freakish plant might not have survived long enough to sprout quite so many had she not removed it from the firing line of stray footballs.

Michael’s creation was born from a single potted seed, which he brought home from his school, Swindon Academy.

When an Adver reporter met the young horticulturalist, he had a big smile on his face and was full of pride as he demonstrated his deft technique with a watering can.

Helen said: “As more heads started appearing, I was really shocked. Everyone has been really amazed by how many heads there are.”

Michael brought the sunflower home in June and repotted it to let it grow.

Once it started getting bigger, he and Helen changed the stick that was holding it up to match its height.

Helen said: “It was so small. We had it at home for a while and then, because Michael likes to play football, we had to move it to my mum’s and dad’s.”

Helen recalled the reaction of Michael’s teacher, Stefan Grabianski, when he saw the sunflower.

“He was amazed. It made him feel good because he gave them the seeds. So we also got given another one which is not as big.”

Michael has become a keen grower after the success of his sunflower, and tried his hand with a trickier species - a Venus flytrap.

AUGUST: RAF servicewoman Laura Powell lifted a haul of medals at her first national games for injured and sick veterans.

It was a significant victory for the operations flight planner from Coate, as she wasn’t interested in the Invictus Trials at Sheffield until being inspired by friends who took part in the Sydney Games last year.

After winning four medals - bronze in the 100-metre run and recumbent cycling, silver in the 200m run and a gold in wheelchair basketball - at the trials, she set her sights on next year’s games proper at The Hague.

In October it was revealed that she had made the 2020 squad.

Brize Norton-based Laura was diagnosed with a tumour after she broke her rib sneezing in 2014.

She said: “I started out in the RAF in 2003, then through getting ill recently I became eligible for Invictus. I went to a trial weekend with a friend and I said, ‘no that’s not for me’.

“It was too soon after surgery.

“My friend then went on to go to the Sydney games and won some medals, with other friends that I met along the way who were heavily involved, and from seeing them succeed and telling their stories, I then went for it after my last surgery.

“The trials I went to is almost like a checkpoint. Through the whole application process, you have to tick certain boxes, get to certain checkpoints. The first was the paperwork , then it was a trial weekend.

“From there you were then eligible to do the Trials in Sheffield to then be able to go to the next checkpoint, which is another weekend, which will eventually lead on to the Hague Games in the Netherlands next year.

“I wasn’t expecting anything.

“I thought I was just going to go and do something. Day one, 100m, straight into the finals and I won the bronze. Straight away I hit that euphoria of ‘oh this is really exciting’ so it all started from my first event, the first morning.”

AUGUST: A Wiltshire police gun amnesty brought in a haul of weapons.

They included an AK-47, an airgun resembling a sniper rifle and a rifle which would not have been out of place on a First World War battlefield.

Thanking those who had disposed of weapons at police stations across the county, Insp Paul Saunders said: “Firearms can have devastating consequences in the wrong hands, whether that is the hands of criminals, children, or vulnerable people.”

In total, 65 firearms were handed-in during the two-week amnesty.

They included shotguns, BB guns, starting pistols and muzzle-loaders.

Police were also given 82 knives, two canisters of pepper spray and a can of irritant Mace.

Insp Saunders, responsible for armed policing in the Wiltshire force, said the surrender meant there were 65 fewer unwanted or unlicensed firearms in the county.

He added: “Wiltshire is largely a rural county. We know there are people who legally own or collect firearms.

“During these two weeks we have been appealing to them to think about the safety of their guns: how they store them, who could have access, where they are using them and how they are transporting them.

“The items handed in during the surrender have demonstrated how air guns, something you do not ordinarily require a licence for, are designed to look very similar to live firearms and, if not handled carefully or seen by the public, could trigger a full police firearms response.

“The majority of firearms collected will be destroyed.

“However, some will be kept for training purposes and other antique items are likely to be passed to museums for them to display.”

Many of the weapons were antiques - war trophies or collectibles handed down through the generations.