The hearts are in the right place

1:11pm Tuesday 22nd July 2008

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PACKS of playing cards featuring many Swindon landmarks are being dealt out at the Tourist Information Centre.

The cards, named Scenes of Swindon, are the brainchild of Nik Pearce, who feared that Swindon was only famous for the Magic Roundabout.

With playing cards you get to see a whole range of pictures and they are a handy size just to put in your pocket

Nik Pearce

So he followed his heart and clubbed together with colleagues to prove that Swindon has many diamonds to be proud of.

And after shuffling through the range of attractions, Nik is adamant that his hometown is no Joker.

Nik, who works at the information centre, said: "Swindon has a lot to be proud of. We sell an awful lot of Magic Roundabout memorabilia and this is just a way of saying there is a lot more to Swindon than that.

"A lot of t-shirts and postcards get sold but with those you only get the one image.

"So with playing cards you get to see a whole range of pictures and they are a handy size just to put in your pocket."

Nik, pictured right, feels that Swindon has a wide range of attractions to offer its tourists.

He said: "We have a lot to be proud of in Swindon such as a range of parks, architecture and a deep history.

"The cards are set out in the normal form with the four suits but each card has a separate picture so we have 52 different images of Swindon.

"And the Jokers are the Magic Roundabout."

The standard four suits of clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades, each have a Swindon-based subheading.

Clubs are titled Parks and Gardens with images such as Coate Water, Sevenfields, Town Gardens, Queen's Park and Faringdon Park.

Diamonds are named Attractions with images of the Oasis, the Link Centre, the Wyvern Theatre, the Arts Centre and Swindon Designer Outlet.

The Hearts suit presents images of Architecture such as the Town Hall, the David Murray John Building, the Sikh Temple and the former Railway Museum.

And Spades offers various Public Art and Spaces like the Golden Lion in Canal Walk, the Watchers in Toothill and the Cow at Great Western Hospital.

Some famous faces from years gone by are also featured on the cards.

The Diana Dors statue at Shaw Ridge is pictured as the Queen of Spades, while Isambard Kingdom Brunel makes two appearances in the deck as the king of diamonds and king of spades.

The cards are available from the Swindon Tourist Information Centre on Regent Street priced at £4.99.