Swindon’s Magic Roundabout has acquired celebrity status with appearances on TV, a calendar and even a T-shirt, but in the 19th century a different mode of transport made its mark on the town as a network of canal bridges were built. The
Claims that Ridgeway School had a “problem with racism” have been roundly rejected by a teacher testifying in the Henry Webster compensation case. Heather Siebenaller who, among other topics, is a specialist Citizenship teacher at Ridgeway,
AN overhaul of pay structures at Swindon Council could lead to strikes and legal claims from employees, according to a union leader. The long-awaited Single Status scheme will see 23 per cent of Swindon Council’s 6,200 employees take a cut in wages.
STAFF at one of Honda’s major suppliers walked out in protest at what they claim are unreasonably long hours. Twenty-one workers at Highworth-based TS Tech, which supplies components for Honda, downed tools on Wednesday. They claim they were told at
IT never gets any easier for the people working behind the scenes at Wootton Bassett. Today the town will witness the 100th repatriation. And for the police officers, military staff, town councillors, chaplain and townspeople, the emotional
SEAGULLS are causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to firms in Swindon’s business parks, according to pest controllers. The problem has become so bad that one businessman said he has witnessed more than a thousand herring and black-backed
TWO Swindon police officers have spoken to 1,000 pupils from three different schools about the importance of road safety. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) Lee Hare and Kate Jackson gave the talks to Orchid Vale in Haydon End, Catherine Wayte
THIS week, the Adver casts an eye over Town’s hardest players from down the years - the men who entered every tackle with a brazen insanity and collected more cards than Christmas. Over the years, the Robins have had their fair share of employees
AN ACCIDENT caused chaos on the A419 yesterday. A black Citroen C2 hit the central reservation at the bottom of Blunsdon HIll on the northbound carriageway shortly before 8.20am blocking all lanes. Police said by 9am lane one was still blocked and there
Somerset Arms, Church Street, Maiden Bradley, BA12 7HW. (01985) 844207 Owners Lisa Richards and Rachel Seed have transformed The Somerset Arms, built by the Duke himself, into a finely decorated bar, dining venue and boutique-style bed
MORE than 100 students will take to the stage at Commonweal School for two performances. The Old Town School is hosting two evenings of entertainment on Wednesday, November 25 and Thursday, November 26. Commonweal’s community arts development officer
YOUNG people account for more than a third of deaths on Swindon’s roads, the Government has revealed. Statistics published by the Department for Transport (DfT) show there have been 32 traffic fatalities in the town over the past five years, of which
GRAHAM Price seems to think that England is 2000 years old, in fact the first king of England was Edgar in the year 973. He also seems to forget that four countries make up our country, the United kingdom. I do wish these rabid anti EU types would learn
SADLY, due to over-zealous cropping, the picture in Remember When at the bottom right does not show Beale’s Cafe, other than a mere vestige of its roof. It was further to the left. E I Ski was formerly Fox’s Radio and Television Shop and the property
A RED Indian in America, described herself as a native American. When I asked her where she came from, as soon as she gave the answer, I could appreciate her frustration, that her country had been invaded and her life and her people’s life had changed
SO Steve Halden sees ‘further evidence that Gordon Brown has lost control of our borders,’ (Keep Control, SW Nov 12). What a wonderful and meaningless sound bite that is! First let us consider the land border between the six counties and the Irish republic
Much routine criticism of the BBC is unjust. However, no one seems to mention that the license fee, which is creeping towards £5 a week, is paid compulsorily by rich and poor alike. I wrote to the BBC Trust and they replied: “The decision to continue
SWINDON Wildcats today announced the signing of 28-year-old forward Jason Cassells. Cassells joins the club from Peterborough Phantoms, following spells at Edinburgh Capitals in the Elite League and Telford Tigers. Player-coach Ryan
A FORMER financial advisor who amassed debts of £55,000 killed herself. Swindon mother-of-two Jane Varian, 57, was found in her wheelchair at her home in Farnsby Street, on May 11, 2008, surrounded by bills after she overdosed on prescription drugs.
THE British National Party has been forced out of its regular meeting place after the licensees of a Swindon pub realised they had been taking private bookings from the extremist group for more than four years. Landlords Nick and Debbie Sharpe, who have
YOUNG people account for more than a third of deaths on Swindon’s roads, the Government has revealed. Statistics published by the Department for Transport (DfT) show there have been 32 traffic fatalities in the town over the past five years, of which
One of the UK’s top educationists has been quizzed about the allegedly “huge fee” she charged for a 28-page report on the school where a teenager suffered a horrific hammer attack. At the start of Lady Marie Stubbs’ cross-examination by Henry Webster
POLICE are to use new tactics to reduce bike theft as it has reached epidemic proportions in parts of Swindon. Officers believe mountain bikes have been stolen to order from Walcot and the Parks over the last few months. Many are not locked up and some
ABBEY Meads A continued storming their way to the top of the Swindon & District Division One by beating Highworth B on Saturday. The game started in a cautious manner, and both teams tried to keep control of the ball through the court without making
A WOMAN has been assaulted and robbed in Broadgreen. She was approached by a man on Bathurst Road on Monday evening who demanded her handbag. He struck her and snatched the bag, containing £30. She shouted out, causing a resident to open their window
PANTO star Lorraine Chase will flip the switch and light up Swindon this evening as the town’s Christmas lights are turned on. The extravaganza, which is being run by town centre management company, inSwindon, in association with BBC Children In Need
A SWAN got rush-hour motorists in a flap when it slowed down traffic on the A419 yesterday. The bird was wandering down the white lines of the two-lane dual carriageway at around 9am, causing traffic to slow to a crawl and prompting two motorists to
A man who left a soldier fighting for his life following a town centre scrap has been jailed for 15 months. Mark Limmer attacked squaddie Terry Gidzinski after they had been involved in an incident on Regent Street. The 20-year-old punched his victim
Cyril Blackman died of a heart attack on Boxing Day 2008 on the second day of what was supposed to be a two-month solo trip around America. He was in a Los Angeles shopping mall, en route to the Santa Anita race track. His grandson, TOM
BRADON Forest School Under 16 netball squad are Wiltshire schools’ champions. Bradon were the only comprehensive school to sent two teams through to the Wiltshire schools’ netball tournament, which took place at Dauntsey’s School in Lavington on Sunday
I WANT to start by congratulating Billy Bodin on another call-up to the Wales Under 21 squad for their European Championship qualifying match in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Although he didn’t make the bench in the end for Tuesday’s game, and will be really
THE LANDLORD of the Rat Trap pub has taken the rap for an ‘illegal’ nap. Mark Richardson, who oversees the venue in Highworth Road, Stratton St Margaret, said after making a mad dash to see his poorly mother in York, he was angry to find he had been
THERE is nothing like a good curry - especially if you are in a hurry, which on the night we ordered a takeaway from the Stratton Tandoori we were. Having quickly scanned Google to see if they had a website (we couldn’t find one at the time
WHENEVER I’ve been to Los Gatos before I’ve spent ages poring over the menu, salivating at the mere thought of all the tasty tapas dishes on offer. It’s an inner battle to choose what dishes to have. I always say I’ll try something new, but
YOUTH team boss Paul Bodin was proud of his troops as Town bowed out of the FA Youth Cup at the second round stage last night. Jake Argent’s extra-time goal gave Leyton Orient a 2-1 win at the County Ground, and it was cruel on a home side who attacked
BRISTOL: When it comes to fairytale-like Christmas markets the Germans seem to have it sewn up. But if you can’t pop across to Cologne, Berlin or the Rhine over the coming weeks then there’s always Bristol. Some 30 prettily decorated wooden chalets are
CALVIN Harris has had a busy year. He’s released a new album, had a clutch of number ones, went down a storm at Radio 1’s Big Weekend at Lydiard Park in May, toured the country and now he’s coming back to Swindon as part of his DJ Set tour. Not even
It was once said that variety’s the very spice of life, and the coming week is all the example you could need to justify such a statement. Swindon’s own condiment of existence kicks off at the Victoria tonight with a whole package of young guns. The
TROY Batchelor has been put up for sale by Swindon, with Robins boss Alun Rossiter claiming: “We don’t want someone who doesn’t want to ride for us.” The Aussie, who spent the majority of last season on loan, has had his request to spend another
PENHILL Amateur Boxing Club travelled to Weymouth recently for a series of highly competitive bouts. First up in a supporting fight for the Western Counties Finals was James Richards against Ben McNoughty from Weymouth ABC. In the first
HASNEY Aljofree says he is taking his comeback “one step at a time” as he starts his pursuit of first-team football in earnest. The 31-year-old played his first full game in nearly a year in the 2-1 Wiltshire Premier Shield semi-final first leg win at
A DANCE school is celebrating after bringing home 150 trophies from one of the nation’s most prestigious freestyle dance competitions. Bobbi’s Academy of Dance, in the Clearwater Business Park, beat off plenty of competition from Britain’s
