REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2019: September and October saw Morrisons setback and councillors trade blows

Perhaps the most famous and successful artist the town has produced, Ken has a body of work which includes pioneering street murals, paintings of Railway Works scenes and designs for Virgin aircraft seen all over the world.

Richard Branson famously spotted a full colour advert taken out by Bayer, showing Ken standing in front of his 1976 mural of the Golden Lion Bridge painted onto the gable end of a house.

The entrepreneur wanted Ken to paint murals in Virgin Record stores across the globe, keeping him on an £18,000 retainer. He was told: “You work for me now. If I phone, you have to be there.”

Then, in the early 1980s, he was asked to paint a Scarlet Lady design – reminiscent of the pin up girls daubed onto World War Two bombers – that would be reproduced on the noses of Virgin Atlantic’s aircraft.

Ken drew up several designs and presented them to Virgin directors, each of whom took Ken’s Lady home.

The Virgin Scarlet Lady made her maiden voyage in 1984.

The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery exhibition featured more recent works, including landscapes painted by Ken on a trip to the Gower peninsula in south Wales.

Asked at the exhibition launch for his advice for budding young artists, Ken told the Adver: “Just keep going. Have a direction and commit to it.

“My son, who’s here tonight, he’s doing freshwater biology. We had a pond in the garden from the time he was eight.

“I was the same – with art. I had a picture in the Adver when I was 10 or 11, a painting of a clown.”

SEPTEMBER: YOUNG bookworms are picked up a new craze which saw them find and hide books for each other across town.

More than 600 people have joined the Children’s Books of Swindon Facebook group set up by Gemma Hedges.

Each book was hidden in a plastic folder or bag alongside a note saying: “Yay! You found me!

“Well done for finding me. Take me home and read.

“Once read please re-hide me for someone else to find. Don’t forget to post your picture on Our Facebook page.”

Gemma, a mum-of-two from Pinehurst, said: “I’d seen this going around elsewhere. I thought it would be an amazing thing to bring to Swindon.

“I set this group up on August 8 and it has grown into something I couldn’t even imagine.

“So many people have become involved and children are enjoying it so much.

“As a mother of two young children I know how hard it is to find something that the children enjoy and won’t cost a lot to do.

“This is the perfect mixture; it gets children out into the fresh air and gets them happy about it.

“I think it brings a sense of community for everyone involved. It’s great to see everyone coming together and children getting involved and excited about reading, which is the main goal. I think it also teaches children about sharing - getting them involved to hide books they no longer read for other children to enjoy and thinking of others.”

SEPTEMBER: More than 1,000 people signed a protest petition after Morrisons announced its Regent Circus development branch was to close in November.

The petition was organised by Eastcott Liberal Democrat councillor Stan Pajak, who said: “I’ve been really blown away by the level of support we’ve had.

“We only had the petition in the store and been here outside some days.

“It shows how much people want to keep the shop here. It’s a real hub for the area.

“People come and use the cafe and meet their friends. It sells anything you can need and the staff are amazingly friendly.

“When it opened it was a very prestigious thing for the centre of town, and it would be a real blow to lose it.

“Town centres are struggling, and it’s very important we try to keep this store open.

“It provides 1,000 jobs for local people as well.”

Morrisons’ closure announcement was greeted by widespread dismay, not least because it meant the loss of an anchor business at the Regent Circus site, which only opened a few years ago.

Coun Pajak said: “I spoke to Morrisons head office and was told a final decision has yet to be made and the consultation is continuing.

“Our petition will have an effect.”

Sadly, the councillor proved to be wrong, and the closure went ahead.

OCTOBER: A pair of political heavyweights slugged it out in the ring for the chance to be named Swindon’s toughest councillor.

Dale Heenan and Bazil Solomon managed a round and a half at MECA.

Victory went to Coun Heenan through a technical knock-out.

After Coun Solomon’s mouthguard got stuck, he struggled to breathe and was forced to withdraw.

As Coun Heenan was declared the winner and had his arm held high, mayor Kevin Parry joked of Coun Solomon: “He said he was going to bring the fight to the Conservatives.

“Not being political, but he failed. He couldn’t knock the skin off a rice pudding.”

Both councillors proved good sports. Despite losing on the technicality, Coun Solomon said after the fight: “I landed a few hits and he landed a few.”

Promoter Richard Loveday of Tank Productions said it was the first time he was aware of politicians taking to the ring to settle their differences.

The bout raised funds for the mayor’s chosen charities - Swindon’s Cancer and Leukaemia Movement and the Swindon and Wiltshire Deaf Children’s Society.

The night was the idea of the mayor, a boxer in his youth who remained a devoted fan of the sport.

When the mayor said he planned to put on a fundraising fight night, Coun Heenan joked about taking part.

“Bazil and I have some history politically, so I suggested we go three rounds,” he said.

That political history went back to April, when Coun Heenan accused the then Eldene, Liden and Park South ward councillor hopeful Bazil of copying the wording in a Facebook post by the Conservative urging residents to vote for him.

Mr Solomon denied lifting Coun Heenan’s words saying: “We talk the same language, we use the same sort of words.”

OCTOBER: The Great Western Brick Show - a two-day celebration of all things Lego - returned to Steam.

About 6,000 fans of all ages came along to be amazed by spectacular displays created by members of the Brickish Association, the club for adult Lego enthusiasts.

Co-organiser Martin Long said: “The Great Western Brick Show is all about people bringing their own models and creations and showing them off to the public.

“A lot of the models here are privately owned, so they are here on public display for the first time.”

“It’s all about celebrating what you can do with Lego bricks - because the bricks actually haven’t significantly changed since they were first introduced in 1958.

“They’re a wonderful thing because you can build something new every day.”

Creations ranged from smaller individual models of aircraft, to railway displays and large city scenes with moving parts and intricate details.

Highlights included a large scale model to mark the 200 year anniversary of the Peterloo massacre in which 18 people were killed during a Manchester protest demanding parliamentary reform.

One of the displays covered six tables.

Called Bushwood Station, it featured the Swindon Works weighbridge and included an exact replica of the Swindon-built King George V locomotive.

The full-size King George V, of course, is a museum exhibit.

Builder Paul Robinson said: “That train was my inspiration behind this creation.

“It’s part of my heritage – I’m from Swindon and I see the Weighbridge building every day going to work.

“The trains take a particularly long time to build. You often have to take them apart and rebuild them many times to see what works.”