Ralph Bates Swindon Writer

Ralph Bates Swindon Writer

Ralph Bates Civil War Chronicler
Some time ago, in the tourist information centre in Bristol, I saw an information sheet on a literary trail round the city. And that got me thinking that Swindon could surely have such a thing here what with Richard Jefferies and Alfred Williams – neither of whom I knew much about until recently. No sooner had I had this thought than, in one of those curious coincidences that punctuate our lives, what should appear on my social media stream than a piece from the Swindon Link magazine publicizing a forthcoming talk at the Museum and Art Gallery about Ralph Bates. No – I’d not heard of him either. And in his day he was rated as better than Hemingway. Who knew?

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The Seven Wonders of Swindon

The Seven Wonders of Swindon

We are most of us familiar with the 7 wonders of the ancient world:

1.The great pyramid of Egypt
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. The statue of Zeus at Olympia
4. That well-known temple of Artemis at Ephesus
5. One mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6. Rhode’s Colossus …
7. .. and the lighthouse of Alexandria.

Only one of which – the pyramid – still remains.

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WSSW Part 1: Diana Dors Film Star

WSSW Part 1: Diana Dors Film Star

Right then, hands up. Who knew there was such an entity as the West Swindon sculpture walk? No? Me neither.

I only discovered it when rooting about the interweb for info for this blog. In the course of my research I came across this information and map of the trail. How interesting I thought. And how cool it would be to do the walk and see how many of them still exist and write about it. So this is WSC Part 1: Diana Dors.

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Swindon in 50 more buildings

West Swindon – What the eye doesn’t see

Swindon – A Born Again Swindonian’s Guide

We Are Swindon