An Australian tourist who visited Swindon as part of a UK-wide holiday says she will not visit the town again after being handed a fine for driving in bus lane.Helen Haywood, from Tasmania, said that she sees the Penzance Drive bus lane as a “money-making
PEOPLE in Swindon must not be afraid to report online abuse, Wiltshire Police have stressed.It comes after recent news that online hate crimes are to be treated as seriously as abuse committed face-to-face.Under new guidelines issued by the Crown Prosecution
POLICE are searching for a 55-year-old man who has gone missing from his home in Highworth.Clifford Pulley, described as a white male, approximately 5 ft 10 inches tall, of medium build and with dark hair, was reported missing this afternoon.He was wearing
WEDDING winners Gemma Cook and Sean Enevoldsen tied the knot at the weekend in a special ceremony laid on by Swindon Borough Council. They were the first couple to win a free marriage service in a competition staged at last year’s wedding fair
INDUSTRIAL relations were seldom far from our news pages this week in 1972. On the Monday, Pressed Steel Fisher car body plant workers held a mass meeting at the County Ground car park. There was only one item on the agenda – whether or not
IT is 60 years and a day since a young Cricklade man reacted to a tragedy by preventing a disaster.On Wednesday, August 21, 1957, we wrote: “Passengers on an express train to Paddington yesterday were unaware that the driver, a Swindon man, had dropped
A YOUTH arrested after a night of thefts committed with three other young men told magistrates of his desire to stay out of trouble in the future and learning to be a mechanic. The 16-year-old from Swindon was given a referral order by youth magistrates
RAILWAY cat Garfield was feline fine and back in his favourite place at the weekend and greeting his public. The popular ginger moggy, who likes to make friends with visitors and volunteers at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, had to undergo veterinary
THE final phase of maintenance work being carried out in Akers Way is soon to begin, with the entire project expected to be completed by the end of September.The current phase of the work should be partially completed by Thursday, August 24 to give Nova
The owner of a Gorse Hill Indian takeaway and restaurant, who claimed to have had 20 years owning his business without any previous issue, had previously been found guilty in court of breaching food safety laws on two separate occasions. Malak
The countdown to Charlie Dawson’s epic mountain climb has begun. SUE BRADLEY discovers how he’s ready for a fight BATTLER Charlie Dawson is yet to scale South Wales’ highest peak in his bid to raise a total of £10,500 for a new powered wheelchair
I MET with three very inspiring women this week. Julie Rose and Michelle and Sarah Cowell have written a compelling novel about their families’ struggle with drug addiction. The novel, called Tenacity, explores their struggles to get their
NOBODY could accuse Swindon of failing to do its bit to tackle childhood obesity. Our figures – more than 17 per cent of Swindon children in Year Six are officially obese – are more or less in in line with the national rate. Fortunately, the
Swindon 1951: Rodbourne Cheney’s bellringers visited the grave of Winston Churchill’s father at Bladon’s churchyard during a one-day ringing tour of Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The party, which included ringers from other Swindon churches, rang
It’s national burger week so TOM SEAWARD puts the best to the testAT what point do you give in? When your stomach physically can’t absorb any more burger meat? Or when you’ve managed to push through the jibes of your fellow reporters? Three of us had
LAST week I waxed lyrical about the Aston Martin DB5, comparing it to the wonderful halibut. This week I thought I would come back down to earth and talk about the Ford Fiesta of the fish world: Trout. This dependable, reliable fish works so
Crab Cakes from Ben Hoggett at New Wave Fish Shop in Cirencester I'm on a low carb diet and two days in I was clucking for something fried and crispy as a snack and after a bit of desperate digging around online I discovered desiccated coconut
BISHOPS have called on the Government to urgently review its benefits freeze after a report found poor working parents did not have the cash needed to look after children.Low paid families are taking a double hit because earnings are failing to keep up
The Switch On To Swindon team have been busy again, out and about recruiting more people to the campaign. Royds Withy King was the latest company to invite the team into talk to their staff about what the campaign is trying to achieve and how people
Joe Theobald, aka DJ Captain Wormhole, Looks at all things vinyl LAST week I declared my intentions - take on a new genre and reignite my vigour for the pursuit of music on vinyl. With some assistance from friends and beer I narrowed it down
PLEASE keep your letters to 250 words maximum giving your name, address and daytime telephone number - even on emails. Email: letters@swindonadvertiser.co.uk. Write: Swindon Advertiser, 100 Victoria Road, Swindon, SN1 3BE. Phone: 01793 501806.
DRIVING off without paying for petrol left one man in hot water when he appeared before magistrates on Monday. Marcus Smith, 22, of Ermin Street, Stratton, pleaded guilty to four charges which included making off without payment and driving without
OVER the past year, the Adver’s trusty ‘taste test trio’ has wined and dined at venues right across Swindon, with varying degrees of success. But having exhausted much of the culinary offering in the town, last week we decided to cast our net further
A TEENAGER was punched in the face before having his mobile phone, cash and bank card stolen. Police are appealing for witnesses following the robbery which took place in North Swindon on Friday, August 11. At approximately 7pm, on a footpath
Swindon man Robert Slack was among many keen astronomers who travelled to the USA this week to see the solar eclipse.Robert Slack who is a member of Swindon Stargazers Astronomy Society witnessed the eclipse from Kentucky as the shadow of the moon sped
FOR YEARS care home manager Amanda Timms has wanted to create a garden out of a thousand-yard stretch of concrete. This summer she got her wish. Yesterday, Swindon’s mayor Maureen Penny cut the ribbon on a new sensory garden at Downs View Care Home, Badbury
THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD (15, 118 mins) Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, Gary Oldman, Elodie Yung, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Tine Joustra. Director: Patrick Hughes.IN 1992, Whitney Houston fell head over stiletto heels for her po-faced
OLD TOWN visitors can look forward to tasting stunning new art over the next month. Dozens of paintings, sculptures and other art works have been squirrelled away in 17 cafés, restaurants, shops and businesses across Old Town. The works have
Learner drivers taking their test from December 2017 onwards will face a revamped practical test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has announced. Here are five key changes you'll want to know. 1. You'll probably have to use a
THE TOWN will be alive with the sound of German beer guzzling next month, as the beer festival returns to Swindon. The German Beer Fest is back in the MECA in Regent Circus for its fifth year. The one-night-only event will see 500 people descend on the
JOHNNY Kingdom, TV’s wildlife duke of Exmoor, is heading for Swindon with a kit bag stuffed full of stories and anecdotes from being locked up in a Hong Kong jail, to birdwatching in a grave yard to rescuing a three-legged deer called Bambi.Johnny’s journey
NEW Swindon Town signing Matt Taylor only has promotion back to League One on his agenda after dropping down a division from Northampton Town. The 35-year-old had triggered a clause in his contract at Sixfields at the end of last season that saw
TWO teenage boys and a 31-year-old woman started a “horrendous” and “violent” fight at a family pub, a court has heard. Magistrates sitting in Swindon yesterday heard that around 8.30pm on April 1, the Spotted Cow in Marlborough Road was turned
Wiltshire Police has followed the lead of a police force in Wales in saying that it will accept footage taken on drivers’ personal dashboard cameras when looking to prosecute dangerous drivers. The move comes as a reduction in traffic officers
SWINDON Town have announced the signing of Northampton Town midfielder Matt Taylor on a free transfer this morning. As reported yesterday, the 35-year-old, who has played for Portsmouth and Burnley in the Premier League, only signed a new 12-month
ACROSS the centuries, artists have found inspiration in stunning views and beautiful models. But few have found inspiration in a converted Westlea potting shed, nicknamed the “Puffin Shack”. It’s where you’ll find Swindon artist Marilyn Trew – a former
SWINDON Town U18s manager Alan McLoughlin was pleased to see his side address their own mistakes as they came from two goals down to beat Exeter City 3-2 on Saturday. Having won their first two games in the Youth Alliance South West League, that
LECHLADE batsman Brad Dial admits there is a feeling of relief around the Manor Ground after they were able to put some distance between themselves and the bottom two with a surprise victory over Clevedon. Having struggled for consistency all summer
PURTON skipper Aaron Lee still has one eye over his shoulder in WEPL Wiltshire despite securing a third straight win with an eight-wicket success at home to Warminster. Having dispatched both Devizes and Marshfield, Warminster were next in the
SWINDON Town Ladies got their new FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division campaign off to a disappointing start as they were thrashed 8-0 at home to Coventry United. Returning to Cinder Lane in Fairford after two years at Shrivenham’s Barrington
