The new car market saw an increase of more than 26 per cent last month – a national figure which was largely reflected locally. Scrappage continues to give a boost to the market with private buyers in particular returning to the showrooms and the decision
This week has seen schools across the country celebrating World Book Day. My children were invited to go into school in their pyjamas and cosy up for a story telling session. All of the children except for one (there’s always got to be one) embraced
SLEEPING under a Swindon bypass is a Roman city that archaeologists say is twice as big as they first thought. The site, to the east of the A419 near Covingham, has been known about since the 18th century when it was referred to by well-known antiquarian
THINGS are on the up at the Swindon Academy, according to Ofsted inspectors. The school – which only moved to its new £34 million Beech Avenue site in late December – was awarded a satisfactory rating with good capacity to improve. Principal Jan Shadick
A SCHOOL is reaping the rewards of its tranquillity zone. Lawn Primary School, of Lawn Cleeve, celebrated the two year anniversary of the special room set up to give children a place in which they can find themselves. It is one of only five schools
I was standing by the graveside as I heard the clock strike midnight. It was the witching hour and a strange, eerie calm had fallen. My heart was pounding and every noise seemed to be amplified to a deafening level. A sudden movement
DAILY I drive along Marlborough Road to work, towards the Coate roundabout, but never have I noticed the 300-year-old building opposite the Texaco garage which is part of Swindon’s heritage. The Richard Jefferies Museum, or “Old House at Coate
Reach Inclusive Arts, Wiltshire’s foremost charity for arts and disability, staged a daytime theatre extravaganza with a show called Making It ART. This took place recently on the main stage at The Wyvern Theatre in Swindon. The show followed the
SCHOOLCHILDREN have signed up to a ‘credit card’ scheme that rewards them for good work in their community. The social capital credit card falls under the ‘I Belong to Swindon’ scheme, which was launched on Tuesday. It will allow around 140 primary
Being kissed by Mr Darcy – that is actor Colin Firth – was just the icing on the cake for Andrea Hirsch when Swindon’s Lower Shaw Farm scooped a national ethical award. Andrea, who has been managing the Gardening and Alternative Education Centre at the
A COLLEGE has donated £5,000 to help young leukaemia and cancer sufferers. Staff at New College raised money for Swindon-based charity Calm – Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Movement – through raffles, quiz nights, gift sales, theatre trips
POLICE horses and extra officers are being drafted from all over Wiltshire ahead of Swindon Town’s crunch derby match tomorrow. The kick-off has been brought forward by police to 1pm to reduce the chance of violence breaking out between rival Robins
Volunteers are at the ready to take Swindon Council’s library service to housebound bookworms. The council’s home library is available to residents who have a long-term disability which prevents them from getting to a library, or who may struggle to
One of Swindon’s more modern landmarks is the Octagon restaurant which is celebrating its 25th birthday this month. Created from scratch in a building which was never intended to be a catering outlet it has stood proud in New Bridge Square,
IT is nearly 24 years since the Chernobyl disaster, but the accident still casts its shadow over countless people. In an especially tragic twist, many of those people weren’t even born when the Ukrainian nuclear power plant blew up on April
ST JOSEPHS SUNDAY Jamie Penfold was in fine form for Gorse Hill Blues as they battled to a 3-2 victory over Booya, preserving their 100% start to the Swindon St Joseph's Sunday 6-a-side Leisure League. GTS Legends remain undefeated
FEARS are growing that Swindon’s hope of ever getting city status may be lost forever in the wake of the latest blow over getting a university campus. Several failed attempts to turn Swindon into a city date back to the late 1990s and the final
Four bands from Swindon Rock School have won through to the regional finals of a national competition. Underlined Glory, The Outcry, 17 Nations and Guitar Stools And Cigarettes competed in the Music For Youth contest in Cardiff on Saturday and are now
A FORMER headteacher who is accused of sexually assaulting a boy on a school trip to Swindon has appeared in court. Neil Dyer, now 70, pictured, did not enter pleas to nine charges of sexual assault when he appeared before Plymouth magistrates. The assaults
KELVIN Young is full of energy and determination in readiness to face Gavin Brook on Swindon-based promoter Keith Mayo’s next bill in Devon tomorrow (March 6). And it has rekindled memories of his amateur days for the former Penhill ABC middleweight,
IT may be winning the teen pregnancy battle but with the war far from over, NHS Swindon is reminding young women that the town’s pharmacies now hand out free emergency contraception. The move, which was launched in January, will enable young women to
FIGHTS with France (Greg Dunnignham, March 3, 2010). The Duke of Wellington may have reduced this country to penury by the campaigns against Napoleon but 200 per cent of GDP would be a blessing now. This country’s gross debt level now
WHEN she was crowned Miss Swindon 10 months ago, Sherie Smith vowed to do all she could for the charity closest to her heart. True to her word, the beauty queen is getting ready to pound the streets of Bath on Sunday by tackling a half marathon
LIZ Brackenbury’s article (March 3) raises the question “Is Ritalin a drug looking for a disorder?” In my opinion, the answer is ‘No’. It, or rather the drug manufacturer, has already found a collection of symptoms which fill the ‘disorder’
GREAT Western Hospital chiefs will submit a plea before Swindon magistrates today over the death of new mother Mayra Cabrera. Mayra, who worked as a theatre nurse at the hospital, died an hour after giving birth to baby Zac, on May 11, 2004, after the
DURING the Second World War, Wiltshire was one of the most militarized counties in the country. British, Commonwealth and American troops all made use of its varied facilities. It was here that weapons were developed, tactics tested, and operations
TOWN boss Danny Wilson paid tribute to the late Macclesfield manager Keith Alexander, describing the 53-year-old as a “cracking guy”. Alexander died unexpectedly on Tuesday night, collapsing at home shortly after his side’s defeat to Notts County, and
CHARLES Linfield’s letter (SA, February 27, 2010) on the subject of private education, and David Cameron’s in particular, does not mean that the essays and other work he put in, to get his degree in politics were a benchmark to evaluate his future political
I AM writing to let people in the local area know that the date for this year’s Go Bananas on Fruity Friday campaign has been set for May 14. Held by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and sponsored by fruit supplier Dole Fresh UK, the aim of the campaign
FOR the Conservative Lead Member for Resources to write in the Swindon Advertiser that there was a virtual consensus in the council chamber is extremely misleading. In actual fact, if readers had been in the council chamber, they would have seen everybody
TWO men were rushed to hospital after they were stabbed. The attack happened in Albion Street near Cambria Bridge Road shortly after 11pm on Wednesday. One man, who is 23, received a single puncture wound to the neck from a knife while the other man
Shrivenham's frenetic run of fixtures continues tomorrow as they head to Hellenic League Premier Division leaders Reading Town. Mark Love and Alan Dyton’s men are set to play their fourth game in eight days, and the team have another encounter
OLD town residents were without power for almost six hours yesterday after a cable fault. About 47 homes in Bath Road, Eastcott Road, Pembroke Road and South Street lost their electricity at 9am. Engineers from energy provider Southern Electric were
CHILDREN awaiting heart operations in Swindon may have to travel as far as Southampton while paediatric surgery at John Radcliffe Hospital is suspended. The John Radcliffe, in Oxford, halted heart surgery on children on Wednesday following the deaths
WOOTTON Bassett’s Hellenic League Division One West promotion push will be given a boost this weekend with the return of star man Craig Shand, writes PAUL TITCHENER. The forward has been out of the country on holiday for the last fortnight, but returns
SWINDON will be looking to extend their recent run of superb form when they travel to Windsor in Southern Counties North tomorrow. Neil Loader’s outfit have won three of their last four matches, and could drag themselves into the top six with a victory
WHILE Town’s players will be making their journey to Brighton’s Withdean Stadium on the team coach next weekend, two directors and a couple of the club’s office staff will be using pedal power instead. And their 126-mile trek to East Sussex is all in
SWINDON College Old Boys boss Martin Peaple wants his side to up the ante as they bid to finish their campaign as they started, beginning with the trip to Gosford All Blacks tomorrow. The Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier side have eased up in
SCRAMBLING Mark Collier is desperate to bring two bodies into the Supermarine side ahead of tomorrow’s Southern League Premier Division trip to Truro City. The Hunts Copse chief has been busy in the transfer market of late, but with his injury crisis
SUPERMARINE return to Dorset and Wilts 1 North action for the first time in two weeks tomorrow as they make the trip to Calne, with player-coach Sean Millwaters insisting his side will not be ring-rusty from their lengthy break. Marine’s
AFTER the selection of Glenn Hoddle and Alan McLoughlin in Swindon Town fans’ greatest-ever team, the time has come to pick two strikers to spearhead the legends’ attack. Identifying two from a whole host of fans’ favourites down the course
WALCOT fighter Tommy McDonagh is gunning for glory on Sunday in the National Schoolboys’ Final in Brentwood, Essex. The 15-year-old won the title in 2008 and lost a close final on points last season. To reach this season’s class three (63kgs) final
IN an ideal world, Danny Wilson will be sat in his County Ground office at 3pm tomorrow with another victory in the bag, and watching Town’s League One promotion rivals slip-up. A 1pm kick-off could allow Swindon to - momentarily at least - close the
Hundreds paid tribute to four servicemen killed within six days in Afghanistan as their bodies came home. Before the cortege passed through the town a Welsh male voice choir sang in tribute at the war memorial. Nick Rogers, the conductor of Swansea’
DAVID Lucas insists Town are gunning for revenge over Bristol Rovers this weekend, with the keeper relishing the prospect of three points in front of a bumper County Ground crowd. When the sides met in the reverse fixture back in December,
RYAN Aldridge says he is not getting involved in mind games as his Swindon side prepare for what is arguably their biggest match of the English Premier League season. Wildcats’ clash with Bracknell at the Link Centre tomorrow (face-off 5.45pm
SWINDON’S pioneering wi-fi project could be stalled if Labour councillors succeed in freezing the remainder of a £450,000 loan to the company tasked to oversee it. The council’s Labour group is calling for the funding to be delayed pending
The village of Wanborough has a fascinating history which can be traced back to the Romans, who once had a settlement situated close by. Excavations have unearthed a significant amount of glass artefacts and coins, suggesting that the village,
