This week marks the 32nd anniversary of the opening of Shaw Ridge Leisure Park in Swindon.

Although the site, located on Whitehill Way, has several restaurants and activities to visit these days, the centre opened with less back in 1990.

One of these was the 32 tenpin bowling lanes, initially called the Super Bowl and then later renamed to the Mega Bowl in 2000.

Richard Wintle, 71, was a photographer at the time who covered the initial opening of the leisure centre as well as further developments in the years thereafter.

“I followed the development of Shaw Ridge complex and saw the opening of the tenpin bowling and the Cairo nightclub,” he said.

“It was a needed development as there were a lot of houses springing up in the western area with very little local facilities.”

“It became the hub and entertainment complex of West Swindon.”

After having a long and illustrious career spanning over 40 years supplying local, regional and national papers with his photographs, Richard still remembers the opening fondly as well as the implementation of the Diana Dors statue two years later.

“The statue was and still is very much central to the complex,” said Richard.

“In recent documentaries on Diana, the statue appears often, and it is a nice showing of a local star.”

Diana Dors was a Swindon-born Hollywood star who was described as a blonde bombshell in the style of other icons from the time such as Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

Her statue was erected outside the complex on Friday, June 14, 1991, as it was where the local cinema was located, and both the statue and cinema remain at the site today.

“The statue arrived standing up on the back of a lorry and a week later Diana’s son Jason and her daughter Ruby unveiled the statue,” recalled Richard.

The statue is a bronze creation by John Clinch and most believe that it captures Diana perfectly, being a great homage to one of Swindon’s most famous daughters.

“Clinch went to town on an exaggerated version of the blonde bombshell in her heyday, bursting out of the regulation decollate evening gown, nipples akimbo,” noted Germaine Greer in a Guardian article from 2008.

“When the sculpture fell into disrepair and the council was preparing to scrap it, devoted fans raised enough to restore it.”

Alongside the cinema, bowling and statue, visitors can find a Pizza Hut, Laser Quest and more as the centre continues to go strong after three decades.