THE impact of mesothelioma has, like the disease itself, crept up on Swindon. Hundreds have died from the disease. Hundreds more are ill and are likely to fall victim in future months and years. All this has happened because of an ignorance about the
We are happy to point out that Ian Quinton, 41, of Highworth, accepted a 12-month bind-over at Swindon Magistrates' Court for actions with a likelihood to have caused a breach of the peace, and not actions which caused an actual breach of the peace.
THE search for missing Swindon College lecturer Linda Razzell has extended to Wales, in the hope that she might return to the area where she grew up. The 41-year-old, who had been going through an acrimonious divorce from her estranged husband Glyn, has
Division Two automatic promotion hopefuls Reading and Brighton were both held at home as the promotion race took another twist. Alan Pardew's leaders twice led through Jon Mackie (8) and Phil Parkinson (45) but were pegged back by Lee Duxbury (31) and
Nationwide and Intel are named in a survey of the top 100 companies to work for. The firms, who both have their headquarters in Swindon, were placed at numbers 23 and 14 respectively. Intel was praised in the Sunday Times survey for keeping staff morale
I RECENTLY spent three weeks in the coronary care unit and the cardiac wards of Princess Margaret Hispital. I would like to thank sincerely all the staff, day and night, for the excellent care and kindness I received. (Mrs) GRACE CLARK Queens Drive Swindon
A BURGLAR who plundered a couple's home of hundreds of films on DVD worth £12,000 has been jailed for more than two years. Stuart Cox was on bail for driving while disqualified when he raided the house in Larksfield, Covingham, last month. The 27-year-old
MEDICAL intervention by Swindon Council could have prevented a potentially lethal outbreak of tuberculosis in the town. Council solicitor Phillip Wirth appeared before town magistrates to update them on the progress of 51-year-old Swindon mum-of-two Kathleen
Passengers travelling from Swindon faced weekend delays on the trains while engineers worked to remove a landslip near Bath. First Great Western commuters travelling to Bristol or London Paddington were warned to be prepared for long delays following
ISIS AC held their annual last-day river match as usual at Sutton Benger and the 32 competitors had to put up with storm force winds and heavy rain, which kept catches generally low. Nigel Smith of the host club managed to overcome the conditions to land
TEENAGER Simone Mistry-Palmer was the toast of the 93rd Swindon Music Festival after winning the title Supreme Champion for her singing talent. Greendown School pupil Simone, 16, said she was "overwhelmed" by the award, adding that the competition was
CHIPPENHAM contributed to their own downfall as they went down 10-6 to Swanage & Wareham in their Dorset & Wilts Cup semi-final. The high-riding South West Division 2 East side certainly fancied their chances against visitors struggling to find
DORSET & Wilts completed their Tetley's Under 20 Championship campaign with a 28-7 defeat at the hands of table-toppers Oxfordshire at Supermarine's South Marston ground yesterday. The unbeaten Oxfordshire side will progress after topping South West
SCREWFIX DIRECT: Robbie Lardner's resolute Melksham Town side had no answer for a rejuvenated Taunton side. Melksham's reliable defence failed to contain the rampant visitors, and they promptly slumped to a 3-0 defeat. Taunton broke the deadlock after
INSPIRATION rather than administration was the focus for Andy King today as he prepared to put more than 30 trialists through their paces at the County Ground. The Town boss welcomed players from Premiership and First Division clubs, France, Italy and
EASTER fever is already sweeping Swindon with eggs and Easter bunnies galore. Taking a step back in time, a Dinosaur Egg Trail is afoot at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. Fearless hunters searched the museum high and low to find the 12 dinosaur eggs and
AT THE grand old age of 88 Phyllis Dyer was still able to keep former pupils in line at the 110th birthday party of Gorse Hill School. More than 40 former pupils met up at Even Swindon Community Centre to enjoy hot dogs, followed by trifle, and rekindle
RESTAURANT boss Mr Rafu teamed up with Sue Currie, acting head of Shrivenhan Primary School, to tighten safety. To celebrate the arrival of Rafu's in Shrivenham the restaurateur gave 10 per cent of his first week's takings to the school. Presenting a
MEMBERS of the elite Gurkha regiment swopped war-torn Afghanistan for Swindon for a concert at the Wyvern Theatre. Before their performance they shared a curry with the Swindon Male Voice Choir at the Jewel in the Crown, Victoria Road. This is the third
STROUD and Swindon Building Society is set to halve its presence in the town that bears half its name. The firm is proposing to end its 20-year stay in Old Town by closing its Wood Street branch, and concentrating on its other branch in Regent Street.
A COMPANY that helps mentally ill people back into the workplace was officially launched by South Swindon MP Julia Drown. Phoenix Mailing, based in the Pembroke Centre, Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, is a charitable company partly funded by the NHS and
MAY I congratulate the Gilbert and Sullivan Society's production of Iolanthe. The singing and production was excellent so well done that a professional group could not have done better. The roars of approval at the end spoke for themselves. I look forward
MY council tax bill arrived this morning. It is for £903.32. How much of this will be wasted on stupid ideas like putting the Swindon Borough Council logo on the Downs or trying, against the wishes of virtually everyone I've ever spoken to about it, to
IN answer to the letter from B Sedgley, I disagree. The average person in the street cares very much about seeing an end to animal abuse. Of course, all the things he mentioned are very important, we would all hope for improvements in these areas. But
SO here we are, in an affluent part of Britain where everyone is enjoying a good lifestyle, and yet children seem to have nothing better to do than destroy everything graffiti, litter , mugging, damaging vehicles. The parents of these mindless morons
HAVE you travelled around Swindon lately? I have, and I am astounded to see the large number of derelict industrial sites and buildings. A good example of this is the building at the junction of Drakes Way and the turning into the Greenbridge Retail Park
Your report on March 15 concerning yobs in Upper Stratton making the life of Frank Barrett a misery by throwing eggs and stones at his windows, exposes a wider problem in society. Today many youngsters have no respect for others and no discipline at home
INSPIRATION rather than administration was the focus for Andy King today as he prepared to put more than 30 trialists through their paces at the County Ground. The Town boss welcomed players from Premiership and First Division clubs, France, Italy and
Cellular Operations, the Swindon-based mobile phone company, has won one of the most prestigious awards in the UK mobile phone industry. The company, which has 500 staff and half a million customers, carried off the prize for Best Service Provider at
SWINDON Council and other South West authorities are ganging up on the Government over social services in the region. The council's head of adult services, Avril Evans, was among more than 100 delegates who attended a regional conference in Exeter recently
PUPILS at Kingsdown School took a day out from normal lessons to learn all about healthy living. Students aged from 11 to 16 learnt about everything from the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse to dealing with stress. Forty students from the Stratton St
FIREFIGHTERS with breathing apparatus were sent into a smoke-filled chip shop after a fryer caught fire. Two fire appliances, one from Swindon and one from Stratton St Margaret, tackled the blaze at Toby Dick's in Victoria Road, Old Town. Paramedics were
STUDENTS of all ages gathered in the presence of VIPs for Swindon College's annual prizegiving. A total of 130 learners of all disciplines and backgrounds were present, from teenagers to pensioners. Swindon mayor David Cox and North Swindon MP Michael
THE search for missing Swindon College lecturer Linda Razzell has extended to Wales, in the hope that she might return to the area where she grew up. The 41-year-old, who had been going through an acrimonious divorce from her estranged husband Glyn, has
Hundreds of people have died from mesothelioma dubbed the Swindon Disease because of its link to asbestos in the town's former railway works. Yet there is no memorial to the people who died attempting to earn an honest living. Today the Evening Advertiser
Swindon College Old Boys always held the upper hand as they defeated Westbury 24-14 to reach the final of the Dorset & Wilts 1st XV Vase. The Southern Counties South side travelled south to face the Dorset & Wilts Division 1 leaders at their Leighton
Calne Town suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat against relegation rivals Minehead in Division One. Paul Rankin's men had a great opportunity to climb away from the drop zone for the first time since August. But Calne failed to beat the side directly above
SCREWFIX DIRECT: Free-scoring Devizes Town stretched their winning run to seven games in the Premier Division with an entertaining 5-2 victory over Elmore. Veteran striker Barry Flippance inspired Devizes with his second successive hat-trick to take his
WILTS CUP/LEAGUE: Stratton Crosslink had only themselves to blame for not reaching the Wilts Senior Cup final, beaten 2-1 by Hellenic side Malmesbury Vics. Crosslink had the better of the first-half chances and missed a penalty midway through the half
Swindon Supermarine's game against Evesham was also postponed, after a small section of the pitch was deemed unplayable. The Hunts Copse surface failed a late inspection, but the pitch should be in perfect working order in time for the visit of Stourport
The scheduled Dr Martens Western Division derby between Cirencester and Chippenham was called off in controversial circumstances. The match referee immediately cancelled the match upon his arrival from Northampton after witnessing the state of the Smithsfield
Gloucester United gained revenge for their midweek Floodlit Cup Final defeat by Fairford as they beat the Cinder Lane side 5-1 in the Complete Music Challenge Cup semi-final first leg. Disappointed Fairford boss Mark Webb said: "We were dreadful, it was
A TOWN victory over Blackpool on Saturday could spark a double celebration at the County Ground. Many supporters would love to see Steve McMahon put in his place but the three points may finally clinch Second Division survival. A Town win combined with
IT is one of Britain's most ancient pathways, but it may fall victim to a very modern problem. The Ridgeway is being churned up by four-wheel drive vehicles. And today a renewed appeal was made for action to be taken before parts of the route are destroyed
A TRAIL of mauled animals has led to more claims about a ferocious mystery creature roaming near Swindon. In February, Minety farmer Peter Scott reported that a large animal had killed and maimed his sheep, leaving five of them dead. In the latest incident
A man who escaped police custody after failing to attend magistrates court is to spend the next four months in prison. Vincent Sparkes, 22, gave police the slip from his home in Carstairs Avenue, Swindon, but was captured within an hour, Swindon Crown
THE Swindon fridge mountain could soon be joined by foothills of irons, toasters and microwave ovens. That is the fear of South West Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson. She spoke out after fellow MEPs agreed a new European Waste Electrical and Electronic
LAST night I saw the stage production of Joseph at Greendown School. I must congratulate the staff and students on the really excellent, professional production. It was a real pleasure to watch. SHEILA JARVIS Boleyn Close Grange Park
ON reading the 48 Hours supplement on March 16, I was delighted to read the article by Victoria Tagg she made me laugh and what a breath of fresh air she is. Victoria told it like it is. She looked and found that beneath the litter, doom and gloom there
One reason why the Steam Museum is not attracting enough visitors is the same reason why Swindon Town Football Club are not getting enough supporters it is too expensive. If they cut the entrance charge by half they would probably increase attendance
