More ‘Woo’ for Wootton Bassett. Yes, I know it’s Royal Wootton Bassett but the Yoast SEO prefers headings of only four words. So I’m flouting Google preferences using five! Anyway – to the point:
ENTREPRENEUR Louise Muir-Sage is quite overwhelmed by community support for her new crystal and spiritual emporium, Something Kind of Woo. So much so that she’s already expanding with the opening of Something Kind of Woo Too!
t was only two months ago that town mayor Cllr Steve Bucknell cut the ribbon on her first retail shop at 23 Merchant House, selling crystals of all types and other spiritual goods. Since then the shop has been a hive of activity.
She said: ‘My aim was to share my love of crystals, their beauty and their properties with others. The response from the community has been overwhelming. It’s allowed me to make a substantial expansion far sooner than I’d ever hoped.
More ‘Woo’ for Wootton Bassett – Lou with the deputy mayor of Royal Wootton Bassett
A variety of customers
‘Customers have ranged from people with a love of shiny objects, to those who embrace crystals in their everyday lives. Parents come in to get products for their children and locals often come in to browse.’
Louise has also supported fellow business owners by stocking their products. This includes silver jewellery from Charming Bee Accessories and the latest books of local author Lis McDermott.
Something Kind of Woo Too has now opened next door at 24 Merchant House. It offers something related but different to the shop itself.
Louise has held an interest in crystals for many years. But it was in 2024 that she began running Coffee & Crystal events in collaboration with fellow retailer The Little Gem Café. Now she still offers these events in person and online.
Cllr Fiona Holness, Royal Wootton Bassett’s deputy mayor, said:
‘It was a pleasure to meet with Louise. I’m so thrilled to see that, within a few short months, she’s expanded her business next-door and will be offering Reiki treatments accessible to the people of Royal Wootton Bassett and nearby. I wish her all success for the future.’
To learn more about Something Kind of Woo or to book a healing session at Something Kind of Woo Too, visit: https://somethingkindofwoo.co.uk/.
The Pulpit Cheese Club. Doing what it says on the tin, I’ve today spent a convivial couple of hours in the The Pulpit on Devizes Road, eating cheese and drinking wine. The premise of the cheese club is a simple one – as the wee sign below explains. If you enjoy a chunk of Cheddar or a slice of Stilton or a wedge of Wensleydale get yourself along to The Pulpit on the first Sunday of the month and get stuck in.
The Pulpit Cheese Club – small blackboard signAn array of cheeses at the cheese club at The Pulpit
From their website: ‘Located in the Original 1830 Brewery coach house owned by the Hart “Brewing” Family of Broad Town and Royal Wootton Bassett, once again the town and surrounding villages have their own local brewery… Only, this time it has alpacas!’
They describe their beer as being ‘niche batch brewed’. That, it seems, means that they pay the utmost attention to detail and quality. ‘Every brew we undertake starts with high quality ingredients from the best maltings, hops and yeast that we can source, with a nod to consistency and a sense of adventure.’
Since their 2019 launch, their beers have proven popular. So popular that they’ve upscaled from using a 500L german-made Braumeister to a 6BBL (918L) brewhouse, now based in Calne. They’ve converted their original brewing location into additional seating in their quaint taproom, the Hop Chapel.
And I’m wondering if the name The Pulpit is to form a relationship to the Hop Chapel?
WEST END FAVE IN PANTO CAST. West End Star and TikTok Sensation Abbie Budden will join Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre Pantomime cast to tell the much-loved tale of Sleeping Beauty this festive season.
The show runs from 06 December to 04 January.
Abbie, who has amassed a huge following online with her original comedy shorts, theatre and impression videos, most recently appeared on stage in Cruel Intentions (The Other Palace & UK Tour). She’s also appeared in panto at Ipswich Regent Theatre.
WEST END FAVE IN PANTO CAST – Abbie Budden
Joining her are:
The previously announced professional quizzer, TV presenter and general knowledge ace Jenny Ryan
Swindon’s ‘resident’ Dame David Ashley …
… and The Choir of Man’s Ben Goffe, returning for his second year following his recent nomination as Best Comic in the UK Pantomime Awards.
A panto fan
Abbie says ‘I’m a panto fan. As a family we visited panto every year. It was a real tradition for us, so I’m delighted to be a part of other Christmas’ for other families! It’s going to be a lot of fun. Sleeping Beauty is a classic fairy tale that you know and love. It has all your favourite little panto gags and this cast is going to bring something special to the stage. I can’t wait!’
Bringing this much-loved fairytale to life are the producers and the award-winning Imagine Theatre. It’s packed full of all your favourite panto ingredients.
Once again, the Wyvern panto promises to be the perfect, magical, fun-filled family treat full of sparkle and spectacle.
When the wicked fairy Carabosse’s evil curse causes the Princess to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into an enchanted sleep, can anyone rescue her from the magical slumber before it is too late?
Sleeping Beauty will run from 06 December 2025 to 04 January 2026. Make memories this festive season with this spellbinding, magical family pantomime. Tickets are on sale now.
Jazzbones Creative Makes its Mark. A leading UK furniture buying group is making its mark on the sector. And it’s all thanks to the team at Swindon’s Jazzbones Creative.
Jazzbones Creative Nathan Sandhu
Minerva Furniture Group, based in Corsham are celebrating thirty-five years in business. So, they called in Jazzbones to overhaul its main website, along with two separate websites for its spring and autumn trade shows.
Minerva is a membership organisation for independent furniture retailers. They connect them with manufacturers and suppliers across the UK and internationally. Its biannual trade shows are a highlight in the sector’s calendar, held at the prestigious Telford International Centre.
Jazzbones
Jazzbone specialises in branding, digital marketing and website design. Thus, they’ve been able to showcase Minerva Furniture Group through a new website. All building a complex members-only area. Further, they’ve created the two trade show websites to promote the biannual events in May and October. And to include a booking and information area for exhibitors and registration facility for visitors.
What they did for Minerva
As well as the websites, Jazzbones has refreshed Minerva’s branding. They’ve taken on all the marketing and social media for the two shows. The Jazzbones team are now working hard on promoting the upcoming autumn show, which is being held on October 8 and 9.
‘Our old websites were out of date, so we wanted to give them a modern, fresh look,’ said Stacy Nicholas, Minerva’s office manager. ‘All three sites are quite complex. That’s because our main website has a login in area with lots of information for our members. Our show websites have a backend area for our exhibitors.
‘We wanted to use a local company to redesign the sites and were very happy with what Jazzbones have done. They have been excellent – responsive and always available to help.’
Stacy’s colleague Amanda Marshall said Jazzbones’ marketing campaign for the spring show had shown a significant boost to engagement.
She said: ‘Jazzbones ran a major campaign for the spring show, including all the advertising in trade publications. They are now building momentum around the October show. The benefit of having Jazzbones look after everything is all our marketing is consistent, looks professional and matches the website.’
Nathan Sandhu, Jazzbones’ founder and creative director, said: ‘It’s been a real pleasure working with Minerva. In particular as they celebrate their 35th year. We stepped in before the spring show, so we had to work fast to rebuild both the main website and the show’s website.
‘Following the success of the marketing campaign we ran for the spring event, we’re now applying the same strategy for the autumn show. That includes print and online advertising, email marketing, and social media.’
Minerva’s new-look websites are also setting the scene for planned future growth for the business.
The Highworth Town Trail. Described on the brochure/booklet as: A leisurely walk through the fascinating history of Highworth.
The Highworth Town Trail – front cover of the leaflet
I do in fact give some small mention of of historic Highworth on this page about things to do in Swindon. But this post is to talk a little about this Highworth activity in particular – that I did with a friend recently.
So we had this booklet and my mate had the app on her phone. Having both turned out to be useful because the app covered the high street only – and had some extra information not in the booklet. Whereas the booklet went beyond the high street and included Westrop, St Michael and All Angels Church and Sheep Street.
We did this trail on a sunny Sunday. That’s a good day to do it in many ways because the town is quiet. There’s neither a lot of traffic nor a ton of people about – a big bonus when you’re trying to look at buildings and things on buildings. But it’s less good if you a want to explore some of the little shops and so on. There was a cafe open on the high street – huge relief. 🙂
The booklet then
Well it’s an attractive, glossy, colour thing stuffed with lots of photos. Though we did think that perhaps they could have done with captions. While I can’t now remember particular instances, we did have some confusions at times when images on a page didn’t necessarily relate to the text. It also did a bit of taking us to a particular building then having us doubling back on ourselves to the next one. But never mind – between that and the app we worked it out.
The Riot act
One of my fave stories dates back to 1830. In that year the market place was the scene of a notorious incident known as the Swing riots. Though why that is I don’t know. Anyway, at this time rural labourers were engaged in protest actions across England hoping to improve their wages and preserve their winter work.
Highworth saw riots break out on the 24th November 1830 – though they were soon suppressed. The next day, headed by Mr Thomas Cally, a magistrate, and Lieutenant Cally of Blundsdon House, a large troop of over 200 horsemen arrived in Highworth. And there was then a reading of the Riot Act to disperse the demonstrators.
Now a small number of photos from the trail.
plaque to Mabel Stranks on the Old Post officeSt Michael’s Church on the HIghworth Town TrailThe Saracen’s Head at the lower end of the high streetA building on the Highworth town trail
Where to get the booklet
I picked up my copy on a previous visit to Highworth, in the visitor information centre – find info on that here.
