Rushy Platt and the River Ray

The Rushy Platt Nature Reserve is looked after by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of a large area of marshland known as fen that once covered most of south Swindon. Home to wading birds such as snipe, amphibians such the great crested newt, and the increasingly rare water vole, in summer it becomes a sea of valerian.
http://www.wiltshirewildlife.org/

The River Ray flows through the Rushy Platt Nature Reserve

This part of the River Ray flows past the Running Horse public house under the Wootton Bassett Road and through the centre of the Westcott Recreation Ground. Frances Bevan from the Swindon Advertiser recently wrote an article in her series about the history of Swindon, telling her readers that a mill once stood on the or near the site of the Running Horse. Records of a mill and land in an area called Eastcott and Nethercott, later known as Westcott, date back to 1339. In 1805 the Wilts and Berks Canal company bought the mill under powers that enabled them acquire waterways likely to be affected by the needs of the canal.

(Source of historical information: Frances Bevan at the Swindon Advertiser)

See link below to an earlier post showing another section of the River Ray as it meanders its way towards the Thames at Cricklade.

http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2008/04/purton-timberland-trail.html

Moat Walk, Wroughton - after the rain

Resident ducks from the village pond out for a morning stroll

Moat Walk in the centre of Wroughton - after the wind and rain of the previous day the stream is full of fallen leaves.

The Village Pond, Wroughton
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The river Ray rises in Wroughton somewhere on Priors Hill, before meandering around to west Swindon and eventually Cricklade where it joins the Thames. Moat Walk and the village pond in Wroughton are fed by the Ray - the pond and looked very attractive this morning in the bright, chilly sunlight. A waddle of ducks came optimistically towards me ... I was sorry to disappoint them but I was on my way to the dentist.

There is more about the river Ray here ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Ray,_Wiltshire

A spring-fed copse

Small pond with reeds - at the centre of the copse

Someone emailed me a while back about these stone blocks (I'm sorry I can't find the email to give the person a mention but many thanks to her). There are three of these blocks placed at different spots around little copse at the foot of the Lawns, just off Drove Road. Each has a small poem on it - the one above has the following words "Sweetest of all things is wild flower air" and by the small reedy pond "A green fringed brook marks the edge of golden ground". I think the copse is looked after by a local primary school who use it as a nature garden.

A tranquil autumnal walk around the Lawns, so full of colour at this time of year. On this occasion, however, I walked downhill behind Christ Church to the little copse. A small footbridge over a stream fed by one of the natural 'iron' springs around the Lawns (this one is by the far wall of the Christ Church churchyard) leads to a path from the Lawns through to Cirencester Court on Drove Road.
Away from the path, I had a stroll around the copse which has a sense of being secret and, oddly, while all the trees on the Lawns are mostly gold/brown these were still completely green, well watered by underground springs. I have not written about this place before; it is typical, however, of the many hidden pockets of woodland off the beaten track around Swindon.

Autumn reflections - Queens Park

The lake - Queens Park, just before dusk, not visible in the photo is the rising moon

Another sarsen placed in the small Mesothelioma Memorial Garden in a corner of Queen's Park. Opened in 2003 in remembrance of the railway workers of the town who died of mesothelioma. But if the while I think of you dear friend, All losses are restored and sorrows end (Shakespeare)

The scenic route home

A random reflection on the beautiful county Wiltshire
Today I did something I used to fantasise about when working full time; I went down to the bus station to see which buses were in and just picked one at random … the one I chose was the 70 going to Marlborough. I hadn’t been to Marlborough for a while; I think it is true to say that although geographically quite close, there couldn't be two towns more different - although Swindon was once a small Wiltshire market town. (To illustrate the vast difference of today's Swindon I would need do an analysis of its economic history for the previous 170 years.)

An enjoyable couple of hours in Marlborough was spent ...
When I went to catch the bus home, a bus with 48a and Swindon on the front was waiting to leave. The driver looked very relaxed when he told me ‘this one goes by the scenic route’ so I jumped aboard.
What a lovely journey, the afternoon was still golden as we left Marlborough; the winding road seemed to follow the river Kennet for a while as we headed for the villages of Axford and Ramsbury. This is a part of Wiltshire I don’t get to see often as am usually heading in the Avebury/Devizes direction. The landscape was one of gentle undulation, grazing sheep, meandering river and the rosy pink of a late afternoon sky. We went through copper beech woods and ‘tunnels’ of autumn trees. By the time the bus reached Aldbourne, the silver-grey light of dusk was starting to settle over the timeless pastures. The country road ran parallel with the M4 for a few minutes and the views from either side of the bus were something of a sharp contrast. Baydon and Wanborough, the final two peaceful Wiltshire villages on our route before the bus sped down towards the bus station. Swindon seemed very busy and cosmopolitan after such peaceful, rural journey - the light was fading fast, it was good to be almost home.

Peace Stone

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;

And I was filled with such delight

As prisoned birds must find in freedom,

Winging wildly across the white

Orchards and dark-green fields; on, on, and out of sight
(Siegfried Sassoon 1886 - 1967)

The first two lines of the above verse are carved into a sarson stone in the Town Gardens - I do not know anything about the stone's history though I am guessing it was erected to celebrate the 50th anniversary of V.E. Day in 1995. In a comparatively short time the carved words are now almost indecipherable as the stone has become lichened over the past decade. The dove carvings on the front and back of the stone can still be seen clearly (click on photo to enlarge).

Carved doves on the back of the stone

Swindon! Swindon! Place of teenage memories, I returned a decade ago for family reasons and am old enough to remember Swindon as a relatively small town with a High Street, buses that stopped in it, interesting shops. Long since ravaged by town planners; they are now trying to put the damage right ... there is talk of reinstating the canal, too late I fear.

What has not changed though are Swindon's wonderful shady parks. These are still cherished and enjoyed by the town's residents and none are more lovely than the Town Gardens in Old Town on a golden autumn day such as today.

Ancient market town and mud springs

The Wilts and Berks Canal in Wootton Bassett

http://www.wbct.org.uk/

*****

Today I walked along here with my great friend Hilary; restoration work is still ongoing and much of the canal is overgrown. I found myself asking why had I ignored Wootton Bassett for so long, it is surrounded by hamlets I have never heard of (e.g. Bushton) and has view of a white horse near Broadtown, the existence of which I had been completely unaware of until today. The canal also has the 'rare geological phenomenon' of mud springs nearby. I did not see them on this occasion as at present the ground is very dry and water levels low.

I have Ian, a former Swindon resident to thank for the mud springs link below - fascinating. I will go back soon for a good old ramble around Wootton Bassett.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=8232250

The Old Town Hall in Wootton Bassett - built in the 17th century, now a museum

The market town of Wootton Bassett has recently become well known for the saddest of reasons. Because of its proximity to RAF Lyneham, this is the high street that comes to a halt as a show respect to the young soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Just four miles west of Swindon and, until the arrival of the Great Western Railways in the 1840s, of far greater importance as a town, Wootton Bassett dates back to Saxon times; the first reference to it was recorded was in 681 AD. The name comes from Wodeton or Woodeton meaning settlement in the wood - possibly a clearing in Braydon Forest.
It was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. For more on its history see below.

http://www.northwiltslink.co.uk/html/wootton_bassett_-_north_wiltsh.html

Many thanks to Paul Gahan for being kind enough to correct some of the detail in my original entry and for providing addtional information.

Liden Lagoon

A blustery, overcast afternoon with leaves spinning down, today I discovered yet another willowy place in Swindon that remains relatively unknown. In the same group of lakes as Coate Water (the other being just off Shaftesbury Avenue) and tucked away on a leafy housing estate, Liden Lagoon came as a total surprise. Sarsen stones scattered around the edges of the lake, water fowl, two solitary herons (in different places) a single swan. I walked the complete perimeter of the lake noting with pleasure that the benches positioned at various points around the lake each had a short 'watery' poem carved into the wood - and example being "Heron so still at the waters edge".

"Mysteries lurk in murky depths"

******

Liden Lagoon was dug during the 1960s and is home to a range of wildlife. It is situated next to the A419 and GW Hospital, yet is unspoilt by these busy surroundings. It is a really beautiful and relaxing place in Swindon to spend time ... (taken from Wiltshire Web)

Plaum's Pit - Rodbourne Cheney

I spent some time around Rodbourne Cheney a year and a half ago in February 2008 when I was surprised to find the remnants of a small village that was once completely separate to Swindon.
http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2008/02/old-rodbourne-cheney.html
Someone mentioned Plaum's Pit and today I went back to find it. What a beautiful and much hidden little spot ... I have lived in Swindon for a decade but have never visited this unsung place before. Unfortunately I am unable at present to track down the origins of this place and am assuming it used to be a quarry of some sort.

A favourite spot for anglers
http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/fishing/fisheries/7099/plaums-pit

Plaum's Pit, tucked away behind Cheney Manor Road

The green area leading up to the lake.

Some more sarsens - they appear on almost every green open space in Swindon

Seven Fields Nature Reserve

Another Local Nature Reserve:

A while back while walking along Whitworth Road in the north of Swindon I noticed an intriguing looking track called Blackthorn Lane. Today I made my way there and followed my feet; what a lovely surprise, it came out into Seven Fields Nature Reserve. This is literally seven fields set aside between the residential areas of Penhill and Haydon Wick. Hedgerows still burgeoning with elderberries and hawthorn berries dividing the meadows up, it is a place frequented by dog walkers.

http://www.swindon.gov.uk/print/leisure-naturereservessevenfields

Today as summer wanes, the meadow grass was being cut by a large municipal grass cutter - it must have been lovely a few days ago with wild grasses in abundance. I wandered through small copses and crossed a stream which no doubt feeds into the river Ray at some point.

The meadow grass

Marsh reeds waving gently in the breeze

Blackthorn Lane - leading from Whitworth Road to Seven Fields Nature Reserve

A Hidden Nature Garden

Now designated as a Local Nature Reserve, Radnor Street Cemetery has appeared on this blog many times. In the February snow earlier this year, in the spring when the wild primroses are out and most definitely in the Autumn when the leaves turn to gold.
I have omitted to report, however, that there is a small nature garden just by the Radnor Street entrance. I believe it was an initiative started by Twigs (a therapeutic gardening scheme). Its become a little overgrown these days but still a secret sort of place. Today I spotted some fine fungi growing in a pile of wood chippings.

A small 'garden' just by the Radnor Street entrance.

Kingsdown Brewery

Kingsdown Brewery - built 1861, home of Arkells Ales

The Old Chimney and Cooper's Fire

One of Arkell's drays returning back to the brewery
******

This post is directly inspired by the mural of the previous post. Today I went over to Kingsdown to have a look at this historic and still working building. Arkells has been established since 1843 and the above building since 1861, going through their gates was in some ways like stepping back in time - much remains as it has always been, except perhaps the drays, these are no longer horse drawn.

After my little wander, I called into the Kingsdown public house on the other side of the road to sample the product ... excellent.

http://www.arkells.com/history.php

Swindon's Murals - Arkells Brewery

Arkell's Brewery

Artist Sarah Faulkner - completed 1985

******

This mural is one of only two of the original murals initiated by Ken White that remain. It can be seen at the roundabout on County Road opposite the Bristol to London railway line. It was commissioned by Swindon's own local brewery Arkell's to celebrate their beginnings in 1843. The mural shows every stage of the brewing process including some of the people who actually worked there and the building at Kingsdown.
http://www.swindon.gov.uk/highcontrast/arts_murals_in_swindon

Devil's Den and wild flowers

Devil's Den Dolmen - just outside Marlborough near the village of Manton
The dolmen and wild flowers
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Nothing, no abundance of them, can ever make poppies commonplace. There is a genius in them, the genius of colour ... (Richard Jefferies from Field and Hedgerow)

Walking away from the dolmen
*****

Not Swindon at all really but comparatively nearby; hidden away in a field off the A4 between Marlborough and Avebury. Today I met my Ramblers walking group in Swindon's town centre and was given a lift out to Marlborough. Our walk leader today led us on a rather wonderful 10 mile walk which incorporated Wiltshire's only dolmen - known as Devil's Den. It is thought that this particular dolmen was once part of a chambered long barrow and is all that now remains. It was reconstructed in 1921 and is to my eyes an incredible work of archaeological art enhanced by the meadow of wild flowers it sits within. This meadow is now under the jurisdiction of

http://www.naturalengland.gov.uk/ourwork/farming/funding/closedschemes/css/default.aspx

Since making this post I have received an email with a comment from Jean Saunders from the Richard Jefferies Society http://www.richardjefferiessociety.co.uk/

I'm aware that Thomas Hardy mentioned this dolmen in his story entitled "The Devil's Door" or "Marlbury Down". I've often wondered if this is the dolmen that Richard Jefferies had in mind when he wrote the night scene in "Greene Ferne Farm" when Geoffrey and Margaret are lost on the Downs and spend the nigh there. However, the description in GFF of "three large flat stones set on edge, forming the walls, and over an immense flat one" is more likely to be the long barrow at West Kennet or Wayland Smithy.

Thanks Jean, you're comment is appreciated and I have posted it on the Avebury Forum to see if anyone can add further information.

Ken White's 'Golden Bridge' wall painting

First painted in 1976 by Ken White to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Alfred Williams in 1877 - to learn more about Alfred Williams, one of Swindon's best kept secrets, see link below:
http://www.swindonweb.com/?m=8&s=9&ss=275&c=1111&t=Alfred+Williams


Recently as the bus I was travelling on swung around the Fleming Way roundabout I noticed a white haired man on a scaffold quietly re-painting his original wall painting which has achieved some fame. It was of course Swindon's own Ken White who, like Alfred Williams author of Life in a Railway Factory, brilliantly portrayed life in the Railway Works through his paintings.

http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2009/02/ken-white-exhibition-of-new-work.html

Ken started painting wall murals back in the 1970s though sadly most of them have now disappeared. This one remains on the end terrace of Medgebury Road (by Fleming Way) remains. Fleming Way is built on the route of Swindon's old canal.

Swindon's lost stone circle (continued)

The plot thickens ... I have been intrigued for some some by a cluster of large sandstones at the top of Grosvenor Road on the edge of Old Town. I first noticed the lozenge shaped stone positioned on its side outside a small block of flats. Later, I spotted a similar shaped stone making up part of a garden wall on the other side of the road. When I looked in the garden there were several large sandstones in the garden ... appearing to have been in place long before the garden. Yesterday, by chance, I had a little wander behind the flats and found several large stones, many of them buried, again similar in shape to the lozenge stone standing on its side on the grass verge.

These stones are too large, too regular in size and shape to have just been excavated when building took place. I can't help wondering if some sort of ancient stone site had existed here in

time gone by, having been pushed over before people became fully aware of their significance.

http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2009/05/swindons-lost-stone-circle-pehaps.html

Twilight by the old canal

A hot July day, too hot. This eveing it was a pleasure to go out for a balmy stroll along the old canal the bottom of Kingshill Road. So much to see in the crepuscular light - I looked across at a row of ducks lined up on the far bank (someone's back garden); a small brown deer was foraging under the willow. Peewees and other water fowl were roosting for the evening though the family of swans were still up and about.
A man came along with his two dogs - as I walked alongside him for a few minutes he told me he was homeless and lived in a tent in a field on the land known as the Front Garden. He seemed content enough, however, as we talked about nature, his morning solitude waking up with just deer, foxes, rabbits and birdsong for company. We talked about the stream by his tent which is Swindon's own river Ray, and the misty moon which he said was currently its closest to the Earth. By now the light was fading so I said farewell and retraced my steps back along the canal path. A lone brown bird on a hedgerow branch sang out with clarity into the evening.

Midsummer poppies

Swindon has grown from a hilltop market town to the large industrious borough it is today. It sits in the northernmost corner of Wiltshire with the prehistoric chalklands of Wiltshire fanning out to the south and south east; similarly, the beautiful Cotswolds spread out to the north and north west. It is just a short drive to the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire - thes bean/poppy fields are just across the Oxfordshire border near the village of Shrivenham.

Woodland Walking in Old Town

Bugle and and buttercups

Information board for Bruddel Wood, just off Marlborough Road (click on photo to enlarge for information)

At the bottom of the Lawns, beech nuts already on the trees

Bruddel Wood - nettles

One of Swindon's best kept secrets - Bruddel wood
*******

This morning I met my good friend Elaine in Old Town; the plan was to walk from Old Town to Coate Water and back avoiding roads as much as possible. Although Elaine lives in Wroughton she hadn't actually walked around Old Swindon that much so it was a pleasure to show her Swindon's hidden beauty; here's where we walked.

We started of at the ever tranquil Lawns, walking down to the bottom of the woods, turning right we then picked up Bruddel woods (which are probably an extension of the Lawn wood). A corridor of ancient woodland running parallel with Marlborough road; today just lovely, the nettles stood high, the birds singing and we met no one else . We came out by the notice board (pictured above) and walked along the busy Marlborough road for a hundred or so metres, then crossed over into the the Polo Grounds. This took us into the Coate Tree Collection which Elaine had not seen before; a peaceful place, today the lilac was still out, one day it will be a magnificent arboretum and is already a place Swindon can be very proud of.

We stopped by the cafe at Coate for a drink then continued along the shady avenue of trees to the back of Coate. Leaving Coate we turned right into Broome Manor Lane and walked about two hundred metres to pick up the footpath around the golf course. Made our way to Piper's Lane, crossed over into a woody area, got a little bit lost, walked round in a pleasant circle back to where we started, then made our way up to the Great Copse (Croft wood); back up through Croft Sports Ground to Old Town.

Evening sunlight on the old canal

Protective parents, the resident swans keeping guard on their newly born cygnets. A friendly looking dog went a little too close and was severely hissed at

Evening sunlight on the Kingshill section of the Wilts & Berks Canal

A golden evening

The Front Garden on a summer evening

At the end of a beautiful summer's day, a stroll home along the old railway walk specifically to see how the Wichelstowe development is coming along. I took about half a dozen photos of the new houses in the evening sunlight thinking that perhaps, after all, they may look quite attractive.
I regret to report they do not.

The hitherto unspoilt Front Garden - from the Old Railway Walk

The remainder of the Front Garden landscape in the evening sunlight

The Old Railway Walk between Old Town and the Front Garden - a corridor of unspoilt nature and birdsong. Robins and blackbirds hopped across the path; there was a time until very recently that deer could be seen in the meadows below. When will the civic guardians of our ever expanding town realise that that big is not always beautiful when it is at the expense of a precious disappearing landscape.

A river and a retail park

This little river, the Cole represents so much of what I have been trying to illustrate about Swindon; it runs through the middle of one of Swindon's apparently soulless retail parks at Greenbridge, Stratton. It is the proof that nothing which belongs to nature can ever be soulless; build a retail park on the land, it will perhaps stand for several decades but the life veins of the land cannot be obliterated. The little river Cole still flows, making its way towards the mighty Thames.

The river Cole flowing through the centre of Greenbridge Retail Park

Street Art on Canal Walk

Street art (as opposed to graffiti vandals) has a long tradition in Swindon; started by Ken White with his end of terrace wall murals back in the 1970s, I have noticed it is still thriving. I recently watched a group of young people spray painting a garage wall along Canal Walk, I have to say I was impressed. Street artists represent the youth and vitality of Swindon's young population, they are the future of our town.

A detail from a garage wall

This is part of a very large Pink Panther mural on some old out buildings at the Kingshill end of Canal Walk .... easy to walk by but if you stop and look at the skill and detail, it is brilliant.

Swindon's lost stone circle, perhaps ....

A few day ago when walking past the lozenge shaped stone that stands on its side at the top of Grosvenor Road in Old Town I spotted for the first time a similar shaped stone on the other side of the road, partially hidden by shrubbery and forming a garden wall.

I went back today for take a photo and as the gates of the garden happened to be open I went to take a look at the other side of the wall. I was astonished to find several very large sandstone stones; they must have been on the land when the house was being built because I cannot imagine they would have been moved very far. (Interestingly the house has the same street number as my own).

The other side of the wall, inside a garden

Both the above and below stones are of a similar shape to the one on the green opposite the house

Another lozenge shaped stone forming a garden wall.

I have featured this stone before, it stands at the top of Grosvenor Road. At first I thought it was sarsen but on closer inspection can see it is sandstone. I cannot help wondering about its history.

Swallows over Old Town

There are some things that cannot be easily photographed; the scent of bluebells in Croft Wood (also known as the Great Copse) on a spring morning; the subtle fragrance of cherry blossom in the evening. It is unlikely that you could photograph a wren as it flits across your path into shrubbery and, for me at least, it is nigh on impossible to capture on camera a swooping swallow.

Today I heard the first swallows return over Radnor Street Cemetery and later saw them swooping over Kent Road. As I walked along Bath Road I watched three swallows high against the blue sky, in circled flight. When I came to Swindon just about a decade ago, the swallows in Old Town on a warm summer's evening seemed magical; they still do. I recall also them being over on Ermin Street in Stratton St Margaret; the sun was going down one warm evening as I was given an aerial display by the swallows.

If I had to pick just one thing to say I loved about Swindon, it would have to be the swallows in the summer .... mysteriously returning each year to the same terraced houses to roost in the eaves.
Note: my swallows could possibly be swifts or house martins; not entirely sure but harbingers of the happiness of summer anyway.

The view from Barbury Castle

Photo taken on Tuesday evening, with some friends after work; on this occasion the wind was so strong it actually blew one of my friends off her feet (though caught on camera, she was not hurt ).

The view from the Iron Age hillfort, Barbury Castle, looks towards the fertile plain where Swindon now spreads; Barbury is just uphill from Wroughton. The downs to the south-east of Swindon are steeped in prehistory and for me Liddington Hill and Barbury Castle are two of the many landscape features which make Swindon such a special place. I have been here a decade now and, as one of life's milestones comes into view, I know it is time to seriously think about moving on. Dear Swindon, how it has grown since I first moved here as a child and couldn't wait to leave at the age of seventeen and three quarters - to find my way in the big city. I can't pretend it didn't feel strange when I came back here nearly a decade ago; much of old Swindon still remains, some of it hidden, though sadly so much more of it is being lost to yet ever more housing.

The surrounding countryside is part of what makes our town such a good place to live and I know there are plenty of people living here who want to protect it. This blog is for them.

Victorian bird tiles, Wood Street

If I've walked past this building on Wood Street, Old Town once, I've walked past a hundred times, usually on my way somewhere else. The once exquisite Victorian wall tiles on each side of one of the shop fronts always catch my eye. The shop is now an estate agent; clumsily painted in red paint. Here are some of the bird tiles:

House-sparrow

Kingfisher

House swallow and flower bowl

Starling

One of the tile panels on each side of a shop on Wood Street in Old Town; each bird tile is different.

An old familiar walk

Croft Wood with bluebells was the very first photo I posted on this blog back in 2007. Last year I used the Croft Wood bluebells to say that "I have said what I wanted to say, and wouldn't be making any more posts on Hidden Swindon". I changed my mind, however, as I often do ..... and here we are again at bluebell time in one of Swindon's loveliest tucked away little places, Croft Wood (behind the Marriot Hotel). This morning, as well as bluebells there was red campion, wood anemones and green ferns unfurling.

On my way to the wood I walked through the Croft Sports Field - football being played on a Sunday morning all over England. This sports field is overlooked by the Marlborough Downs and the Wroughton Science Museum is visible on the horizon (double click on photo for a clearer view).

Raining pink petals - this morning walking through the ever lovely Town Gardens in Old Town on my way to Croft Wood.

Liddington Hill

"I felt immortality as I felt the beauty of a summer morning"

Richard Jefferies

--------

The memorial to Richard Jefferies and Alfred Williams set on a large sandstone rock at Liddington Castle on Liddington Hill, dated 2000 so presumably to mark the Millennium. A place much loved by both writers particularly Richard Jefferies - Alfred Williams wrote these lines for Richard Jefferies who died in 1887 at the age of 39, ten years after Alfred Williams was born in 1877 (who died 1930). They did not know each as some people believe:

******

Of times on Liddington's bare peak I love to think and lie,

And muse upon the former day and ancient things gone by,

To pace the old castellum walls and peer into the past

To learn the secret of the hills, and know myself at last,

To woo Dick Jefferies from his dreams on sorrow's pillow tossed

And walk with him upon the ridge, and pacify his ghost.

******
Liddington hillfort looking towards Swindon

The chalk track up to the top of Liddington Hill

A dried up dew-pond at the top of Liddington Hill
*******

Today I met up with two of my favourite people to walk with - Hilary and Pippa both former colleagues, now firm friends. They were very patient with me as I wanted to follow a specific walk from the Ramblers Association booklet '20 walks around Swindon'. We discovered the long barrow which sits on the ridge of the hill, much damaged now by badgers but still with a sarsen stone protruding from the top. This part of the walk was lovely and although we could see the motorway in the distance, today we could not hear it. We came downhill and then started the gradual ascent up towards Liddington Castle; near the summit of Liddington Hill we found a dried up dew pond, possibly quite ancient.

Extract from Dew Ponds (1907) by Edward A Martin FGS

Messrs. Hubbard, in their " Neolithic Dew-Ponds and Cattleways," give some details as to the formation of these ponds, although the source of their information is not stated. They say that there is at least one wandering gang of men, who will construct for the modern farmer a dew-pond which will contain more water in the heat of summer than during the winter rains. The space hollowed out for the purpose is first thickly covered with a coating of dry straw. The straw is in turn covered by well-chosen, finely-puddled clay, and the upper surface of the clay is then closely strewn with stones. The margin of the straw has to be effectually protected by the clay, since if it becomes wet it will cease to attract the dew, as it ceases to act as a non-conductor of heat and " becomes of the same temperature as the surrounding earth." This would, of course, follow quickly if a runnel or spring were allowed to drain into the pond. The puddled clay is chilled by the process of evaporation, and the dry straw prevents the heat of the earth after a hot day from warming the clay.

On the the hillfort itself where we spent some time by the Richard Jefferies/Alfred Williams memorial - which overlooks Swindon. Liddington Hill can be seen from the Lawns, Coate Water and the great Western Hospital and many other parts of Old Town and east Swindon.

Sunset and magnolia in the Town Gardens

The Victorian bandstand and magnolia trees in the Town Gardens

The peaceful Town Gardens this evening around 7.00pm - the sun setting, birds singing and just a few people wandering around. A perfect end to a lovely Easter Sunday.
More photos of the magnolia trees and the bandstand from Easter weekend 2008 on this link: http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2008/03/magnolia.html

Springs in Broad Blunsdon

Spring water pouring through a wall on Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill in Blunsdon

Broad Blunsdon is on the northern edges of Swindon on the other side of the A419 - I have never been there before today and found a tranquil little village of stone cottages, narrow lanes - and springs. One spring was pouring out of a hole in a garden wall near the top of Chapel Hill. Further on there was the clear sound of running water just by a cottage aptly called Spring Cottage. We hunted around for the source of the water and found it burbling away beneath a drain in the road.

More about the history of Blunsdon here:

http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2008/03/ruins-of-blunsdon-abbey.html

An ammonite, yews and the old church

A small outhouse at the Lawns appears to have been built with stones from the old church, now only the chancel stands. The outhouse has a large ammonite plus a smaller one near the apex of the roof. The larger one a strange and rare fossil for an outhouse ....... I wonder where it was originally located.

The chancel of the old Holy Rood church - it has featured on this blog many times. It was Swindon's original parish church and is first mentioned in documents dating from 1154. It was rebuilt about 1300 but fell into disrepair after the new Christ Church was built. Partly demolished in 1852, leaving only the chancel and a few arches (perhaps this is where the ammonite stone came from) English Heritage has scheduled the remains of the church as an ancient monument.
There is a concentration of yews in this part of the Lawns, not least in the churchyard, which is not accessible to the public. The one in the far corner of the churchyard looks very ancient indeed.

The afternoon sunlight shafting through a row of yews just outside the old churchyard ( I counted thirteen).

Land of Richard Jefferies - goodbye!

Dayhouse Lane, looking towards Liddington Hill with some of the stones from the small Coate Stone Circle just visible in the meadow on the left
(double click with mouse over photo to enlarge - for a better view of the circle)

The unbroken views toward Liddington Hill from Coate Water - this will be replaced by another uniform housing development if the Save Coate fight loses its long battle to preserve the landscape

Today I was on Dayhouse Lane which runs alongside the Richard Jefferies museum by Coate Water - the lane runs towards Badbury and Liddington Hill which was greatly loved by Victorian writer Richard Jefferies (1848-1887). Richard Jefferies wrote about this land (and his walks through it) in much of his writing. There are many references to the old house and the land around it: The old house by the silent country road, secluded by many a long, long mile and yet again secluded within the great walls of the garden. Often and often I have rambled up to the milestone which stood under an oak, to look at the chipped inscription low down - "To London, 79 miles" (From The Life of the Fields first published 1884)

The Old House still stands, now a museum and so too does the milestone - though the road it stood on is now redundant replaced by a dual carriageway to speed motorists towards the M4. The land around Dayhouse Lane (and Dayhouse Lane itself) will soon start to disappear if developers win the right to build houses, a business park and a university there. There is a small stone circle in one of the fields just off Dayhouse Lane and stunning rural views towards Liddington Hill. Walking along there today the sense of unspoilt countryside went a long way to ameliorate the distant thunder of the M4 motorway.

Richard Jefferies was born at Coate Farmhouse, Coate in 1848. In those days Coate was a small hamlet close to Swindon on the Hungerford Road. Richard Jefferies spent the first 29 years of his life there and wrote extensively about nature and his rambles up to Liddington Hill and beyond. His book Bevis is thought to be an autobiographical adventure recalling his childhood around Coate Water. His later work became a somewhat inner journey which he wrote of in Story of My Heart. He married a neighbouring farmer's daughter Jessie Baden of Daye House Farm and they had three children. Sadly, Richard Jefferies' health deteriorated at a young age and he died in Worthing in 1887 at the age of 39.

The Coate Tree Collection

By the Coate Water entrance to the Coate Tree Collection is a small lake formed by a dam of sarsen stones - the water flows under a foot bridge to feed a stream, which in turn feeds the river Cole.

The Tree Collection is between Coate Water and the Polo Grounds behind Marlborough Road - it is laid out on two fields, the first being Spring Field, see above. Today very aptly named.

Bullrushes by the small lake - other side of the Spring Field path

The Old Oak

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The second field in the Tree Collection is the Old Oak Field which takes its name from the above tree. Today I sat on the bench under this magnificent old tree and ate my lunch in tranqulity.

A young magnolia
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The Coate Tree Collection is a lovely place, no more so than in spring. I'm not sure how long it has been in existance but I should think it has been growing over the past 20 years. It holds a collection of beautiful young trees, many of which produce spring blossom and will no doubt bring much pleasure to future generations. The majority of the trees have been sponsored in memory of someone and I can thinks of no better or more peaceful way in which to recall the memory of a loved one.

Ellendune and Elcombe

Elcombe Manor

The hamlet of Elcombe tucked away at the foot of the Downs between Wroughton and the M4 - just a few houses, a well, a manor house, and a working farm.

The Parish Church of Wroughton - previously known as Ellendune

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Today I and went over to Wroughton to meet up with a friend. We walked over to the hamlet of Elcombe, via Wroughton parish church - the Church of St John the Baptist and St Helen. I picked up a leaflet that said the following:

The Church is built in Ellendune which is thought to be an ancient hill fort. Near to this place 825AD, at the Battle of Ellendune, the Kings of Wessex took over dominance from the kings of Mercia; one of the most important battles in English history. There is evidence of a church building on this site since at least the 10th century AD.

The Saxon Chronicles have an entry under the year 825AD as follows:

The Cornish Britons and the men of Devon fought at Galford, and the same year Ecgbryht, king of Wessex, and Beornulf, king of Mercia fought at Wroughton; Ecgbryht took the victory; and there afterwards he sent Aethelwulf, his son and Ealhstan, his bishop to Kent with a great host. They drove King Baldred north over the Thames; and the people of Kent turned to him, and Surrey, Sussex and Essex because they had been wrongly forced from their loyalty to his kinsmen. The same year, the King of the East Angles and the people sought the peace and protection of king Ecbryht, for fear of the Mercians; and the same year the East Angles killed Beornulf, king of the Mercians.

Nick Harper at the Victoria, Old Town

On Friday night, Nick Harper, who is almost local (having been brought up near Marlborough and still living in that area) kicked off his tour in Old Town at the Vic. I had never been to this venue before and in truth was a bit apprehensive, expecting it to be busy and loud on a Friday evening. When we arrived this was not the case and people were just sitting quietly around waiting for Nick Harper to start playing. Though when leaving the intimacy of the downstairs venue around mid-night the pub had indeed become a lot noisier and very busy (it was Friday night after all).

Nick is the son of Roy Harper and I first saw him perform at Swindon's Arts Centre a few years back. He is a brilliant guitarist, in fact I have never seen a guitar played the way he plays - he almost always breaks a string before the end of the evening. He also a superb song writer with a witty slant on most scenarios plus a lot of interaction and banter with the audience - some of whom seemed to be part of his large contingent of mates.

In between songs he talked about the Love, Hope and Strength Foundation to which he is committed:
LHSF is an international, music-centric cancer charity dedicated to providing support for cancer centers, and inspiration to those affected, throughout the world. The mission is to save lives, right now, with the advances that have already been made in cancer care. We do not fund cancer research, rather we use our funds to purchase medical equipment and supplies, raise awareness through special events, documentaries and media, build cancer centers and find bone marrow donors. (Mission Statement)

To find out more check out Nick Harper's website Harperspace
http://www.harperspace.com/nick-harper-lhs.html

It was one of the best music evenings I've had in quite awhile. The venue was small and intimate but with an excellent air conditioning system. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Woolstone and the Uffington White Horse

Uffington White Horse Hill - viewed from a distance, the horse is not quite visible. Just a short drive from Swindon through the most beautiful of spring-line villages all with their own pond (fed by the chalk springs running off the downs) is the magnificent, ancient Uffington Castle hillfort. Although the white horse cannot be seen clearly in my photograph it can always be seen clearly from the train as it hurtles past between Swindon and Didcot. When, returning from London, I see the white horse come into view I know I am nearly home, away from the city crowds, back to my dear Swindon. People who do not know my town see the somewhat soulless centre and judge it wanting - I see its soul in the ancient landscape that surrounds it and in the very land it is built on.

http://www.berkshirehistory.com/archaeology/white_horse.html

The historic White Horse Inn in Woolstone - the sign is a replica of the ancient Uffington White Horse. The White Horse Inn advertises in the Swindon Advertiser every Christmas - offering seasonal fare in an atmospheric setting, I have often seen 'olde worlde' illustrations of it and have to admit to being impressed when it came into view.

The chalk water stream that runs through the village - celandines and snowdrops growing along the bank. I cannot photograph the sound of running water as it falls from higher ground - it is nature singing. A house near by the stream - it appears to have been built with chalk bricks.A friend has done some research and the bricks are probably clunch (which is a chalky limestone)

Alfred Williams talks about Woolstone in his 1913 book Villages of the White Horse:

Every village of the down-side has one or more large chalk-pits situated upon the open hill, from which material is obtained for building, or for rubble to make up the roads and farmyards. In some localities the chalk is worthless for building being rotten and crumbling for many yards deep below the surface but here and there good consistent stuff is quarried, which when dried is useful and durable.
I walked through the charming village of Woolstone yesterday while out with the Ramblers - because I was with a large group of people I was unable to explore as I would have wished. I understand there is a little old church which I didn't get to see. There was also a Roman villa on the site of the village, no doubt built there to take advantage of the clear chalk spring water which flows through the village. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/woolstone_villa.html

Rambling - Barbury Castle and Smeathe's Ridge

A group of walkers setting off along Smeathe's Ridge today

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The Northeast Wiltshire Group of the Ramblers meet in Swindon on Saturdays and Sundays and car share to the start of the walk. The walks are usually around the Marlborough Downs taking in the spectacular views, though they often go further a field.

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This morning was just so lovely - the first spring-like day of the year. So I was off for a ramble - car-shared up to Barbury Castle. I didn't know (it was pointed out to me this morning) that the left-hand hillside leading up to Barbury Castle is an Iron Age field system and in the morning shadows it was very apparent today. I couldn't get a decent photo as there were some horse riders using the very narrow road as well, so we couldn't stop. Smeathe's Ridge was just stunning in the morning sunlight, the views are spectacular but it was the sheep running down the hill in single file that pleased me to watch. Just past Liddington the Ridgeway splits in two - the Ridgeway path follows Smeathe's Ridge which is the highest ground and is absolutely beautiful. The Old Ridgeway along this section is lower down and has been tarmaced - it is used a lot by motor cyclists and other vehicles, we came back along this section. If you are walking the Ridgeway along Smeathe's Ridge you will need to walk through or around Barbury Castle and come down the west side hill - the old Ridgeway leading to Avebury is at the bottom of the hill.

For more information about the Ramblers see www.ramblers-wilts.org.uk

Ken White - exhibition of new work

Ken White is a Swindon artist, he started his working life in Swindon's Railway Works as a sign writer and later went to Swindon Art College. In the 1970s he painted murals on the ends of buildings that became quite famous although sadly not many of them remain. His most powerful paintings, however, are of life in the Railway Factory and in that respect he reminds me a lot of Alfred Williams who wrote 'Life in the Railway Factory' back in 1913. Ironically, Ken's best known work was the 'scarlet lady' painted for Virgin Atlantic and which became their logo. Although he has worked around the world he remained devoted to his wife and family, he and his wife Jan still live in Old Town, Swindon. Ken's exhibition of new work starts today, 10th February and runs to 28th March at the Arts Centre in Old Town, Swindon.

His website address is http://www.kenwhitemurals.co.uk/history.html

I dropped by today and thoroughly recommend it, his lino-cuts are superb and his paintings atmospheric. The little exhibition is evocative of a Swindon long gone. Ken is a great artist but remains, as always, quietly spoken and modest.

NB: Permission obtained from Ken White to use the above photos

Still snowing - Radnor Street Cemetery

Looking towards the Railway Village with St Mark's Church in the distance

A couple of young boys disappearing uphill with their toboggan

Dixon Street - through the cemetery gates

Looking towards the Radnor Street entrance
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Friday ....... what a week! Swindon is snowed in this morning. I made a valiant effort to get to work via Radnor Street Cemetery only to find there were no buses running. I made a phone call offering to walk in but was told to go back home, the office was closing. I didn't need to be told twice, a day off, so much I could do, only I couldn't because of the weather.

A snowy day in February, near Greenbridge

The river Cole near the Greenbridge, going towards Stratton - this little river is not much more than a stream. I am not sure where it rises as it has been culverted underground for part of its course though it does eventually feed into the Thames. I often walk here at lunch-time as is a small sanctuary of wildlife. Birds of many varieties to be seen in winter - I have seen birds ranging from a goldcrest (the smallest of birds) to a sparrowhawk. In spring there is the blossom of hawthorn, blackberry and elder; in summer a profusion of butterflies, wild flowers and nettles while autumn brings hedgerow blackberries and elderberries in abundance.

The bankside by the river Cole

A hidden copse - near Greenbidge
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This little patch of trees is just the other side of the fence to my office. It usually full of squirrels leaping from branch to branch and birds flying down to the bird-table in a nearby garden. Just another little hidden nook that makes Swindon a sometimes magical town. Today in the snow, the birds struggled to make their way to the bird table.

An ancient church at Inglesham

A cat gargoyle on the outside of the church

The carving of the Mother and Child is almost certainly Saxon in origin - until 1910 it was on the outside of the south wall and used as a sundial but its original position is unknown.

Most of the walls are covered with paintings, often over painted up to seven layers thick


The bells date from 1717, made by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester

St John the Baptist Church, Inglesham, Wiltshire
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This is somewhere I heard about a while ago and today came upon it almost by accident whilst walking the Thames path to Kelmscott. For someone who does not subscribe to religion, preferring to carry out my reflections on the mysteries of life whilst striding out across the Wiltshire Downs or mooching around along the upper Thames, old churches seem to play a significant role on this blog. Perhaps because they hold clues to the history of the people who used them, in some cases, over several centuries.

Inglesham is a small village the other side of Highworth and just before Lechlade. The old church is now looked after by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings which was founded by William Morris, who lived nearby in Kelmscott. There is a well polished plaque inside the church which says "This church was repaired in 1888-9 through the energy and with the help of William Morris, who loved it". Although it has been added to and renovated over the centuries, sections of it date back to the early 13th century (King John gave the church to the monks of Beaulieu in 1205).

A fascinating ancient building, situated close to the upper Thames, this old church is left open and is well worth a visit. There are some traces of a medieval village to be seen in the surrounding fields which declined with the passing of the wool trade.

Source of information: Anthony Barnes who produced a pamphlet named 'St John the Baptist Church' for The Churches Conservation Trust - a charity set up in 1969 to care for and repair ancient churches for present and future generations.

Tithe Barn at Stanton Fitzwarren

White doves on the roof of the tithe barn

The Tithe Barn
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The old tithe barn can be found In the tranquil village of Stanton Fitzwarren situated on the outskirts of Swindon, just past Stratton and on the road to Highworth. Apparently, there has been a village on this site for over 2000 years.

Norman Church at Stanton Fitzwarren

St Leonard's Church in Stanton Fitzwarren

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This beautiful little Norman church was built on the site of an older church. Today, I had a mishap with my camera which was set for close-up shots and as a consequence most of the photos I took were blurred. The inside of the church is exquisite with a Norman font and pulpit. Although tiny, the church has magnificent wood carvings and beautiful windows - one internal window is an engraved and just depicts an ear of corn. The ceiling is exposed wooden rafters which are a work of art in themselves. The church is on a gentle incline which slopes down towards the lake in Stanton Park.

Very old small font just inside the main door -
possible preserved from a Saxon church which originally stood on this site.

Norman font
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Thought to date back to around 1170, the font belonged the church that preceded the present one and which was destroyed by fire. The upper part of the font has a frieze of entwined scroll bands and other interlacing patterns typical of that period.

For more about the lovely, hidden village of Stanton Fitzwarren have alook at this website:

http://www.stantonfitzwarren.com/home.html

Faringdon Road Park on a frosty morning

Faringdon Road Park on a frosty morning - probably not Swindon's most beautiful park but with an interesting history. The land was purchased by GWR in 1844 from local land owner Lt Col Vilett for use as a cricket ground. It was also used for the annual children's fete which was held every August until the outbreak of WWI. It was originally known as the Cricket Fields, then the Plantation and later Victoria Park. The park was taken over by Swindon Corporation and turned into a public park in 1925.
(ref: Mark Child's Swindon: An Illustrated History)

The view across the park - in the distance the Swindon Hill and Radnor Street Cemetery are just visible in the mist.

One of the curious curved stones found in the immediate area - there is another in Radnor Street cemetery. I can't help thinking they once formed part of a much older monument.

This stone is unlike any I have encountered in my walks around Swindon - not sure if it is sarsen or sandstone rock. Examples of sandstone rock can be seen in the Old Town section of the railway cutting for the old Wootton Bassett to Marlborough line.

One of the entrances to the park with another smooth stone (sarsen or sandstone) just behind the notice. Faringdon Road Park was rather lovely this morning in the frost - just a few people around, dog walking or making their way by foot into the town centre. Due to its proximity to the town centre, this unsung public facility has suffered much from anti-social behaviour in the recent past. Let us not forget that it has an important place in Swindon's railway heritage and is still a much valued green space for the people of the town.

The Old Cattle and Corn Markets

Still occupied, some of the original stone cottages on the busy Marlborough Road next to the site of the Cattle Market which were built in the early 1800s. A Cattle Market was first established in Old Swindon as early as 1780 by William Dore and was relocated to various positions until finally being built by William Dore III between Marlborough Road and the Old Swindon Station. Marlborough was the most important nearest town to Old Swindon for banking and trading.

The above scuplture of a ram by Jon Buck is The Old Wiltshire Horn which once one of the most important breeds in the county. It was commissioned by Tencherwood New Homes and Thamesdown Borough Council (now Swindon Borough Council) to commemorate the redevelopment of the Old Cattle Market which previously stood on the site of Dewell Mews.

The Old Corn Market

The sad and derelict Old Corn Market - used in the 1960s for roller-skating and pop-groups. The Locarno was the venue for groups such as the Kinks and, I do believe, the Rolling Stones in the mid-60s. Later it became a bingo hall and more recently was almost completely destroyed by fire, however, it is ear-marked for future development which will hopefully retain at least the historic tower.

Part of the now derelict Old Corn Market (also known as the Locarno)
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Most newcomers to Swindon think of its history solely in terms of it railway heritage. In fact, Swindon started out as a small market town which also had its own stone quarry (Purbeck stone). One of the main routes up to Old Town, where the cattle and corn markets were situated, is called Drove Road and there are photos in existence of livestock being herded along what was then a rural road. Also in the area are roads named the Weavers, Old Mill Lane (Swindon had its own water mill at the Lawns) and Hooper's Place which provide clues to Swindon's agricultural and rural origins.

Acknowledgement to Mark Child's 'SWINDON An Illustrated History' for the information about the cattle market.

Hidden Stones

Anyone who has read this blog in the past will know that I have a bit of a passion for finding sarsens dotted around in the various parks and open spaces of Swindon. The Lawns has its fair share of sarsens which have almost certainly been imported from Marlborough Downs. However, in the copse just above the lakes lies a cluster of hidden stones (about a dozen). I do not know how they came to be there, perhaps surplus to requirements when the other stones were being positioned. The one above is the largest of the cluster and is in fact quite a massive stone - it seems a shame that they remain hidden or, if noticed at all by the casual observer, just look like ivy covered tree stumps. In summer they are completely obscured from view.
Addendum:
Thanks for the two comments: Pete Glastonbury (local expert on Avebury and Stonehenge) had previously explained that polishing marks are smooth areas where Neolithic man sharpened axe heads. I did go back to look yesterday and as I pulled the ivy away I noticed the stone is actually split it several places and was quite crumbly in comparison to sarsen which is one of the hardest stones. I now think that this cluster of stones is local sandstone.

New Year's Day at the Lawns

These steps lead up to what was once the private grounds and chapel of the Manor House which belonged to the Goddard Family. Until the overspill estates were built around Swindon in the 1950s to rehouse people after WW2, the view from these steps would have looked over fertile farmland. The river Cole flowed at the foot of the hill, this has now been culverted underground to make way for one of the main dual carriageways into the town.

Out for a walk at the Lawns on this afternoon on New Year's Day - the hoar frost remains on the trees - the cold pinches my fingers. The first of January arrives bleakly and somewhat grey.

The aptly named (for today) Ice House at the Lawns

The lower lake - both the upper and lower lake remain frozen

The resident pair of swans with their fully grown cygnets. I was surprised to see the younger swans still with their parents as last year I spotted the five cygnets flying away in October.

Stained Glass in Christchurch

Out walking around Old Town today, I happened past the Old Lady on the Hill, the familiar landmark of Christchurch. I wrote about Christchurch on Christmas Eve last year see: http://swindonia.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-eve-at-christ-church.html so will not duplicate that again. Today, however, I wandered into Swindon's most famous church with the intention of looking at any stained glass that may be inside. I quietly walked around and what a treat it was. Most of the glass is traditional; there is a magnificent nativity window, a detail from which is above; also a beautiful contemporary window which was made by stained glass artist John Hayward in 1987 to replace a window which had been vandalised.

Posted below is a selection of the windows - one of Swindon's hidden treasures which I recommend to anyone who wishes to spend a few reflective moments in this lovely church.

The above window was made and donated in 1987 by stained glass artist John Hayward FSMGP. He has beautiful windows in churches all over London and in Sherbourne Cathedral where he lived until his death in May 2007.

A detail from a window made in remembrance of Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard - it was the Goddard family who donated the hill-top site for the church built in 1851 (architect Sir George Gilbert Scott).

Lydiard Park - archaeological survey

The view of Lydiard House (West Swindon) from the wooded area on the far side of the park.

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English Heritage are currently undertaking a full archaeological survey of Lydiard Park using their Total Station Theodolite which takes measurements with millimetre accuracy from which it is possible to draw a map of the archaeological features in the park. The Lydiard Park project aims to restore the 18th century landscape but in order to do so it is important to understand all the earlier and more recent phases of the park's evolution. So far they have discovered evidence ranging from agricultural use during the Medieval period to hut platforms, roads and boundaries associated with the World War 2 military which once occupied the Lydiard events and sports field.

Reflections - from the bridge leading to the wooded walk

The frozen lake at Lydiard Park - a flock of seagulls sitting on the ice in the cold sunlight

The painted window at Lydiard House

The exquisitely detailed painted window can be found in the apse of Lady Diana Spencer's dressing room at Lydiard House. The window is truly beautiful as each diamond shape contains a unique painting of intricate detail. Created by Dutch artist Abraham van Linge in the 17th century who also made the stained glass window in St Mary's Church at Lydiard Tregoze; to view the window in greater detail click on picture to enlarge it. Under the window stands a rare and beautiful Socchi desk - there are apparently only three known to survive and the other two are both in Florence.
Lady Spencer was an artist in her own right and painted delicate floral designs for Wedgewood China.
Note: Lady Spencer was an ancestor of Princess Diana being her great, great, great, great, great, Aunt.

This detail of a boat with a half furled sail was the signature of Abraham van Linge and appears on all his stained glass windows.

A detail from the embroidered bed cover in the guest room at Lydiard House which replicates the the diamond pictures of the window.

The bed in the guest room at Lydiard House

Evening falls on Clifton Street

The corner of Clifton Street and Radnor Steet in Kingshill area of town, as the winter sun goes down. The building on the corner used to be a dairy and across the road (where I stand to take the picture) is a building that looks as though it may have once been a stable. Across the road on Radnor Street stands a red brick building that was once Clifton Street Primary School - now a small electonics workshop. A slightly ramshackle part of town that holds clues to the history of 'new' Swindon as it spread uphill with the coming of the Great Western Railway. My own small house, which is nearby, was built in 1884.

Clifton Street today - not hard too hard to imagine how it might have been when the terraced houses were still quite new, a century a so ago. Corner shops; horse drawn delivery carts and homes that did not need to be locked.

Overlooking the back gardens of Clifton Street through the railings of Radnor Street Cemetery. The winter sun sinking fast even though it is only mid afternoon. A half moon is visible in the clear cold sky. Later as I return home in the early evening, it is dark and crisp with a thick frost forming on the pavements.

Inside the historic old Town Hall

The marble statue of Charlotte Corday in the foyer of Swindon Dance

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Today I wandered into the old Town Hall (see previous post 'The Old and the New') which is now occupied by Swindon Dance - I must start by thanking Barbara, working on reception, for showing me around and giving me the history of the wonderful marble statue that is by the entrance. The statue was carved in the 19th century by MICH' IORETTI and was donated to Swindon Borough council by Alderman Powell, a great supporter of the arts, sometime between the wars.

Here is the fascinating history of Charlotte Corday (1768-1793):

Charlottle Corday was born at Saint-Saturnin, France on July 27th 1768 - she considered herself devoted to the 'enlightened' ideals of her time but was a supporter of the monarchy when the French Revolution began in 1789.

As the revolution progressed, factions arose within the national convention. Corday favoured the more moderate Girondins rather than men such as Marat and Robespierre who wanted to destroy the monarchy. The Girondins were expelled from the convention in early summer 1793 and took refuge at Caen - Corday then went to Paris and devised a plan to gain access to Marat where, on July 13th 1793, she stabbed him in the heart while he was in the bath-tub. She was immediately apprehended and executed on July 17th 1793.

Edit made 8/12/08: Graham Carter who has helpfully commented on this blog in the past sent me the lyrics to an Al Stewart/Tori Amos song - called Charlotte Corday: Thank you once again Graham for your input and knowledge, here are the lyrics.

If you hear a step upon
Your stair tonight
If you see a shadow in
The candle light
It's only your imagination
Leading you astray
See her for a moment
Then she'll slip away
The ghost of Charlotte Corday
She wanders down the hallway
In a long black dress
And lingers by the fireplace
Like a faint caress
Just what it is that brings her here
No man alive can say
See her for a moment
Then she melts away
The ghost of Charlotte Corday
Stars in the window like a panoply
Covering everything
River of night
Stars in the window
See them shining for
Anyone else, anyone else
The clock ticks in the dark and now
The night is still
The air is like a murmur
On the window sill
All at once there's someone there
That only you can see
Seeking the forgiveness
That will set her free
The wind has taken away
The words she wanted to say
The sky is now turning grey
The dawn is turning away
The ghost of Charlotte Corday

The beautiful stained glass windows on the staircase

This historic panel holds the names of all the fallen local men who died in the First World War. The inscription at the top reads: "Their glory shall not be blotted out. Their name liveth forevermore"

The mural over the door of the dance studio, Nature - Mother of the Arts. Painted by an artist named Carleton Atwood in 1979. So far, I have been unable to discover anything further about the artist.

The dance space studio - light and airy with high ceilings and mirrors reflecting in mirrors.

Barbara from the reception desk kindly took me down to the basement where there were two 'safe' rooms with heavy lead doors. The building was something of a labyrinth with a winding staircase hidden at the back of the building - I think it led to the clock tower but this part of the building is closed to visitors.

The old and the new

The Town Hall in Regent Circus

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Next to the new library is Swindon's Victorian Town Hall. Still the dominant building of the town though now longer used as the town hall (now a dance studio). With the coming of Brunel's Great Western Railway works in the early 1840s 'new' Swindon gradually started to be built, starting with the Railway Village. For quite a few years this was separate from the original Swindon now known as Old Town. As 'new' Swindon grew, the gap between the two communities closed, linked together by Victoria Road, Eastcott Hill, Kingshill Road and even the hillside cemetery behind Radnor Street which served both the 'old' and 'new' towns. The 'new', as it then was, is now part of Swindon's history - sadly much of it has disappeared with the 'progress' of the 1960s when many of the terraced streets and red-brick Victorian buildings were demolished to make way for roads and modern buildings.

The Town Hall was built in 1891 - here is what Mark Child says about it in his excellent illustrated History of Swindon:

"Here was the New Swindon Local Board making a statement in 1891, with a building that dominated the Swindon sky-line, in a position that was also clearly visible from Old Town .......From the moment it was built, the New Swindon Town Hall became a vocal point for large outdoor meetings and places where visiting worthies were displayed to the people. The Town Hall clock has been known to chime eccentrically over the years, once in the 1960s striking 24 times at three o'clock in the afternoon. Eventually, local government outgrew the building and it was removed to the Civic Offices, built for the purpose in 1938."

Note: Today many of the 1960s buildings have been demolished as the town's council seeks to regenerate the town centre - hopefully the old Town Hall and the new library will continue to stand side by side as an example of how the new can (in the hands of skilled architects) compliment the old.

Swindon's new library

View of the new library from the crossing going towards Victoria Hill

The new Central Swindon Library

The stairs leading to the second floor
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Hidden Swindon has mainly been about the places I walk around the the town, places are generally best accessed by foot. Here is another wonderful place - no secret and definitely not hidden.

Swindon's new rotunda central library - a building any town would be proud of, beautiful inside and out. I usually head for the 'quiet' second floor where the ancient history section is.

Addendum:

Many thanks for the two comments, much appreciated. To answer Sean's question, the new Central Library replaces the prefab building that was (according to Swindon Web) on the site for 30 years. In fact there had been a smaller prefab building on the site since the 1950s so the old hut served Central Swindon as a library for well over 50 years.

Edit: 4/12/08 - Just came across an excellent article by Mark Child in January's edition of Wiltshire Life - recommended.

Croft Wood in November rain

A carpet of beech leaves - soft and springy underfoot

One of the more mature trees in the wood - now almost leafless

I realised today that I have neglected some of my favourite places around 'old' Swindon. Croft Wood is a joy and has appeared on this Blog many times. Full of bluebells in the spring, today it was carpeted with autumn leaves. A magical 'hidden' little wood tucked away between Croft Sports Ground and Pipers Way - this part of Swindon is a patchwork of copses and footpaths through strips of woodland. What a beautiful place it must have been just half a century ago before the motorway, corporate headquarters and the upmarket hotel.

No! to the Coate Development - update

(photo taken in January this year)

The 'Council Oak' at Coate Water - the same tree featured in Richard Jefferies novel 'Bevis, the story of a boy'. Richard Jefferies was born at Coate in 1848 and died in 1887.

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Below is a reproduction of a photo that appeared in yesterday's Swindon Advertiser

The land by Coate Water Country Park

Permission has been given by the editor of the Swindon Advertiser to reproduce in part the following report and the above picture.

Yesterday's Swindon Advertiser (12/11/08) ran a 'good news' story on its front page under the headline: No! Not In Our Backyard. Report by James Wallin (Political Reporter).

Plans to dump 1,500 houses close to a local beauty spot have been condemned by Swindon Councillors. An application to build on land near Coate was branded a "travesty" by planning committee members at a meeting last night. An appeal by the developers, the Swindon Gateway Partnership will now be considered at a public inquiry on February 10th 2009. But Swindon Council has sent a strong message to the Secretary of State that in their view the proposal is "fundamentally flawed" and should be refused.

The battle to save this land and its historic associations with the writer Richard Jefferies whose house (now the Richard Jefferies Museum) stands on the corner of Dayhouse Lane is not yet completely won but with 52,000 signatures on a petition against the development the Save Coate campaigners were upbeat after the council meeting: To quote the Swindon Advertiser again - Jean Saunders said: "I think it was a wonderful decision by the councillors and I pleased to hear their support for Coate Water".

Jean Saunders and other campaigners such as Brian Burrows and Felicity Cobb have worked tirelessly for the past five years or so to stop this development. After Bath University pulled out of their earlier plans to develop a campus on the site the developers dug their heels in and lodged an appeal with the Secretary of State on the basis that Swindon Council had not made a decision about the building plans for the site.

The Swindon Advertiser has reported this story right from the start and has been active in keeping the people of Swindon informed of every setback and progress made in this long campaign.

The Red Lion at Avebury

The Red Lion Pub - from the Cove at Avebury

Avebury is often very busy so week days are the best time to visit. Just a short walk outside the henge in any direction will bring you to the pastoral tranquility of sheep grazing in meadows - if you just want to clear the mental cobwebs away. On my visit today in the pale November sunshine, there were groups of schoolchildren with their teachers on field studies - what a lovely day out from school. The children were all, without exception, engaged and interested in the massive stones. I walked out along the West Kennet Avenue of stones to Waden Hill where there a spectacular view of Silbury Hill may be had. Today there were sheep grazing across the hill and also clambering up Silbury.

For refreshment, or just to catch up with friends, the Red Lion thatched pub sits in the centre of the stone circle. Pagans and druids gather there at certain times of the year to celebrate various festivals including the summer and winter solstice. The Red Lion has its own ramshackle charm, I recall sitting outside in sunshine by the old stable area (now an outside storeroom) with a 'walking' friend back in August and was enchanted by the fledgling swallows taking flight from the the top of the wooden doors. Quite magical.

The pub also has the old village well inside the front room of the pub which was a later addition to the original building. And if that's not enough, the Red Lion is reputed to be haunted by several apparitions including that of Florrie who (as legend has it) was murdered and thrown down the well ..... this has never been disproved as at the bottom of the well there now sits a large immovable stone.

Avebury is just half and hour's bus journey from Swindon. The no 49 bus runs hourly and is probably my favourite bus journey - as the bus travels uphill from Wroughton suddenly the downs open out and the air instantly freshens. I never tire of making this short trip from bustling town to ancient and unique landscape.

Radnor Street Cemetery - in November

Radnor Street Cemetery

Radnor Street Cemetery is a fascinating little hillside Victorian cemetery - I live very close by so often walk through en route to Old Town. Today, my friend and neighbour called in on me and told me this story of a rather humerous encounter in the cemetery.

Yesterday (Bonfire Night) my friend had taken her hidden short cut into the cemetery via a path that runs along the side of some houses. She was with her husband and little dog when fireworks started going off - the dog bolted and my friend's husband went after it. It was by this time starting to get dark and the large Victorian gates at the top and the bottom of the cemetery had just been locked. My friend then saw an agitated looking man who had apparently been locked in so she asked if she could help. On seeing her the man nearly jumped out of his skin and, while my friend was telling him how to get out via her short cut, he edged gingerly away. She finally had to show him the path while he kept a clear and nervous distance between them.

It was only when she told her husband about it and he roared with laughter did she realise the man she she had helped must have thought he had been speaking to a ghost.

The disappearing Front Garden

A peaceful rural scene viewed from the Railway Walk - farmland now squeezed between the motorway, new housing and Old Town.

Swindon's fast disappearing rural green belt - the Front Garden.

A rapidly changing landscape with the onset of the new housing development and road infrastructure. Still some farmland remains with the river Ray meandering through. Precious indeed!

The old railway walk (and sarsens)

The Kingshill Canal - en route home

More sarsens

These are on the bank of a slope leading up to housing development behind the old railway track. A local woman out for a walk told me that before there have always been there - before the houses there was a field and the stones were just there. So it seems that parts of old Swindon may have once been near a sarsen drift valley - perhaps where the motorway now runs. These stones would have no doubt been cleared from the route of the railway that used to run from Wootton Bassett to Marlborough via Old Town.

The Old Railway Walk - overlooking the changing landscape of Swindon's Front Garden, a much loved trail for dog-walkers, families and cyclists. (Has featured on Hidden Swindon before)

Ancient Echoes

A menhir shaped stone standing in Radnor Street Cemetery - very smooth and curved on one side. It is not hard to imagine that it may have one stood in a stone circle where the rites of life and death were enacted by our ancestors.

The grey lichen covered stones found on the roundabout in Sarsen Close

To people who do not know Swindon, our town compares unfavourably with the architecturally magnificent cities of Oxford to the north, Bath to the west, and Salisbury to south. Swindon has its own heritage firstly as a Wiltshire market town on a hill (Old Town) then later with the coming of Brunel's Great Western Railway as an working railway town. Following the construction of the m4 motorway, however, the town's image started to suffer - industrial and trading estates sprang up while large housing developments gobbled up the land. Still more developments continue and more green belt land is being lost. The most recent casualty is the Front Garden - the farmland that buffered the town from the motorway. Home to small herds of deer and other wild life .... all now displaced. The land surrounding Coate Water Country Park, still much coveted by developers, is not yet safe in spite of a vigorous campaign to protect it.

As I walk around this town that I have grown to love, I hear the cry of nature breaking through the cracks in the pavements. I hear its song along cycle tracks in the hawthorn and elder and in the small wooded areas that have somehow survived. I hear it in the wind whispering through the old willows by the many small streams and brooks that meander around the edges of the town.

All across the eastern side of the town there are sarsen stones seemingly scattered - though in fact thoughtfully positioned to enhance green open spaces and parkland. I have become something of a stone enthusiast and it always gives me pleasure to find new ones ..... except they are anything but new. Each new 'find' brings its own quiet stillness and ancient echo. Some have clearly been imported from the Marlborough Downs while others have something even more resonant of the distant past about them.

The 'stone-circle' at the bottom of Sarsen Close, Bankside - Old Town

Weathervane Hill (near the Ridgeway)

This tree was our landmark today as I walked across the open fields from the Ridgeway towards Ashdown House. My companion, the intrepid Pippa who knows this landscape like the back of her hand, was the first to spot deer watching us from across the field - and a buzzard in the sky.

At the foot of Weathervane Hill there is a sarsen valley where sheep grazed contentedly - even in the October sunshine, this particular field had a stark quality about it that seemed to compliment the tree on Weathervane Hill.

The Ridgeway and Waylands Smithy

Waylands Smithy

A short walk along the Ridgeway towards Uffington lies the burial chamber, Waylands Smithy, hidden by a screen of tall beeches, it was used for burials over 5,500 years ago in the Neolithic period.

Taken from the small information board erected by English Heritage:

Excavations have shown that the monument you see today covers and earlier barrow. Both tombs served as a focus for ceremonies linking the living and the dead, and may also have marked the community's ownership of the surrounding land.

The first structure was built here, between 3,590 and 3,555BC - it was a stone and timber box with two split tree-trunks positioned at each end. Over the period of less than 15 years the remains of 14 people, eleven males, two females and a child were placed in the box.

By the time the chambers were examined in 1920 they had been ransacked but they still contained the remains of several people.

The Ridgeway - towards Uffington

Swindon is overlooked by the wonderful prehistoric landscape of the chalkland 'barrow' Marlborough Downs. The Ridgeway transverses the downs just south-east of Swindon near Barbury Castle and Chiseldon. Today I was fortunate enough to meet up with a friend for the short drive up via Bishopstone, Idstone and Ashbury - all beautiful little villages on Swindon's doorstep.

It was a sunny, windblown October afternoon; the Ridgeway, along this stretch was lined with berry bearing hawthorn, buckthorn, elder and the unusual spindle tree, all interlaced with bright-red woody nightshade. Today, I saw more red admiral butterflies than I have seen all summer - these vivid butterflies did a upward curious spinning thing which I hadn't noticed before.

This section has been extensively repaired and the deep ruts left by 4x4 vehicles that used to frequent the track have been filled in. I am happy to report that 4x4s are banned from this particular stretch of the Ridgeway.

The Old Roman Road and St Margaret's Church

St Margaret is an interesting name for any church because this saint is mythological much in the same way at St George is. The image above shows St Margaret of Antioch - several legends abound and the above illustrates Margaret the Virgin's struggle with the Devil who took the form of a great dragon and swallowed her - she escaped this fate only to be later burned, drowned and beheaded (she was hard to kill).
[ref: The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara Walker]

The front entrance of St. Margaret's Church - built on the site of a Norman church, it dates back to the 13th Century. Just a few metres away from the old Roman road, Ermin Street. I have been unable to trace anything about the history of this lovely old church and remain rather fascinated as to why it was named after a mythological saint. The name Margaret can be traced to Sanskrit Marga "the Gate" or "the Way".

A detail in the masonry - a defaced head. Defacing images was common place at the time of the Puritans though I do not know if this is what has happened here.

A detail from one of the old stained glass windows within the church; oak-leaves and wild flowers.

Ermin Street (Way) an old Roman road

Ermin Street in Stratton St Margaret is built on the old Roman road which ran from Glevum (Gloucester) via Corinium (Cirencester) to Durocornovium (Wanborough) where there was a Roman settlement on to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). Stratton (originally Stratone) comes from the Latin word 'strata' meaning paved way or street. There is archaeological evidence that there was a small military town and trading post in the area and close to the junction of the their two major roads near the present day Stratton St Margaret. This was also known as Durocornovium so was probably part of the Wanborough settlement.

Winterbourne Monkton Church

St Mary Magdalene Church

The little Norman church at Winterbourne Monkton near Avebury - not really part of Swindon at all, but just a short bus ride away (no.49) through the beautiful, rolling Wiltshire countryside. This was my first visit to the church and village see http://wrens-and-hedgesparrows.blogspot.com/ entry "Bean field on a blustery day". The church is open to the public during daylight hours and is epitomises peace and tranquility in its beautiful setting on the edge of the World Heritage Site - Avebury.
Note from a leaflet in the church:
In about 928AD Glastonbury Abbey aquired Winterbourne Monkton and the Monks settled the village. They had a small building for worship but it is not clear if this was the foundation of the present church or not. However in 1133 there was a Chapel which is now the chancel.

A detail from the famous Norman font depicting a Sheela Na Gig - a fertility goddess figure. Most of these were later destroyed under Oliver Cromwell and this is a rare remaining example. It is interesting that this church is named after Mary Magdalene as historically she is meant to be the 'the Woman who knew the all' or 'Mary the Light-giver' and is associated with the feminine trilogy ruling birth, love and death.

STEAM - Swindon's Railway Heritage

Today I made a spontaneous (first) visit to the STEAM museum - and most interesting it turned out to be. The museum is very cleverly laid out with recordings, films and sound effects bringing it to life at every turn.
I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend the Railway Festival being held this weekend on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September.
Ken White, Swindon's legendary artist who started his working life in Swindon's Railway Factory as a sign writer will be present. Ken has worked all around the world and has achieved considerable fame - he still lives Swindon, though as far as I am aware, the Borough does not actually own any of his work.

One of the three paintings by Swindon artist, Ken White. They hang in what is now the Designer Outlet Village - once part of the Engine Factory. This one shows the men leaving the factory by the Rodbourne bridges - the road and bridges remain unchanged.

The Evening Star comes home - for the Railway Festival

THEN

One of the evocative displays in the STEAM museum - a large photo display with real machinery in front of it, giving the allusion of men actually working.

NOW

The Designer Outlet Village (on a quiet day)

A back alley that runs between the small houses of the Railway Village - where many of the original railway workers lived.

Swindon's Forest Festival

The stand run by the Swindon Climate Action Network - working to inform the people of Swindon about the effects of climate change and the benefits of sustainable transport.

Visit their web-site at http://www.swindonclimate.org.uk/

In many ways this stand sums up the ethos of the Forest Festival and highlights the many people in and around Swindon who are working to protect our environment. I spotted Brian Burrows still working tirelessly on the Save Coate campaign - well done Brian (and Jean) for keeping on keeping on.

This is the tenth anniversary of one of Swindon's best events. Held at one of my favourite local places to walk - the Lawn, it remains relatively unsung. Lots of people of all ages enjoying the hot sunny day (first one in August) in the relaxed atmosphere of the festival. Live music, stalls (e.g. mushroom growing, organic and Fairtrade produce), make your own bird-box, plus a food and drink tent. This year there were some low-key woodland games for the youngsters - of all ages.


Excellent local band, I'm afraid my picture doesn't do them justice. The singer has a lovely voice plus is a talented guitarist and flautist. A rather breathless violinist joined them a bit later.
Find out more at
http://www.myspace.com/thesweetplums

Traditional woodcraft being demonstrated

TWIGS is a community garden set up with the aim of giving people who have experienced mental health problems a chance to regain confidence and learn new skills - a stepping stone to recovery, further education or work. The garden is open every Wednesday and Friday - described an oasis of calm from the stresses of everyday life, it can be found at the back of the Manor Garden Centre in Cheney Manor.

Ukuleles in the bandstand

Ukebox Jury in the Town Gardens bandstand -

still without its roof after the lead was stolen from it earlier in the year

I have written about the Town Gardens and the bandstand several times before. I, like many other Swindon residents, was very upset when the lead was stolen from the recently renovated Victorian bandstand earlier in the year. But the bands played on ..... the regular brass bands have been there on Sundays during the 'summer', often in the rain. Today I wandered past and the sun was actually shining. This group of men and a couple of ladies were putting on a splendid show with their ukuleles. Their leader did a very good line in corny jokes which pleased the people of all ages who were sitting around. Their good natured renditions were mostly of early sixties standards though they did a really good version of 'Make Me Smile' by Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebels.

Had the sun not been shining they would have brought it with them - in fact their CD was on sale and I found myself buying a copy of "Painting The Clouds With Sunshine" - not because I'm a great fan of the ukulele but because of the enthusiasm and good humour they brought to the bandstand in the park.

Find out more here:
http://www.ukeboxjury.co.uk/

Invisible Stones

The above stone is one of the most unusual I have seen - it looks as though it should be standing upright as is nearly 13 foot long and much wider at one end than the other.

By chance I found these sarsens a couple of evenings ago - they are outside a small group of private flats at the top end of Grosvenor Road which leads to a footpath that used to access the old Princess Margaret Hospital (now the site of a new housing development). I walked past these stones in the past without actually seeing them - the other day I saw them.

The amazing quality of these ancient grey stones that originate from the sarsen drift on Marlborough Downs is their ability to become invisible - to blend with the background. I wonder how many people actually look at them and ponder on their history.


The east side of Swindon is peppered with sarsen stones - I've spotted them at Coate Water, at Shaftesbury Lakes, the Lawns, Queens's Park, at the start of the cycle track on Queen's Drive (route of old canal), on some open ground opposite St. Mary's Church in Rodbourne Cheney. They also crop up on the roundabout and outside the garden centre in the Rodbourne Cheney area.

Pete Glastonbury, who is a local expert on Avebury and Stonehenge believes, there was once a stone circle where the M4 now runs. I have to speculate as to what happened to the stones - did they get buried under the motorway or were some of them saved to be relocated around the old part of Swindon.

Star Windows at the Health Hydro

The door to what was once the Ladies Turkish Baths - from both sides to show the effect of the light shining through it.

The Ladies Turkish Baths - now just the doorway to some treatment rooms

Two of the beautiful star-windows which are tucked away in the more secluded parts of the building. One is very high up serving almost as a skylight, the other small star-window is actually in one of the 'smallest rooms' in the building - but I managed to find it.

Today I finally got around to attending one of the many health therapy sessions at the Milton Road Health Hydro. I had an alternative motive however, as I had been meaning to take a closer look at the little star window which is visible from the road.

The history of the Health Hydro is very much linked to the Great Western Railway. To quote from Mark Child's 'Swindon - An Illustrated History' Milton Road Baths. Built in 1892 at a cost of £10,000, the building featured two swimming baths........ Metal rings are still in place on the outside wall to allow patrons to tether their horses.
There is a plaque on the corner of the red brick building which says the following:

THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED TO PLACE ON RECORD THE EXISTENCE OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY MEDICAL FUND SOCIETY WHICH FROM 1847 PROVIDED A MEDICAL SERVICE FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF THE RAILWAY AND THEIR DEPENDENTS.

THE SOCIETY CEASED TO FUNCTION UPON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE ACT ON 5TH JULY 1948 AND WAS DISSOLVED ON 31ST MARCH 1949.

Cycle path hedgerows

Out for my usual lunchtime walk today - along the cycle path that runs from Queen's Drive to either Stratton Road or Greenbridge - you have a choice of directions . It is a fairly busy path used by the workers employed in the Greenbridge area, dog walkers, school kids (though on holiday at present) and the odd lunch-time escapee (me) out for a little forage - a sandwich shop nearby.
The cycle-path has the remnants of ancient hedgerows which still exist, as it used to be the route of Swindon old canal and also runs alongside the little river Cole.

Conkers almost ready to drop

Elderberries hanging in lush clusters

Blackberries

These were some of Nature's nuts and berries seen along the hedgerows during my lunchtime walk. Much more to observe, wild flowers, butterflies, bees (still busy) hawthorn bushes in bright red berry - autumn seems to be coming upon us this year while we are waiting for summer to start.

The old GWR Sportsground

One of the entrances to the once well kept Great Western Railway Sports Ground, tucked away at the back of Shrivenham Road. It has stood lock and abandoned for several years and, at present, I am not sure why it hasn't been built on yet (research needed).

The overgrown abandoned tennis courts

The view from the far side of the sports ground - I walked the perimeter of the ground with a friend during my lunch break today. We entered through the shrubbery and bushes along the Greenbridge cycle track that runs along the far side of the ground - technically I guess we may have been trespassing. What was astonishing was how quickly Nature has reclaimed the field which was no doubt once well manicured - blackberry brambles, around the edges, thistles and ragwort across the field - a haven for butterflies. There was evidence of foxes or other small creatures with tracks leading into the bushes.

One of the several wonderful old horse chestnuts on the far side of the ground

The Lawns again - naturally

One of the magnificent Scots Pines dotted around the Lawns

The line of five holly oaks just by the entrance at near the Planks.

One of the two lakes at the Lawns - today I spotted a young heron. We watched each other for a few seconds until it took flight (sorry no picture, I wasn't quick enough).

Ruins of an Italian Garden

Looking across the ornate balustrade towards the ruins of the little church of the manor - Holy Rood.

The well in the garden, now sealed off. The well was fed by the underground spring which rises around this spot and now feeds the lakes at the bottom of the hill.

The ruins of the Italian Garden tucked away in a corner at the Lawns - previously part of the the manor house that stood on the grounds until the the 1950s when it was demolished. The grounds and house had been occupied by American armed forces during the Second World War. In the 1950s the army huts still remained in the grounds of the parkland, now known as the Lawn; these were used as temporary classrooms for the mid 1950s influx of children attending Holy Rood School. Many of these were the children of Polish refugees and this marked the start of a flourishing Polish community which still exists in Swindon today.

The Beauty of Nature in Stained Glass - Lydiard Millicent

All Saints Church at Lydiard Millicent


The beautiful stained glass window in All Saints Church at Lydiard Millicent

A blackbird, thrush and robin at the bottom of the window. Swallows in flight and the dove of peace. In each of the trees there are more birds - another blackbird, a small brown bird in the blossom tree and blue-tits in the silver birch. At the top of each panel there is the sun, moon and stars.

Details from the bird window in All Saints Church - a blackbird and thrush amid spring flowers, bluebells, crocuses, daffodils and celandines.

The Walled Garden at Lydiard House

Hollyhocks

Iris like a goddess bold

Purple drapes her beauty so

That her magic men may know

From her still pool rising cold

Scarlet Salvias swoon and drift

Heavy with their maddening bloom

Silver sanctuaries of gloom

Their heads the dew-sheathed peonies lit

These drunken Pagans sing all night

All but an enchanted row

Of hollyhocks that grow and grow

By the house-wall out of sight

Not a sound or note they make,

But they're growing, growing fast

Skywards they are marching past

Pinks and foxgloves in their wake.

(WJ Turner 1889 - 1946)

At the centre of the Garden is a sun dial (a replica of the original)

How well the skilful Gardner drew

Of flow'rs and herbes this Dial new;

Where from above a milder Sun

Does through a fragrant Zodiack run;

And, as it works, th'industrious Bee

Computes its time as well as we,

How could such sweet and wholsome Hours

Be reckon'd but with herbs and flow'rs!

(From The Garden - Anrew Marvell 1621 - 1678)

I had the pleasure of spending some time in this beautiful, walled garden today. Out for a walk with a friend, we returned via Lydiard Park and, whilst the rest of the park was relatively busy being the first day of the school holidays and gloriously sunny, the walled garden at Lydiard House was a place of peace and tranquility.

Hinton Parva (Little Hinton) and St. Swithun's Church

St Swithun's Church - to quote Alfred Williams from Villages of the White Horse [written 1913]
"The pretty church stands adown the slope at the foot of the hill, in the midst of a group of picturesque chalk-built cottages and farmhouses, out of sight of the highway, except the red-tiled roof of the tower, which rises up and peeps over the tops of the trees and cottage chimneys. The little building is very ancient, Saxon in style, quaint without and within, with round arches, beautifully carved oak woodwork, centuries old, and old fashioned box-pews, the whole pervaded with a sense of calm peacefulness ........" Alfred Williams wrote this in 1913 and, having wandered in last week whilst on a Ridgeway walk, I have to agree. Nearly 100 years later the little church still retains the same sense of peace and simplicity.

The 11th century arches within St Swithun's Church

The font in St Swithun's Church

The information inside the church describes this as a Saxon font, however, unsure that this was the case I checked with some knowledgeable people on the Avebury Forum who confirmed that this style of font is actually early Norman. Many thanks to all who aswered my enquiry.

The Coomb

Thanks to Pippa, my delightful walking companion of a few days ago, for showing me this place. A deep ancient coomb, possibly formed by the 'run-off' from glacial melt at the end of the Ice Age. In the background a field of blue-gey linseed crop can be seen and along the banks of the coomb grew cornflowers - the first I have seen this year.

Hinton Parva or Little Hinton as now been designated as a Conservation Area by Swindon Borough Council.

Bishopstone

The most picturesque village in north Wiltshire, Bishopstone nestles at the bottom of Cowtail Coomb underneath Charlbury Hill. Its village pond is fed by streams running off the Downs and it was once renowned locally for its watercress beds. Alfred Williams refers to them in his lovely little book Villages of the White Horse (first published in 1913). He also informs us that many of the ancient thatched cottages are built of chalk.

We spotted a, now quite rare, water-vole busying itself in one of the streams, completely unaware of our presence.

Just a short journey from bustling Swindon and the motorway, it is immensely peaceful and timeless.....

A wooden (weathered) carving of stags in rut tucked away in the shrubbery

The old water mill

The parish church of Bishopstone, St Mary the Virgin

The parish church is Norman in origin though only a doorway in the north chancel remains. There are also the remains of a medieval stained glass window plus a beautiful modern stained glass window depicting the Wiltshire landscape see

http://wrens-and-hedgesparrows.blogspot.com/ link (entry on July 3rd)

Wanborough and the Village Church

There are only three churches in the country that have both a spire and a tower. One is quite close on the other side of Swindon at Purton, the other is in Ormskirk in Lancs.

According to Alfred Williams in his book Villages of the White Horse "Here, according to well-maintained tradition, stood an old heathen temple, used by the sun-worshippers; and here, on the identical site, stands the grey old church today, the tower and steeple of which rise high above the valley, and are visible for many miles in the country round about"

The front entrance to St Andrew's Church in Wanborough

Wanborough is a short bus ride from Swindon town centre (Nos. 46/47). The name comes from 'wain' meaning cart and Wanborough was once a village of far greater importance than it is today as it was the last settlement near the old Roman road, Ermin Street, before the scarp slope of the the Marlborough Downs and the ancient track, the Ridgeway. It consists of three levels - Upper Wanborough (where the church is situated), Lower Wanborough, and Wanborough Marsh.

Referring again to Alfred Williams' Villages of the White Horse

"The village of Wanborough is one of the most ancient in the whole island. Long before Julius Ceasar set foot in on English shore there was a settlement here, on the hilltop looking to the west over Swindon, which was probably a fortified camp ages before the one contructed on Liddington Hill opposite."

Jurassic Swindon - Quarry Wildlife Park

A very hidden corner of Swindon, tucked away behind the beautiful Town Gardens in Old Town is the Quarry Wildlife Park, sponsored by http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/

Jurassic sandstone rock between 155 - 145 million years old. Part of the old quarry works of Swindon Purbeck stone, which became in massive demand from 1666 when it was used to help rebuild the streets of London after the Great Fire.

Some of the foliage in the warm sheltered little haven of wildlife.

Last autumn I started the Hidden Swindon blog, bringing it to what I thought an appropriate conclusion on April 23rd - to coincide with the bluebells coming out in Croft Wood. However, on Sunday afternoon I finally found this place, having heard about it through the BBC's Breathingplaces project. It is tucked away behind the Town Gardens which I had photographed extensively in various lights not knowing of the hidden wildlife garden just the other side of the fence (accessed via a small road called the Quarries).

It so epitomised the hidden aspect of Swindon, I had tried to capture earlier that I felt I must re-start 'Hidden Swindon' in the hope of further illustrating how interesting our town really is if you take the time to look.

Bluebell Day (St George's Day)

The bluebell is reputed to bloom on St George's Day (23rd April) and in former times blue was worn on this day.

I started this blog in September last year as the leaves were just starting to turn to gold. The first picture I posted (just to see if I could) was the bluebells in Croft Wood - so it is the bluebells in Croft Wood that I now come back to.

I have tried to show another side to Swindon, the quiet, leafy places that can only be reached by foot or cycle. Swindon has so many tucked away little places, my focus has been around Old Town where my favourite places seem to be. I have also discovered the rivers Ray and Cole and have followed their courses through various parts of the town. Where there is a river or stream there is invariably a corridor of trees and wild flowers.

There is a clear message running through this blog or rather, stepping out briskly as on a bright dewy morning, which is basically to leave the car at home. Go out on foot or bicycle, hop on the 49 bus out to mystical Avebury - discover the joys of nature and local history. Whilst improving the quality of your own life you will also be improving the quality of our beautiful, fragile planet.

So at this point I am going to take a break to work on

http://wrens-and-hedgesparrows.blogspot.com but I will be back later in the year to add more to Hidden Swindon.

Bandstand blues

The bandstand in the Town Gardens - picture taken earlier this month (5th April)

Thieves rip lead from bandstand

It is very rare for me to post a news item on this blog so this is a sad exception. Yesterday I walked through the Town Gardens in Old Town - a place of peace and tranquility loved by people of all ages.

I was appalled to find that thieves have ripped the lead from the roof of the bandstand. This is especially sad as only two years ago local residents raised £10,000 towards the cost of its renovation (with the remaining cost coming from the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme). It was reopened amidst much celebration on St George's Day (23rd April) 2006.

The gardeners at the Town Gardens were shocked and distressed when they made their discovery on Friday morning and visitors to the park have been moved to tears at the sight of the damage to the much loved Grade II listed bandstand.

I should not really comment on my thoughts about the perpetrators of this theft. Such activities are commonplace enough in our modern world, however, when it happens to somewhere that brought so much pleasure to so many people feelings of violation kick in.

The roof will be repaired and no doubt appropriate measures will be taken to protect it in the future. Hopefully it will be ready for the summer months when local brass bands play on Sunday afternoons and the scene becomes one that is quintessentially English - to be enjoyed by all.

[Acknowledgement to the Swindon Advertiser for the headline "Thieves rip lead from bandstand" and for some of the detail above which was reported in yesterday's edition]

New life

Yesterday I spent a most enjoyable afternoon exploring Wroughton, a historic downland village close to Swindon and on route to Avebury. Much to see, an old mill, the river Ray* running alongside the paths and gardens, the beautiful Clouts Wood and the bright, blustery downland. I was thinking about making my way home when my companion for the afternoon, Elaine, pointed out a duck at the side of the village pond. The mother duck was sitting 'watch' over her little brood, we counted nine in total, huddled together in the warm afternoon sunlight.
Here's some of them ......ahhh !

* The river Ray meanders its way through this blog. It rises somewhere out near Wroughton (around Priors Hill I believe) and flows through many of the places I have talked about in previous posts - as it makes its way to the Thames.

Downland by Wroughton

A family of Shire horses in a downland meadow by the Wroughton Science Museum - previously an RAF site (part of it visible in the background).

There is a larger male horse just out of shot and the trio came galloping over to us - initially a little disconcerting but it soon became clear they were very friendly indeed.

Steep downland by Clouts Wood - possible earthworks. Two ancient battles are understood to have taken place on the slopes of Barbury Castle and Ellandun, both nearby - this part of the downland is likely therefore to be the site of burial grounds.

The Old Mill at the Pitchens in Wroughton

The water wheel - an integral part of the Old Mill (now a private residence)

This idyllic spot tucked away in the Pitchens is the site of an Old Mill

The grinding stone that belonged to the old mill

I had been meaning to spend some time wandering around Wroughton for quite a while now. Within walking distance of Old Town, I pass through frequently on my way out to Avebury. Yesterday was my day off, the sun was shining so I met up with a friend who lives in Wroughton (thanks for the delicious potato and leek soup Elaine) and I have Elaine to thank for showing me just what I have been missing by not 'discovering' Wroughton sooner.

The older name for the village is Ellandune and legend has it that the "Dun of Ella" was a Celtic hill fort where the church now stands (dun is a term for Iron Age ring fort). There is some evidence of human occupation dating back to the Neolithic period though the evidence of a greater significance dates from the Roman period. Wroughton has always been deeply rooted in farming and agriculture and the old mill (above) was one of many granary mills that once existed in the area.

Clouts Wood at Wroughton

The bluebells in Clouts Wood just coming out - traditionally reputed to bloom on St George's Day which is on 23rd April and in former times blue was worn on that day.

A carpet of lesser celandines in the dappled sunshine

Clouts Wood in Wroughton

This beautiful 1,000 year old wood at the foot of the Marlborough Downs was once mainly Wych Elm but today comprises mainly Ash and Oak. It is managed by coppicing and includes many wild-flowers (today the bluebells were just coming out) a wide variety of woodland birds, plus deer, badgers, foxes and other small creatures. It is owned and managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. A joy to wander through.

Cheerful Chickens

On our way back towards Purton yesterday we passed Purton House Farm which grows organic produce and raises free range livestock. The chickens looked very chirpy indeed and, at sight of us, all came running out of their coops to gather by the wire fence. They obviously had a very good relationship with people, though were probably just hoping for food.

We came across one sad looking chicken which had somehow escaped and was wandering about rather forlornly on the wrong side of the fence. We agreed it should be rescued it from it's freedom - one of my companions gently picked it up and put back over the fence where it clearly wanted to be.

Purton House Farm http://www.purton-house.co.uk/ sells organic free range eggs at their Farmer's Markets which are held at various times around Swindon and also at the shop Swindon Pulse. Pulse is a worker's co-operative that sells organic produce and products. It is a rather wonderful little place that manages to survive on Curtis Street where all the small shops that used to exist have long since disappeared due to the one way traffic system. You can check out Pulse (which also has links to other ethical web-sites) at
http://www.swindon-pulse.co.uk/

Purton Timberland Trail

The inscription on the plaque attached to this stone includes this rather meandering sentence:-

"This stone which was reputed to stand on the spot where a horse was struck by lightning and to be its gravestone, was removed from a field at Haydon End Farm approximately a quarter of a mile to east of this point soon after the second world war and laid against the field boundary for over 40 years."

Marsh marigolds on some boggy ground near the river Ray and along the Timberland Trail. The river Ray (below), a tributary of the Thames, rises south of Swindon, flows through the west of Swindon making its journey north where it joins the Thames just east of Cricklade.

Purton's Timberland Trail is a lovely walk which starts in the village of Purton and finishes at Moulden Hill and Lake. Just before the reaching river Ray, the Woodland Trust has planted a new wood, Berriman's Wood as part of the Great Western Forest.

Our walk back took us through some fields (as one of my companions was a skilled map-reader). At one point a buzzard appeared in the sky and seemed to be flying away from us but then glided around. It soared against the sun as I watched and seemed to hover above us for a while - something of a thrill for me who has lived most of my adult life in a city and town.

Cuckooflower

This delicate little wild flower was spotted frequently whilst I was walking the Timberland Trail today - near the river Ray and Moulden Lake. It is widespread in damp meadows and pastures and can vary in colour from white to pale pink.

It has several popular names: cuckooflower, lady's-smock and milk-maid.

Historic Purton

The Manor House and Tithe Barn at Purton date back to the eighteen hundreds and are to be found in the historic conservation area of Purton. This part of Purton dates back to Saxon times and there is a Saxon cemetery nearby, see below for the history of Purton.
(See also the post on St Mary Church which stands next to the Manor House).

The Tithe Barn

While doing some research on the local quarry which provided the stone for the Manor House, Tithe Barn, Church and some of the old cottages, I came across the 'History of Purton' at the Communigate web-site. Much fascinating history on Swindon's doorstep.

Purton is first mentioned in writing in Saxon times, but Ringsbury Camp, at the southwestern end of the village, was fortified Iron Age camp.

Later, the Romans were in Purton and their relics have been discovered in many parts of the village. There was at least one Roman villa within the village and a Romano-British cemetery was discovered in 1987, during redevelopment at Northview Hospital. In the late 600s it is recorded in the charters of Malmesbury Abbey that Chedwalla, the Saxon King called the village 'Piriton', 'Periton', Puriton' or 'Pirton', all of them various ways of spelling the 'Peartree Village'.

At this time there was probably a small Saxon church on the site of the present 13th century Parish Church and a Saxon cemetery existed at 'The Fox'.

After the coming of the Anglo Saxons there were two further invasions. First in about 789AD the Danes, when Purton, on the borders of Alfred's Wessex, may well have been the scene of a battle still commemorated in the names 'Restrop', Battlewell and Battle Lake', and next in 1066 the Normans. William I, ordered a survey of the whole country to make it easier to raise taxes. In 1086, the year that the Domesday survey was made, the records show that there were at Purton a mill, a wood three miles square, sixty acres of meadow and many acres of plough land, which suggests a large village and population.

Originally built round the parish church, manor and Tithe barn, at some time in the past, perhaps as a result of the Plaque or a fire, the village moved to spread out along the Bristol and Oxford coach road.

Paintings at St Mary's Church - Purton

The walkway that links the Manor House and Church

It is likely that a church has been on this site since Saxon times and St. Mary's in Purton is one of only three in the country to have both a central tower, a spire and a western tower. The others being at Wanborough (on the other side of Swindon) and Ormskirk in Lancashire.

A view of St Mary's showing the central tower and spire

A remnant of a medieval wall painting.

A detail from one of the many beautifully decorated arches

This beautiful 14th century wall painting in the Lady Chapel is called "The Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary"

The painting of the last supper over the main alter is from the school of 17th century Dutch painter, Jacob Jordeans and was given to the church by the dowager Countess of Shaftesbury in 1782. It was stolen in 1994, returned from America in 2001, badly damaged, restored and then returned to its historic location in 2004.

Sunday morning surprise - in April

The Old Cemetery covered in snow

(picture taken from a bedroom window this morning)

The Spring

(first two lines from a poem by Thomas Carew, 17th century poet)

Now that the winter's gone, the earth have lost
Her snow-white robes; and now no more the frost

Not quite! I woke up this morning, first Sunday in April, to see everything covered in snow, though now melting fast in the sunshine. Always a thrill to see snow in these days of global warming, I think it would be fair to say we have had a traditional spring this year.

Swindon's own magical place

The Lawn Swans
I have written about this pair of swans several times already on this blog. Here they are doing what all birds are doing at present - nesting. The female swan did not move at all while I was watching, the male swan was on sentinel duties.

I wrote about the Lawn (or Lawns as it is know to me) last month under '7,000 year old enigma' so I will try not to repeat myself. This is a very special little spot within the Lawns - all three pictures were taken by the second lake. This lake has it's own small island (where the swans nest) and, being at a lower level to the first lake, is fed by underground springs. There is also a gully where water pours in from the first lake. Standing on the overgrown bank I could see an old gnarled yew tree by one of the springs (fairly unusual because they are normally found in churchyards).

The old gnarled yew, hidden away in a gully between the two lakes.

One of the many underground springs around the Lawns. This one was bubbling up from the earth and looks as if it contains iron - I also think that perhaps wild watercress is growing there .......some research needed.

April - new leaves

' April'

(first verse of Robert Browning's famous poem)

Oh, to be in England now that April's there

And whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware,

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England - now!

Catkins

Flowers on a Saturday morning

I am very fortunate to be able to walk to the Old Town Gardens en route to other places. It never fails to delight and lift my spirit. Here it is on an April morning.

One of the many rockeries that are, well ....... just lovely.

Wood Anemones in Croft Wood

The Wood Anemone
The wood anemone was the favourite flower of my dear, sadly departed, friend Chris Johnson. Pale and fragile is only thrives in woody, shady places. Here in Croft Wood they herald the imminent arrival of the bluebells which will soon carpet the little wood. Country names for the wood anemone are wind flower and granny's nightcap. It has protective and medicinal qualities attributed to it as the lines from this old couplet suggest.

"The first spring-bloom anemone she in his doublet wove,
To keep him safe from pestilence wherever he should rove"

In the language of flowers wood anemone means brevity and expectation.

I dedicate this post to Chris who died 7th April 1996.
Several years ago, Chris gave me a copy of The Illustrated Plant Lore by Josephine Addison. Soon after I started writing about (and photographing flowers) this spring, the book which had been more or less forgotten seemed to fall off a bookshelf into my hand. I have drawn on it extensively for little couplets (as above) plus the folk lore and 'language' of flowers - in doing so the book has become a joy to read and the memory of my dear friend fondly recalled.

Cricklade's Water Meadow

North Meadow is a Natural England Nature Reserve (since 1973) and each spring it comes to life with the purple haze of one and a half million snakeshead fritillaries. The meadow is where the river Churn meets the river Thames and lies a short walk away from the historic town of Cricklade. Cricklade is described as a Saxon town but actually dates back to the Roman occupation as is en route to Cirencester and lies close to the old Roman road of Ermin Street. Cricklade is also the only town in Wiltshire to lie on the river Thames.

Snakeshead fritillary

We were a little early for the fritillaries on this visit as they have only just started to come out - immensely delicate, here is an example of an early blossoming snakeshead fritillary. It has other old country names such as chequered daffodil, ginny hen flower and, less attractively, widow's veil, madam ugly, leopard's lily, toad's head and lazar's bell.

My much cherished book Plant Lore (by Josephine Addison) says, a little oddly perhaps, that in the language of flowers the fritillary symbolises persecution.

Marsh Marigolds

The marsh marigold is a wildflower common to swampy areas. It is unrelated to the real marigold and has many alternative country names - these include kingcup, mollyblobs, water caltrops, water dragon and meadow rout.

The River Thames in Wiltshire

The river Thames rises in a field within walking distance of Cricklade. The Thames Path will eventually take you to it's source and this can be picked up from the North Meadow. Old Father Thames is the source of much folk-lore and many smaller rivers in Wiltshire feed into it. The river Churn (only discovered by me today) and the rivers Ray and Cole which flow through Swindon. It is also noteworthy that the little river Winterbourne near Avebury feeds into the river Kennet, and the Kennet eventually meanders its way through north Wiltshire and Berkshire to join the Thames at Reading.

Note: I finally invested in a pair of wellies before going and have to say they were necessary.

Penny and Pip

I met these two lovely dogs whilst out in North Meadow at Cricklade today with some friends. I am posting their story here because like so many things in life they are uniquely special.

Their owner told us that both are rescue dogs - Pip, the white lurcher was found wandering on the Ridgeway where he had been dumped. He is almost blind, probably from a blow to the head, but can just see enough to follow Penny the greyhound around - so Penny (who didn't much like running) acts as a guidedog. Pip was named after Great Expectations and Penny after Penny Black.

Heather

One of the rockeries in the Town Gardens was bright with heather today. Heather is a very special little shrub and was held as a sacred plant in ancient times. Today the spring sunshine in the Town Gardens brought families and children out and about - although I often have this beautiful little park to myself, it was a joy to see lots of smiling people wandering around.