Swindon is full of bright and interesting characters and has even more of an interesting history, but few are as vibrant as Hannah Dosanjh, who is keeping that history alive with books.

Hannah, 55, was a teacher in West London but moved to Swindon 20 years ago due to her husband’s job at Nationwide and subsequently went into a career of art.

“When we moved here, it was just fantastic. I realised that people who gave Swindon a bad press were wrong,” she remarked.

“I also realised just how significant Swindon’s history is and it became my mission to tell people they were mistaken on the negative stereotypes of the town.”

Granted it took some time, but Hannah came good on her promise when she had the idea to write a book on Swindon’s history.

“During lockdown I had time to do my history research. There were hundreds of books on Swindon’s history but none for children,” she explained.

“I realised I needed to write the story of Swindon for children.”

It was not just books that were in abundance though, as Hannah had to sift through thousands of photographs during her research too, which inspired many of the Swindon-themed illustrations.

“The local studies section at Swindon libraries have thousands of amazing photographs on offer from the 1890s onwards,” said Hannah.

“I like looking at old photos and trying to imagine what life must have been like back then.”

Swindon Advertiser: Hannah's illustrated page covering the Juvenile Fete.Hannah's illustrated page covering the Juvenile Fete. (Image: Hannah Dosanjh)

One specific area of Swindon’s history that Hannah looked at was the Juvenile Fete, which was an annual event run by the Mechanics' Institute.

Around 38,000 people would attend, and it was held in the GWR Park.

“Children attending would get a free slice of cake and a cup of tea,” informed Hannah.

“So much was happening with all of these people crammed into this park and I have tried to capture that with my illustration of the scene.”

When she is not delving into the depths of Swindon’s past, Hannah paints and illustrates pictures mainly of people and animals.

“I always like to include colour and humour in all of my illustrations,” explained Hannah.

“There’s usually animals, food and alcohol in my work!”

The book took Hannah almost two years to complete due to the level of research but also because of her insistence of illustrating it herself.

“I had to do all of my own drawings to bring the story of Swindon’s past to life,” she said.

Hannah has also painted a mural outside the Mechanics Institute, representing culture, showing that her creative side now often comes hand in hand with her interactions with the town itself.

“The two panels either side are reproductions of work done by pupils of Lethbridge primary and Even Swindon school who I worked with last July,” she said of the mural.

Swindon Advertiser: Hannah's mural outside the Mechanics Institution.Hannah's mural outside the Mechanics Institution. (Image: Hannah Dosanjh)

Her art reaches far and wide, but Hannah also wishes that her historian side will also have a big impact on the residents of Swindon via her book.

“I hope my book encourages people to take a real interest in their surroundings,” she added.

As for the future, Hannah has not ruled out a sequel to her maiden book after admitting her passion for history has grown and grown during the last two years.

“At the moment it is just the one book, but I definitely plan to write more,” she exclaimed.

“I would say it is now 50/50 between my interest in art and social history.”

Her self-published book, ‘How Bright ideas Built a Railway Town called Swindon’, is being sold across several local venues across the town including Bert’s Books and Magnum Wine shop, as well as her website.