As we continue to celebrate the Adver’s 160th anniversary we are pleased to present 160 reasons why we love Swindon.

No-one is saying Swindon is perfect and our town has sometimes been criticised for allegedly lacking history, character, heritage and culture.

In the next few stories you will find 160 examples of why the Adver thinks Swindon and the surrounding area has all of these and more.

We celebrate the festivals, institutions, achievements, facilities and environmental aspects that – in the opinion of the newspaper that has served Swindon since 1854 – make this town and its environs a colourful, multi-faceted and community-spirited place to live and work.

Here are the first ten:

1 AIR TATTOO: For three days every July the world’s largest military airshow erupts in a swirl of noise, colour and breath-taking aerodynamics just down the A419 from Swindon. One of the most spectacular events of its kind anywhere, the Royal International Air Tattoo also demonstrates the enduring professional excellence of the RAF.

2 ALDBOURNE: With its memorial cross, duck pond, village green and 13th Century church Aldbourne is an archetypal English village. The home of a medieval bell foundry, it was the setting for an entire Dr Who series (The Deamons in 1971) while Paul Weller shot parts of a Style Council film there, Jerusalem. TV’s real life Band of Brothers were based there in World War Two.

3 ARCLITE HOUSE: Swindon is hardly noted for its architecture but this is a truly unique addition to our built landscape. Once hailed as “arguably the world’s sexiest office building,” futuristic Arclite House – a curved frameless glass superstructure – sits like a gleaming overturned zeppelin on Peatmoor Lagoon.

4 ARKELLS BREWERY: Farmer John Arkell (1802-1881) initially brewed beer from the barley he grew as a spin-off but turned its production into a full-time operation when thirsty men from the burgeoning Great Western Railway works couldn’t get enough of it. Today – 170 years later - Arkells is Swindon’s longest standing business.

5 ARTS CENTRE: Built in 1900 as a meeting place/dance hall known as Bradford Hall, the Devizes Road venue evolved into a civic-run hub which has become a vital element in Swindon’s provision of art, culture and entertainment. It even has its own ghost, the “woman in brown” Mrs B.

6 AVEBURY: One of the country’s – some would say one of the world’s – most enigmatic and mysterious prehistoric sites is just a 20 minute drive from the centre of Swindon. Built around 4,600 years ago, the archaeologically rich World Heritage Site of Avebury contains, at its heart, Europe’s largest stone circle.

7 BANDSTAND: A true slice of ornate Victoriana, Swindon’s cast iron bandstand is an original though occasionally altered feature of the ever popular Town Gardens. Essential to the character of Old Town, in 1912 the distinctive structure was the scene of a concert for families of Titanic victims.

8 BARBURY CASTLE: Loftily located next to the Ridgeway near Wroughton, Barbury Castle is an impressive Iron Age fortress comprising two huge defensive ditches constructed 2,500 years ago. Occupied by the Romans and later the West Saxons it is now a popular spot for kite flying, dog walking, contemplation and, of course, some stunning views.

9 BATH ROAD MUSEUM: Obsessive collector Charles Gore created Swindon’s first museum nearly a century ago when he offered his entire hoard – military regalia, Roman coins, prehistoric arrowheads, fossilised dinosaur bones etc – to the council. It has evolved into this fascinating assemblage of artefacts ranging from an Egyptian mummy to Stone Age flint axes.

10 BATTLE OF ELLENDUNE: One of the most crucial battles ever fought on British soil was contested nearly 1,200 years ago near the Wroughton/West Swindon area. Had the West Saxons not vanquished the invading Mercians, Alfred the Great, who later “founded the English nation,” would not have existed and the Danes would almost certainly have ruled the country.