Tahula does the hula from Hawaii, is what a New Zealand parent named a child. Rightly taken to task for. A news report says the girl was so socially debilitated by her name, the eight year old would be held as a ward of court until a more suitable
A WOMAN will pound the streets of Berlin in a gruelling marathon, to raise money for charity. Solicitor Tamsin Simmonds, 29, from Wroughton, will run the 26.2mile course with 40,000 other athletes on September 28. She is running to raise
ONE of the local talents whose work will be available at Swindon’s new central library is Gordon Turner. The 84-year-old, of Linley Close, Old Town, published Sippers And Gulpers earlier this year. The book tells of Gordon’s wartime
AN ESTATE agent in Swindon has welcomed changes to stamp duty – but says Government could have gone further. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling yesterday announced a 12–month holiday on stamp duty. Stamp duty is paid by people as they buy
AN ARMED robber who made more than £1m from crime has been ordered to pay back less than a quarter of his ill-gotten gains. Vivian Gilling, who is serving an 18-year jail term for robbery and burglary, was found to have profited from his life of crime
A DUSTMAN given a second chance by a judge after admitting assaulting a teenager, has been jailed because he ‘blew’ the opportunity. Daniel Liptrot was given bail on condition he observed a tagged curfew with a view to receiving a community sentence
SEBASTIEN Alden has been recalled to the Swindon Robins team in place of the misfiring Travis McGowan. Alun Rossiter hinted in yesterday’s Swindon Advertiser that McGowan could be axed, and the Blunsdon boss has been true to his word. McGowan has struggled
PURTON residents will have a chance to see plans for proposed new homes at Widham Farm, at a consultation on Thursday. The 14.5-acre site lies between Widham Lane and the Swindon/Gloucester railway line and when complete will have 40 affordable houses
AFTER decades of destroying his own life, Keith Griffiths says his grave was already dug. The reformed addict is full of wonder at still being alive after 30 years of heavy drinking and injecting prescription drugs. Using unclean needles means he
FAMOUS faces have been putting their names behind the campaign to save Coate Water. Following in Ant and Dec’s footsteps, singer Gilbert O’Sulllivan and former Town manager Lou Macari have added their support after seeing appeals for support in the Advertiser
WHEN golden couple Albert and Gwendoline Ebsworth got married the news reached far and wide, but for all the wrong reasons. Now, 50 years on, the Advertiser has the chance to correct the mistake that made the couple front-page news. Mr and Mrs Ebsworth
THE FATHER of a teenager who caused a bomb scare by mixing chemicals said he should have stopped his son making “bangers” in the shed. Richard Cowley said he wished he had stepped in to stop his son Thomas from conducting his own makeshift experiments
Q. Hello Andy.Rumour has it that a brand spanking new XTC forum is in the works and I think that I speak for all of your forum friends when I say that it can't come to fruition soon enough.In the meantime, if Blushift and Spastic were to set up a Q&A
I was sorry to learn of Mr Harris’s decision to cease using the Groundwell park and ride service to travel to the County Ground for Swindon Town’s home fixtures. And I would like to respond to his comments about the park and ride bus fares. The park
I would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who has so generously spent time designing and making unique cards in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care this year. Each year Marie Curie Cancer Care runs the Create A Card For Cancer Care campaign in
THE article by Roderick Bluh entitled Councils Need Real Powers, is one of great concern and we need to study the history of local government to see how this has evolved and how these powers can be restored. Local decision making is at risk and we
Speed cameras save lives. Fact. A recent report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety states that there has been a 40 per cent reduction in the number of deaths and injuries on roads with speed cameras. Nationally, it is thought
LOOKING sleek, toned and every inch an Olympic gold medallist, cyclist Rebecca Romero poses nude on her bike. The 28-year-old's naked image was plastered across billboards in Beijing to advertise sports drink Powerade. Thousands of miles away, staff
Super slimmer Sarah Newman has plenty of reasons to be happy about shedding a massive 10 stone in a year, but one stands out above the rest: "I get more hugs from my children now that they can get their arms around me," she said with a smile. Sarah
LACKHAM’S Kane Charig has played down talk of reaching the London Olympics in 2012 despite taking judo gold at the UK School Games, writes NICK ROWLES. The 17-year-old underlined his growing pedigree in the sport after defeating training partner Liam
AS 16-year-olds begin to prepare for college or work after passing their GCSEs, one Swindon mum knows her daughter will not be joining them. Chelsea May Smith, from Stratton, hanged herself in her bedroom on February 5 after writing letters to family
MARK Collier is urging Supermarine to sharpen up defensively as they prepare to face two of the Southern League Premier Division’s deadliest front men. Fresh on the back of Saturday’s 4-1 thumping by Corby Town, Marine travel to Merthyr Tydfil tonight
FAIRFORD Town boss John Paget will reward Saturday’s FA Cup heroes with the chance to topple Hellenic League Premier Division league leaders Hook Norton tonight. After their emphatic 6-0 thumping of Westbury United in the preliminary round of the FA
TRAVIS McGowan may have endured his last ride in Swindon leathers after another away day horror show at Peterborough. The Aussie rider returned just one point as Swindon went down 52-41 at the East of England Showground on a night when Mads Korneliussen
A BOMB scare turned Swindon’s giant WHSmith site into a ghost town and brought surrounding traffic to a standstill. The alarm was raised at the site just after 1.50pm and prompted a mass evacuation. Inspector Duncan Mason from Swindon police said: “
MADS Korneliussen was taken to hospital with concussion last night as Swindon suffered a knock-out blow at the hands of basement side Peterborough. The Danish star went hurtling into the fence on lap three of heat three, which set the tone
I WAS intrigued by the mystery of the bell in your paper recently, and I am enclosing a photo of the pattern maker of the bell that now rests in the Steam Museum. He was a first aid colleague of mine and finally became Assistant Commissioner for Wiltshire
I WAS hoping you could help. I was going through some things and came across this photograph and have no idea who it is or belongs to. I have asked and showed all my family and they don’t know either. I was wondering if you could print it and see if
MARKS and Spencer has made Second World War memories come to life with their new eating place at the upstairs front of the building where the American Red Cross Forces Club used to be from 1943 to December 1945. The club gave Swindonians the chance
A FARMER is devastated after the Government withdrew a £960,000 grant for a free power project. Rupert Burr of Roves Farm at Sevenhampton, near Highworth, has said the Government’s strategy on green power is in disarray. “It beggars
MOUSTACHES means money this month at Swindon Town. A clutch of County Ground players have agreed to bin their razors and sport moustaches for charity. Their hair-growing drive will raise cash for TacheBack, a fundraiser run by the Everyman Male Cancer
A WOOTTON Bassett rat-run will be closed until next week for important resurfacing work. Noremarsh Road — which motorists use to avoid the High Street at peak times — has been closed since yesterday. It will reopen in eight days’ time after work by
