Swindonian Blog Posts
Swindon news, views, history and culture
Lord Joel Joffe
Last night I had the privilege of attending a memorial event for Lord Joffe – or Joel as everyone knew him.
I knew of Joel and his connections with many Swindon organisations of course way before I met him. His patronship of Swindon 105.5, involvement and interest in the Harbour Project and Swindon City of Sanctuary to name but a few.
The Thistle Express Swindon Launches
4th October 2017 [jetpack_subscription_form] The Thistle Express launches in Swindon It's good to see what was - many years ago - the Wiltshire hotel and latterly The Thistle, back in use as the Thistle Express. It's in a super fab location for sure. Literally a spit...
The Core Juice Bar
29th September 2017 [jetpack_subscription_form] The Core Juice Bar Swindon Last weekend saw the 4th annual sausage and ale trail around Old Town. This is, it has to said, a rather splendid event. It's a great opportunity to undertake a gastronomic tour round the...
100 Views of Swindon
18th September 2017 [jetpack_subscription_form] 100 Views of Swindon The 2017 Open Studios took place across the last two weekends. As ever this splendid event clashed with my birthday celebrations. And, as they always take place in London/Surrey, I miss it. I did...
Swindon City of Sanctuary
6th September 2017 [jetpack_subscription_form] Hello listeners. Simply a quick share of a press release from the good people at Swindon City of Sanctuary who are a year old! Here's their Facebook page - which just happens to have me in a picture on the front. Gosh, I...
Restoring the Blondinis
In the early days of this blog – in the summer of 2013 even – I wrote a post about the sculpture of the Great Blondinis. If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about here’s the post in question: https://swindonian.me/2013/06/24/the-great-blondinis-sculpture/
Pens from Christ Church Pews
30th August 2017 Pew here for a hand-turned pen with a Christ Church connection Swindon pen-maker Simon Webb, has a reputation for fashioning exquisite hand-made pens from wood connected to aspects of Swindon’s history. This time it's pens from Christ Church Pews.The...
The David Murray John Tower
Back in 1950, in his ‘Studies of Swindon’, John Betjeman wrote, apropos of architecture in Swindon, that there was ‘very little architecture in Swindon and a great deal of building’. He then went on to say that ‘Swindon, instead of being a West Country town, looked on its outskirts at any rate, like any industrial town anywhere.’
Poetry in motion: Swindon Diamonds
Idly scrolling through Facebook as you do, I came across a video. It’s made by CREATE studios and features Swindon Community poet, Tony Hillier and his poem ‘Swindon Diamonds’. I somehow managed to miss it – never mind, I’ve found it now.
The Children’s Fete 2017
9th July 2107 [jetpack_subscription_form] The Children's Fete 2017: a few photographs Hello listeners. I hope you've been enjoying the sunny weather. I certainly have. I LIVE for this time of year. It was great though that it was such a lovely day yesterday for the...
Swindon in 50 more buildings
West Swindon – What the eye doesn’t see
Swindon – A Born Again Swindonian’s Guide
We Are Swindon
