SWINDON Museum's Apsley House home may have been sold off to become a restaurant and shops, but memories of its former occupants can still be found in the archives of the Adver - including its much-loved 'crocodile'.

These images were taken between the 1960s and 1980s and show staff working on the collections, visitors enjoying the displays and some of the most popular artefacts.

The Bath Road building shut during the Covid pandemic and never re-opened.

Plans for a new £22m gallery and museum on the site of the Wyvern car park were announced in 2016 and a bid for £12m lottery funding was submitted. But it was rejected the following year.

With the arrival of Covid the borough council said it would move the collections to a temporary home in the Civic Offices.

It put the listed building up for sale after offering community groups a chance to bid. None came forward and South Swindon Parish Council said it couldn't afford the £1.1m needed to get it in shape.

Property Developer Arthur Dallimer bought the building and plans to create a restaurant, co-work space and five shops.