Archive

  • Woman, 41, admits child neglect charge

    A 41-year-old woman from Swindon has admitted a child neglect charge. The woman was irresponsible while in charge of a girl under the age of 16 on July 6, Swindon magistrates heard. She also admitted breaching a suspended sentence order which

  • ADVER CHAT: Ben Macfarland on the joys of drink

    SPENDING two months in a small car careering across America to research a book about beer turned colleagues Ben MacFarland and Tom Sandham into friends, and formed the basis for a writing and performing comedy duo. Fresh from their seventh foray

  • Bassett to host Gloucester A League fixture

    ROYAL Wootton Bassett's Ballards Ash ground will host a Premiership Rugby A League encounter between Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs in December, it was announced today. The Cherry and Whites will take on the Devon visitors in their round six fixture

  • GWH flu jab nurses vaccinate 1,000 hospital staff

    A THOUSAND hospital workers have had the flu jab in just one week. The figure represents around a fifth of those who work in Great Western Hospital and in roles around Swindon. More workers are expected to be vaccinated in the coming weeks, GWH said.

  • Crowds rush to fund dream day

    A SWINDON couple say they have been blown away by the kindness of strangers who have helped make it possible for them to get married. Marc Anning, 53, and Clare Lupton, 44, have been together for 28 years but Marc has recently been diagnosed with

  • Mum's emotional hike to Brighton for bullied children

    MARATHON walker Mara Soto overcame a dislocated knee to finish an epic trek 130-mile trek to Brighton Pier to raise money for bullied children. The Swindon mum managed to generate more than £1,150 for local charity STEP just a year after undertaking

  • Brighter Futures radiotherapy appeal hits £1.85million

    “THE END is in sight,” fundraisers have said – as Swindon's cancer-fighting fund hit a new landmark. The Brighter Futures radiotherapy appeal has reached a record-breaking £1.85million, the hospital confirmed today.It leaves fundraisers at the Great

  • Could Dotty's be named Britain's best café?

    A COUPLE who bought an burger van on a whim from eBay could be crowned owners of Britain’s Best Café next month. Dotty’s Café on Devizes Road has already been named the South West winner in the awards. Owners Graham Rowcliffe and Lizzie Baylis

  • Gambling shop plans for Regent Street rejected

    A PROPOSED town centre gambling hall has been refused planning permission. Midlands firm Mirage Property Services had applied for permission to convert an empty Regent Street shop into a ground floor bingo premises with gaming machines and a first floor

  • Freemasons give £1k to Wiltshire Air Ambulance

    SWINDON Freemasons have handed over a cheque for £1,000 to Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Last month, members of Old Town’s Gooch Lodge travelled to the flying ambulance’s Devizes operations centre to present the cheque. Paul Moffat, the charity steward for

  • Route to M4 will close at night for almost two weeks

    DRIVERS face a diversion of up to 40 miles when the A3102 at Spittleborough closes at night for almost two weeks later this month.The heavily used route between Royal Wootton Bassett and junction 16 of the M4 shuts from 8pm until 6am for 12 nights from

  • Who is your top Robin?

    WITH the Swindon Robins lifting the SGP Premiership league championship, it’s time to turn your attention to who should win our Swindon Advertiser 2017 Robins Rider of the Year award. It's been a remarkable campaign for Alun Rossiter’s side, who

  • Swindon couple's wedding boosts air ambulance appeal

    A SWINDON couple’s wedding has benefited Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s new airbase. Instead of wedding favours for their guests, Rob and Meg Faulkner decided to make a donation of £350 to the charity’s fundraising appeal for its new airbase at Outmarsh

  • Lego donation leaves sick children at GWH beaming

    SICK children were left with beaming smiles as thousands of pounds-worth of Lego was delivered to the hospital.Great Western Hospital play specialists heralded the gift as “wonderful”. It came courtesy of charity Fairy Bricks, which donated £2,400 of

  • ON THIS DAY: Wednesday, October 11

    Swindon1951: A comprehensive talk about the Jewish faith, followed by questions from the audience, was given to more than 100 members of the Christ Church (Swindon) Men’s Society at their meeting in the parish hall. The speaker was the Rev I Sichel, the

  • GRAHAM CARTER'S COLUMN: Fat cats always take the cream

    The voice of age and experienceThe Bible said the meek shall inherit the earth, which only goes to show that you can’t believe everything you read in books.When Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, it proved the meek are bottom of

  • Aiming for a new hobby

    Tired of channel surfing, SUE SMITH heads off in search of adventure and find an explosive new hobby she rather enjoys“I NEED a hobby”, I said, out loud to no one in particular, while lobbing peanuts into my mouth and waiting for the next box set to load

  • Letters: Wednesday, October 11, 2017

    PLEASE keep your letters to 250 words maximum giving your name, address and daytime telephone number - even on emails. Email: letters@swindonadvertiser.co.uk. Write: Swindon Advertiser, 100 Victoria Road, Swindon, SN1 3BE. Phone: 01793 501806.

  • Author's first book marks Black History Month

    AN author and film producer with dyslexia from Old Town has released her first novel. Shelaagh Ferrell struggled with writing for years because of her condition but has now written a book of historical fiction which she hopes will entertain and

  • McDonald's raises more than a grand for good cause

    STAFF from six McDonald's restaurants all over Swindon have raised more than £1,000 for charity. Using fancy dress and donation buckets across several branches earlier this year, the fast food chain raised £539 for Jessie May Children's Hospice

  • Police arrest man after late night stabbing in Highworth

    A MAN is in police custody following a stabbing in Highworth last night. Officers were called to an incident in Swindon Street, close to Sammy's takeaway restaurant, at around 10.40pm. On arrival they found that a man had been stabbed in the

  • Bath Road counselling firm set to expand

    TWO women who set up their counselling business from scratch in just one month are celebrating four years of supporting people in Swindon.Business partners Christine Fishlock and Heather Garbutt established Bath Road’s Counselling and Psychotherapy Centre

  • Devious child sex offender back behind bars

    A CHILD sex offender who was jailed for five years in Australia is back behind bars after sharing images of child abuse on the dark web. Paul Quinn used a secretive Swiss online service to peddle indecent pictures and movies of children to like

  • OCD: not much to laugh about

    Comedian tells Phoebe Sothworth about a dark day of illness...on a sofa in SwindonCOMEDIAN Jon Richardson recalls a night when he was living in Swindon when he couldn’t sit on the couch because there were two cushions and he couldn’t sit equally between

  • £12.5m a year to pay back PFI debts

    PFI payments are becoming a “significant issue”, GWH finance chiefs have warned. Great Western Hospital will this year pay back an estimated £12.5million to private firms that built the hospital, Marlborough’s Savernake Hospital and an IT system

  • Partly-closed school hires 5 staff in a week

    Council education chiefs have embarked on an urgent drive to hire new staff for a special needs school which has been partially closed for nearly three weeks. And they hope to ensure all pupils will be able to return after the half-term break.

  • Thieves steal lead from several homes in Redhouse

    A SPATE of thefts has seen homes in Blundson St Andrew stripped of the lead on their porches overnight. Christine Stokes was one of many Redhouse residents who woke up on Monday morning to find that a chunk of lead had been taken from the front

  • EQUESTRIAN: Price is right in Holland

    WILTSHIRE riders claimed individual and team glory as New Zealand won the CCIO3* Military Boekelo-Enschede in The Netherlands to win the final of the FEI Nations Cup. Marlborough-based Tim Price and Cekatinka finished on 43.7 penalty points, spearheading

  • AMATEUR BOXING: Horseshoe pack a punch in Bristol

    Horseshoe Amateur Boxer Club members continued on their winning ways when they competed on a show hosted by Paddy Johns ABC. Horseshoe’s Karum Aujla boxed well and used his superior movement and faster hands to secure a unanimous decision over

  • YOUTH FOOTBALL: Five-star Marine earn cup progress

    SWINDON Supermarine U14 J followed up their opening day of the season victory two weeks ago with a 5-0 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town to progress to the next round of the North Wilts Youth League Cup. The South Marston outfit had plenty of

  • MOTORSPORT: Crash hampers Nesbitt's charge

    CHARLIE Nesbitt suffered a crash in the penultimate round of the Moto3 Junior Championship in northern Spain. In the first part of qualifying at the MotorLand circuit, Nesbitt recorded a time of one minute 59,140 seconds, which was just 0.41 seconds

  • Town's pillars of strength

    DAVID Flitcroft feels the early signs between Olly Lancashire and Matt Preston suggest Swindon Town have a strong central defensive partnership in the making. Preston is just two games into his Town career and is the third different centre-back