Calling all Swindon Artists. On 22nd April, Swindon Open Studios will be opening their online registration for artists to take part in this year’s event.
The annual showcase is celebrating twenty years since it began. And it welcomes new artists to join them each year, with well over 100 artists participating in 2023. The event itself will be taking place over the weekends of 21st, 22nd and 28th, 29th September. Then, artists will open their studios, homes and exhibition spaces giving visitors a chance to meet the artist to see where and how they make their art.
Calling all Swindon Artists – Swindon Open Studios
Karis Rose, who first participated in 2022 said ‘I couldn’t recommend SOS enough for all artists. No matter what level you are at, whether it be a full-time job, side hustle or hobby. I owe Swindon Open Studios a lot as I wouldn’t be where I am now without them, and I made friends along the way.’
A Q&A
Any artists who would like to know if Swindon Open Studios is for them are invited to join the committee for an informal Q&A session at 7pm on Thursday 2nd May, at Swindon Rugby Club. There, they will take some of the mystery out of how it all works. There’s no need to book – simply come along.
You’ll find lots of helpful information on the Swindon Open Studios website including:
Blogs from artists who have participated including Karis
A list of venues available if artists are unable to open their own studio or home
And a newsletter sign up to ensure you receive all the latest information.
We welcome applications from visual artists aged 18+ living or working within a 15-mile radius of Swindon.
Lifetime Achievement Award for Paralympian. Local paralympic gold medallist, Chris Hunt Skelley, has won a lifetime achievement award at the Disability Sport Yorkshire Awards.
The announcement of the award, run by the Yorkshire Sport Foundation, came at a black-tie event held at Leeds United’s home ground, Elland Road, on 1st March.
The event saw eleven award presentations in total to celebrate achievements across disabled sport in Yorkshire. Chris (30) took home the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
Chris, who hails from Yorkshire and the Humber, says it thrilled him to attend the awards dinner in Leeds earlier this month. And to receive the honour.
‘It was wonderful to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Disability Sport Yorkshire Awards. I’m grateful to the Yorkshire Sport Foundation for awarding it to me,’ said Chris. ‘I work hard at judo because I love it. And because it’s a privilege to represent our great country nationally and internationally. To receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from a foundation that does so much to promote inclusion in sport is a real joy. And I’d like to thank the Foundation for the honour.’
Lifetime Achievement Award for Paralympian – Chris Hunt Skelley MBE, courtesy of Steve Biltcliffe Photography.
Gold at the Tokyo Games
Chris won gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and is on track to represent Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Paris later this year. He’s also named as one of five paralympic ambassadors for Path to Paris. That’s a programme from Team GB and Paralympics GB. And he’s previously been named as a top ten sports personality on the Disability Power 100 List. Chris received an MBE in 2022.
The Yorkshire Sport Foundation runs the Disability Sport Yorkshire Awards. It’s part of a network of forty-three Sport England National Lottery funded organisations across England. They’re responsible for connecting and influencing providers of sport and physical activity to increase the number and quality of opportunities for participation. The organisation promotes inclusivity in sport. It works across the region to help education around sport and access to physical activities for all groups. Chris says this is essential to encourage better inclusion across all sports and physical activity. He himself is an example of the positive effect that getting involved in sport can effect on a person’s life.
‘No one should feel locked out of an activity or a sporting ambition or that they might not be welcome because they have to navigate a particular condition or disability,’ says Chris. “It’s no exaggeration to say that judo has seen me through some of the most difficult and challenging times of my life. I owe so much to the sport that I don’t know where I’d be without it. No one should feel a barrier to something that can bring so much good to their lives.’
Ocular albinism
Chris is registered blind and lives with ocular albinism. OA is a rare genetic condition caused by the inability of pigment cells in the eyes to produce normal amounts of pigment. It results in visual disturbances such as blurred vision, difficulty with perceiving depth of field and sensitivity to bright lights. After hearing over again that there was nothing wrong with him, he finally received a diagnosis at the age of 19. That came when he travelled to the US to undergo intense testing of all his physical systems. He first took up judo at the age of 5 and has dedicated himself to the sport ever since. Chris took the gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020. He credits judo with putting him on a path to success. And says that moments like award wins give him the opportunity to see his achievements in a broader context.
‘I’ve made huge sacrifices over the years and missed out on a lot to carry on training. Putting judo first and always pushing myself further to do well is part of the discipline. As a result, you become very single-minded with your focus. Recognition such as receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Disability Sport Yorkshire Awards feels a bit like coming up for air. I’m so grateful for the acknowledgement of success. But also to be able to show others living with disabilities that you can become exceptional in your chosen field. And that you don’t have to be held back because of the challenges you face. It’s a most important message to get out there.’
Chris is also winner of the UK Social Impact Award. He’s a sought-after speaker on the subjects of:
Building resilience
Living with a disability
And being a team player, as well as his own personal journey to becoming an elite athlete.
The Motorola Building Swindon opened in November 1998 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Striking and futuristic, the High-tech building did duty as a James Bond location for The World Is Not Enough.
The Motorola Building Swindon doubling as a Turkish oil refinery in The World is Not Enough. Photo courtesy of Calyx Media
Completed in a mere fifty-two weeks, Motorola designed the building as a manufacturing facility for the company’s GSM radio transmission equipment. It cost an estimated £40million to build.
This Swindon Web article tells us that the aluminium and glass clad complex covers an area equal to three football pitches end-to-end. And further that it accommodated 1300 staff (before redundancies in 2001) in 28,000 sq.m of manufacturing space. And 4500 sq.m of offices. At 5.5m diameter the tube is big enough to drive a car through.
Designed by Shepherd Robson, the building won the best industrial building in the 1999 structural steel design awards. It also got highly commended in the British Construction Industry Awards.
The Swindon Web article goes on to tell us that the manufacture of mobile phones at the site ended in 2001. 2009 saw Motorola use the factory to install the first UK test-bed for the new 4G mobile broadband system.
The tube
Key building facts
Building size, 23,100 sq.m Length, 300m Architect, Shepherd Robson Year of construction, 1998
Its later life
2009 saw the building purchased by the French-owned drugs company Vygon to use as a distribution centre. And that rendered the central tube structure redundant. Thus it was partially demolished.
Vygon spent £15m to buy the forty-six acre Groundwell site and transform it into its UK headquarters.
Month-long speaker programme marking King Athelstan’s 1100th anniversary launches
King Athelstan’s 1100th anniversary launches with a talk posing the question of why the first King of England choose Malmesbury for his burial place.
Historian Tony McAleavy will try to answer the question ‘Why is the first King of England buried in Malmesbury?’ in the first of what promises to be a fascinating speakers’ programme. The programme marks 1100 years since Athelstan became king.
King Athelstan’s 1100th anniversary launches – Historian Tony McAleavy
Malmesbury celebrates
The town of Malmesbury will be celebrating the Athelstan 1100 throughout 2024 with a large number of events. They’ll begin in earnest on Saturday June 29 when the speaker line up begins with Tony asking that key question.
In his talk, Tony will explore the links between Athelstan and Malmesbury. And the reasons why Athelstan chose Malmesbury Abbey, rather than Winchester Cathedral, as his last resting place.
It was in 924 AD that Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great, became King of Mercia and Wessex. That formed the first steps on his journey to becoming the first King of England.
A 1100 anniversary
This year marks the 1100th anniversary. A team of community organisations have been working together to create a series of events to celebrate. These include:
The Athelstan Museum
Malmesbury Town Council
Malmesbury Town Team
The Warden and Freemen of Malmesbury – who trace their origins to Athelstan)
Malmesbury History Society
Wessex Week
Malmesbury Abbey
The Athelstan Players, local schools, businesses and individuals.
‘With 2024 marking 1100 years since Athelstan became king, it’s a great opportunity to look at the life and history of the man regarded as the first King of England,’ said Tony.
‘It’s a pleasure and a privilege to play a part in the speaker programme. And also the many events that are being planned in Malmesbury to mark this important date in our nation’s history.’
Drawing on decades of intensive research, Tony will consider the religious, military and political significance of Malmesbury to Athelstan. Also the way the monks and townsfolk remembered the king throughout the Middle Ages.
And for the first time ever, people in Malmesbury will be able to see digitised images of the earliest copy of Athelstan’s charter to the burgesses of the town.
A well-known historian
Tony is well known as an historian of Malmesbury. He studied history at Oxford and was for many years the schools’ history adviser for Gloucestershire County Council. He is the author of Malmesbury Abbey: 670-1539(2023), the first ever full-length history of the Abbey.
Tony’s talk will be on Saturday June 29, at 7.30pm in Malmesbury Town Hall. Rickets are £10 each and go on sale next week (March 28) . It will be among a weekend of events organised by the Athelstan 1100 team to launch the celebrations.
Going from one historian to another, another highlight in the speaker programme will be a talk on Friday July 5 at Malmesbury Abbey, from world-famous historian Michael Wood. He’ll speak on how Athelstan influenced the development of English law, culture and governance. An acclaimed filmmaker and broadcaster, Michael has written and presented 120 documentaries, including the BBC series ‘The Story of England’.
Athelstan – the first king of Britain?
On Friday July 12, in the town hall, esteemed historian Sarah Foot will deliver a talk entitled ‘Athelstan, First King of Britain?’
The Very Rev Prof Foot is the Dean of Christ Church, University of Oxford. She writes on women in religion, medieval monasticism, and the early history of the Church in England. She’s currently working on a study of the life and work of the Venerable Bede.
The speaker programme concludes on Friday July 19, with a talk in the Town Hall from Paul Hill. He’ll examine the conducting of warfare in England during the age of King Athelstan.
Tickets for all the talks go on sale on Thursday March 28. There’s a 10 per cent early bird discount available until Sunday May 19. For details and to buy tickets visit https://www.athelstan1100.co.uk/events-ticketing.
Campbell Ritchie, who is leading the Athelstan 1100 project, said the speaker programme comprised one highlight of the many events planned in the town to mark the anniversary.
‘Having a king buried at the Abbey puts Malmesbury on the map in terms of historical importance. We’re looking forward to welcoming people to join our celebrations at Tony’s opening talk. And at the other great Athelstan 1100 talks, events and experiences taking place this year.’
The full speaker programme for Athelstan 1100 comprises:
Tony McAleavy – Athelstan and Malmesbury 29th June 7.30pm – Town Hall
Miranda Shirnia – A Walk on the Wild Side: Malmesbury 924 2nd July 2.30pm – Town Hall
Jim Storr – Athelstan 1100, the essential backstory 3rd July 7.30pm – United Reform Church
Michael Wood – The Lost Life of Athelstan: Further Reflections – 5th July 7.30pm – Malmesbury Abbey
Oliver Ross – Athelstan and the Battle of Belief 11th July 7.30pm – United Reform Church
Sarah Foot – Athelstan, First King of Britain? 12th July 7.30pm – Town Hall
Stephe Harrop – Delight and Dread: Unladylike Tales from the Age of Aethelflaed
15th July 7.30pm – The Kings Arms
Sam Entwistle – Staying Well in Anglo Saxon Malmesbury, Herbal Medicine, Cures and Remedies –
17th July 7.30pm – The Old Bell Hotel
Paul Hill – What was Warfare like in Athelstan’s Age? 19th July 7.30pm – Town Hall
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap play is on its 70th anniversary tour. And it’s playing at the Wyvern Theatre this week. I do urge you to get tickets and go. Book them here: https://booking.trafalgartickets.com/en/wyvern-theatre-swindon/buyingflow/tickets/15532/ After all – who doesn’t love a big of Agatha? Whether it’s a TV adaptation, one of her novels or, as here, a play. It’s hugely enjoyable and engrossing and I’m happy to recommend it to you.
Earworm
Should you go, prepare yourself to leave the theatre with an ear worm:
Three blind mice, three blind mice, See how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?
The tune of the nursery rhyme is deployed to sinister effect throughout the play. The play’s setting heightens the tension – a snowbound English manor now a guest house run by a newly(ish) married couple who, as it turns out, don’t know much about each other. Then there’s a disparate group of guests and a policeman – one of them is a murderer and the rest potential victims.
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap
I’m not going to say any more than that about the plot as that would be spoilers. But I think I’m okay to say that, as with Christie’s novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd this play plays with the genre.
The cast
There’s a couple of famous faces in the cast – always pleasing. And one of them gets bumped off – but that’s all I’m saying there!
Myth busting
In conversation before the play began someone said it has three different endings. This is a myth – it doesn’t. From London Theatres Direct:
‘Unlike the board game Clue and its subsequent film adaptation, Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap does not have multiple endings. But in fact, one twist ending that goes against all clichés of the whodunnit formula where a detective solves a crime and exposes the remaining plot points.‘
When Queen Mary was asked what she would like for her 80th birthday, she requested a new story from one of her favourite writers, Agatha Christie. The BBC got in touch with Christie and asked if she would like to write a short radio play for the Queen, which she happily obliged to and created Three Blind Mice. She donated her fee of one hundred Guineas to the Southport Infirmary Children’s Toy Fund. Unfortunately no recording of the original performance exists.
The idea for the radio play came, as was often the case with Christie, from a real-life news story in 1945 about two brothers abused in foster care, one of whom died as a result. It was a case that shocked the nation and resulted in the changing of the laws surrounding foster care a couple of years later.
The radio play was first broadcast on the BBC in 1947. Agatha Christie then adapted the 30-minute radio play in 1948 to a short story, published in May in Cosmopolitan magazine, and later in the 1950 US collection Three Blind Mice and Other Stories.
The short story version was never published in the UK on Christie’s insistence that it should not clash with the 1952 stage adaptation, famously renamed The Mousetrap. As long as the adaptation ran in London’s West End (as it has for over 60 years) the short story wasn’t to be published.
And here we are – seventy years and still going strong. As is the public’s thirst for Agatha Christie’s work in general. She IS the Queen of Crime – no doubt about it.
