OUR artfully-framed main picture shows what would become the De Vere hotel at Shaw Ridge.

The smaller image shows the cover of a brochure produced to promote the retail and leisure area of which it was a key component.

On Monday, April 8, 1991, we reported: “The official opening of a multi-million pound leisure complex was marred by wind and rain - but those who turned out snapped up the range of freebies.

“Shaw Ridge Leisure Park in Swindon was declared open by HTV’s Su Porter on Saturday.

“The six businesses at the Park marked the occasion with a range of events designed to draw the public.

“Maureen Cornell, from Pizza Hut, said: ‘Considering the foul weather we had, the response was pretty good.’

“Wine bar Pinkertons held a bar tenders’ display, and the MGM cinema opened its doors free for a screening of Never Ending Story II.

“Cairos night club held a teenage disco in the early evening, the Superbowl put on face-painting and the Shaw Ridge Tavern had a karaoke session.”

Money raised from the events - about £400 - went to the Cancer and Leukaemia in Children charity.

Although the official opening took place in April of 1991, there was still plenty of building work to be done at the site.

Our image of the hotel - now Village Hotel Swindon - under construction dates from two months later, and is captioned: “Hotel and conference centre is to open next spring.”

At around the same time the company behind the leisure park, Billericay-based Carter Commercial Developments Limited, issued a brochure aimed at potential tenants.

It includes maps, diagrams, artists’ impressions and a repeated image of a happy family who are unmistakably of early 1990s vintage - the man wears chinos and the woman a chambray skirt.

The introduction begins: “A strategically-located site was identified by Thamesdown Borough Council as being suitable for a new leisure centre in West Swindon.

“Being alongside the West Swindon Shopping Centre and the Link Sports Centre, it proved ideal for the new forms of commercial leisure activity.”

A later section is headed: “An Asset to the Community.

It notes: “High quality traditional materials have been employed throughout, with facing brickwork and tiled roofs reflecting the nearby domestic buildings.”