SWINDON has terrible coffee.

That was what Isambard Kingdom Brunel thought of the hot beverages served in the waiting room at the town's station, according to Andrew Kelly.

Mr Kelly, who was joined by Melanie Kelly, was giving a talk on their book Brunel: In Love With The Impossible, as part of the literature festival.

The audience at the Steam Museum laughed as Mr Kelly told the story of how passengers were forced to leave the train at Swindon, but the coffee was notoriously bad.

The book, which contains essays from 13 authors and more than 400 illustrations, looks at Brunel and his effect on the south west.

And Melanie thinks if it wasn't for the iconic image of the engineer standing in front of the huge chains at Bristol Docks he wouldn't have achieved the fame he has.

"We don't have any pictures like that of Robert Stevenson, who was also an important engineer of the time," she said.

"If we didn't have that picture, I think you can speculate that he wouldn't hold the importance he does now."

The couple also invited people to look in their lofts for the missing two volumes of Brunel's diaries.

"You'd be a very happy person if you found those," said Andrew.

Stephanie Tye