What a shower! And I am not talking about the weather we have been having of late.

Earlier this year on a Sunday morning, whilst attending church, I parked in the Britannia car park, Old Town. The church service went on longer than usual and I stayed over my allotted time, seven minutes to be exact. I was a bit surprised I got a ticket, seeing that it was a Sunday morning, but I broke the rules and I hold my hands up.

A few weeks later, I parked in the same car park on a Sunday morning. I put my money in the ticket machine, but it failed to give me a parking ticket. Before purchasing another ticket from another machine, I took down details. I delivered a polite letter of explanation, in person, to the Borough Council at Wat Tyler House. I received no reply of any kind.

Who said lighting doesn’t strike twice in the same place? It did to me! Sunday morning, same car park, same ticket machine, no ticket! On purchasing another ticket from a different machine, my original ticket from the first machine, drops down. I now have two tickets when I only need one!

I have found parking attendants are like policemen, they are never around when needed. It was my lucky day, so I thought. I explained my predicament to the attendant, and produced my two tickets as evidence. I was thinking to myself, surely he will give me a refund ,or at least, take my name and address.

But no! He said I “would have to write a letter to the Borough council”.

By thunder! And I am not talking about the weather. I surrender!

William Abraham Rodbourne Swindon

People decide

I have never met Rod Bluh personally. The greasy pole of politics takes a thick skinned person to get to the top, as he has at local level. I have never attended a council meeting. Nor have I ever issued a Freedom of Information Act request to the council. It is not my style.

However bearing in mind that you cannot please all of the people all of the time, through the letters pages of the Adver, there seems to be a lot of local people he isn’t pleasing at all. He is very adept at moving his electorate base to survive.

Regarding the furore of his expenses, I would imagine he has been around the block too many times to walk into that one. He is obviously a very skilled political survivor. That deserves a certain respect. However the hand of democracy eventually falls with no mercy.

Ask Winston Churchill after the war. Harold Macmillan. Ask Harold Wilson. Ask Ted Heath. Ask Gordon Brown. I cannot ask Tony Blair, as he got out fast.

Bill Williams Merlin Way Covingham Swindon

Back bookfest

This is the fourth year for Bookfest, Oxfam’s annual literary festival which runs from July 2-15.

Oxfam shops across the country are appealing for book donations and holding book-themed events. Everyone can get involved by taking part in an event or by donating or discovering books in their local Oxfam shop.

People are even being encouraged to tweet a line from their favourite novel #oxfambookfest. Bookfest celebrates the central role books play in people’s lives and the impact that buying a book from Oxfam can have on the lives of people living in poverty around the world. Oxfam book sales have been helping Oxfam in its fight against poverty for more than 50 years. Every single book, whether it is donated or bought, helps to support Oxfam’s vital work.

Our shops are the perfect place to pick up anything from best-selling novels, rare first editions to hidden treasures that could be hundreds of years old. Any books that are not sold are redistributed and books that cannot be sold are recycled or even made into cardboard boxes.

Bookfest is a great opportunity to celebrate this and we really hope that the public will get involved by coming along to their local Oxfam shop or bookshop to enjoy the brilliant range of events and promotions taking place during the fortnight.

For more information about Oxfam books go to www.oxfam.org.uk/books #bookfest Ben Walshe Oxfam South West regional campaigns and policy office

Mural dismay

On a very recent visit to Steam I was interested in a small exhibition of murals by Ken White. This artist is local and is responsible for some jolly good murals around the town over many years.

He is famous for his portrayal of everyday working life and conditions, displaying the history of Swindon.

It saddened me to notice that in the centre of this display of his work there was, attached to an iron upright, fixed with something like thick black masking tape, a very creased, water stained, paper print out offering an introduction to this wonderful man and his work.

Is this the best we can do for a man who will go down in history as a great local artist? I have to question that he may have put this notice there himself, but I would expect the staff of our great museum to have wanted to raise the standard of their exhibits to something more appropriate.

Beryl MacDonald The Forty Cricklade

Great artwork

While shopping in the town centre recently I went into the Brunel arcade and discovered the wonderful jubilee tapestry that is currently hanging there from balcony to floor.

It is a patchwork made up of hundreds of collage pictures of royalty created by local school children, which have been beautifully put together and is joyful in the way only children’s art can be.

If anyone has not seen it I would urge them to do so: it is still making me smile several days later.

And thank you to all who had a part in creating it: it is a thing of a beauty.

Anne Bennett Swindon

Century girl

My mother, Mrs Christine Roworth, who lived in Swindon, from 1947 to 2004, will be celebrating her 100th birthday on August 9, 2012.

She is currently a resident in Moorland House Residential Home in Hathersage, Derbyshire. Family and friends will be gathering to celebrate with her.

She was born in Plymouth on August 9, 1912. After leaving school, she entered University College Hospital, London, where she trained as a nurse, and became a midwife.

She married Dr Charles Guy Roworth in 1939. After the War, they settled in Swindon, when Guy Roworth became the consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist for Swindon. Three of their five children were born in Swindon. Sadly all her friends in Swindon had died before she finally decided to leave Swindon, but children of her friends are joining the celebrations in Hathersage.

Rosalind Potter Stapleford Cambridge

Marathon effort

This year sees what could be the end of the Swindon Half Marathon, so I need to ask the question of any member of our pointless council, should we be doing events to promote healthy lifestyles?

In Reading, the half marathon is seen as a cherished event and they pull out all the stops to make it a great day. All the roads used are through the town centre. Can someone from our council explain why shutting roads on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere is such a burden to them?

Craig Halliday Mulberry Grove Rodbourne Cheney Swindon

In the norm?

Up until Ed Miliband’s speech recently, I would have been described as a racist and a bigot but now I’m just an ordinary bloke with natural concerns. Phew!

C J Meek Cloche Way Swindon

Trade needed

The solution to the crisis in the eurozone is for Germany to buy more goods from Greece and Spain.

In 1972 we were told that the Common Market was all about trade.

Forty years later we are told that the European Union is all about bailouts.

What Greece and Spain need is more trade – not more bailouts.

Steve Halden Beaufort Green Swindon