A DECADE ago a fashionista spouted some nonsense about Swindon and all hell broke loose.

As trivia fans may be aware, Wayne Hemingway was the founder of the Red or Dead shop chain.

He was most recently in the news during this year’s General Election campaign, when he lost his temper with a BBC interviewer who asked how he could support Labour in view of his prior use of unpaid interns.

The excruciating and hilarious footage is readily available online.

This week in 2005, his comments in an architectural journal called Building Design came to widespread attention.

Hemingway wrote: “I pulled off the M4 to get a closer look at some large-scale developments in Swindon.

“I’ve seen some bad stuff but this goes straight to the top.

“What we saw was jaw-droppingly bad – even my kids were animated. The eldest two said it was worse than halls of residence.”

By way of a parting shot, Hemingway suggested our housing developments differed from prisons only through the lack of watchtowers and barbed wire.

The nastiness prompted the Swindon Advertiser to launch a campaign called Swindon...and Proud of it.

It was backed by local luminaries including football hero Don Rogers, brewer James Arkell and broadcaster Sandy Martin, as well as a swathe of local politicians, business people and members of the public.

In view of Hemingway’s relative lack of significance in the overall scheme of things, this might seem like an overreaction in retrospect, but it appears Hemingway was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

As one locally-born Adver reporter put it: “I could handle it when it was Ricky Gervais having a dig because you can’t argue with The Office.

“But when some little bloke called Wayne starts going on about ugly houses then it really is time to say enough is enough.”

Although the Hemingway affair accounted for plenty of column inches that week, we also found space for celebrity news.

“Swindon’s Billie Piper,” we said, “could be the second star to leave the cast of recently revived Dr Who,” it has been reported.

“This morning her London agent Michael Foster would not comment on reports in sci-fi magazine Dream-watch that Billie would quit the show after appearing in only a few episodes of the next series.

“But he was quoted in the magazine as saying she would not do the full season.

“Former Bradon Forest School pupil Billie, 22, is said to be going to give up her role as the Time Lord’s assistant, Rose Tyler, halfway through the second series.

“It is believed that her performance as Rose has caught the eye of Hollywood and American television producers.

“Christopher Eccleston, 41, announced in March that he would not be making a second series, and Casanova star David Tennant, 34, has been chosen to partner Billie for the next series.”

Billie in fact went on to see out the next series and to reprise the role on further occasions. She also took part in 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor in 2013, by which time she had also starred in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Jazz singer Jamie Cullum was in Swindon to promote a specially designed water cooler for schools and colleges on behalf of his father’s business.

The 25-year-old from Hullavington visited Lethbridge Primary School to present a free dispenser.

He took time out to promise that his new album would be a treat for fans, and added: “It has taken three-and-a-half weeks to record but I’ve enjoyed every minute.”

The album was presumably Catching Tales, which was released in September of that year and reached number four in the UK charts.

Another music star, Elton John, was due to play what turned out to be an unforgettable County Ground gig the following month. To find out what Swindon could expect, the Adver sent a reporter to the star’s show at Reading’s Madejski Stadium.

We said: “Elton John dazzled a crowd of 24,000 last night with a performance that showed the people of Swindon are in for a treat.

“The 58-year-old Elton put on a high energy show, which included many of his hits from the 1970s up to his latest material.”

There was also praise for support act Lulu: “The former Eurovision winner has been around so long that it almost feels like you know her personally, and she was chatting with the crowd like it was her front room rather than a football ground.”

Speaking of distinguished visitors with bright plumage, a peacock had appeared in Swindon’s Mill Lane and begun challenging passing cars.

We said: “Wendy Webber, 29, of Wootton Bassett, was driving along the road when the peacock suddenly stepped out in front of her car. The peacock was walking around a bend in the road when she came to it.”

Miss Webber told us: “I nearly ran it over. It ran straight out in front of me with all its feathers on display.

“I didn’t know if it wanted a fight or something. It stood in the middle of the road and it was challenging all of the cars. As I slowed down it came up to my car really close. It was pecking at the cars.”

The borough council said – correctly – that its wardens were not responsible for birds on roads, while the RSPCA said it would only become involved if a rescue was needed.