Archive
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Top athlete deserves a better track
Swindon is proud of Matthew O'Dowd's success in qualifying for the European cross-country championships. But the town, which hasn't been able to provide him with adequate training facilities, can take little credit for the 24-year-old runner's achievement
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Matt's winning streak
Matthew O'Dowd will represent Great Britain at the European Cross-country Championships after powering to victory in the national qualifiers. The Swindon Harrier won the Reebok Margate Cross Challenge in convincing fashion, breaking away from the pack
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Festive fun open to all
Father Christmas and his reindeer are coming to Midsomer Norton on December 1st. High Street stores will be open late again this year, enabling shoppers to pick up bargains and take in the festive atmosphere. Street entertainers, fun fair rides and live
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A place to discover
Widcombe is just a short walk across the bridge from Bath Spa Railway station. The street is full of shops packed with bargains. Away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city centre, you can rummage without pressure in shops such as The Roundabout
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This week's events
Thursday 23 November: Team Elgin team meeting at The Oxford Hotel, 8pm start. The local branch of the Barbel Society presents an evening with Angling Times columnist - Martin Bowler, at Wroughton Workman's Club. Doors open at 7pm. Admission £2 members
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Too many are quitting police
Higher than expected numbers of police officers are leaving Wiltshire Constabulary. The county's Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, blames resignations and transfers of officers on better paid jobs outside the force and high living
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Plant a tree and break a record
IF you want to be a record breaker, go to Nightingale Wood on Sunday and plant some trees. The Great Western Community Forest is taking part in a national attempt by the Tree Council to set a new Guinness world record for tree planting. Swindon's part
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Maya goes up the wall
Maya Williams is one of the most talented young climbers in Swindon. At just 11 years old, she is able to scale heights that would leave most adults trembling with fear. She started climbing three years ago when her mother Karen enrolled her on the Link
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Accused
A children's entertainer raped a young girl and indecently assaulted two more, a court heard. David Payne, 56, who advertises his party magic shows in the Swindon Yellow Pages, denies the charges. The alleged rape victim was aged nine and the other girls
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It's not all doom and gloom for our anglers
Flooded rivers and lakes with banks under several inches of water have curtailed fishing for many anglers. Yet, despite the conditions, some anglers did go out, some good fish were caught and Salisbury Angling Club did quite well in the latest round of
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King seals Dryden loan deal
SAINTS defender Richard Dryden was due to start training with his new Town team-mates yesterday morning (Tuesday, November 21) with boss Andy King promising more new faces to come. King has revealed to the Evening Advertiser that he has two trialists
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Find inner peace in tranquillity zone
Swndon people can discover an oasis of calm and well-being for body, mind and soul at the Health Hydro this weekend. Seven Tranquillity Zone sessions will be held in the Lifestyle Room and entry is free. The project is an initiative of the Bah's of Swindon
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Black belt set to give stunt one more try
More than a year ago martial arts expert Leigh Childs impaled his foot on a Samurai sword during a stunt at a Swindon karate show. Now the daredevil black belt is set to do the same stunt again only this time he intends to walk away unscathed. The Seventh
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Too many are quitting police
Higher than expected numbers of police officers are leaving Wiltshire Constabu-lary. The county's Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, blames resignations and transfers of officers on better paid jobs outside the force and high
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Designers present ideas for revamp
The ambitious £350 million scheme to transform the town was backed by councillors at last night's cabinet meeting. Committee members agreed to the project brief and timescale and that a project management team should be established to oversee the scheme
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Plans to scrap school bus service look set to be overturned
Bus services to three Swindon schools have almost certainly been saved after councillors agreed to shelve plans to end them. Cabinet members agreed with the findings of a task force set up to look into the services to Warneford School in Highworth, Ridgeway
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Bid to tackle prostitution
Swindon Borough Council is to launch a bid for Government cash to tackle prostitution in the town. At last night's cabinet committee meeting, councillors agreed to approve a bid for £43,354 from the Government's Tackling Prostitution What Works? fund.
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Celebrating 60 years of happy families
A pere-war meeting has led to six decades of happy marriage for a Swindon couple. Kath and Bill McPhail, both 81, celebrated their diamond anniversary with a party for 70 friends and relatives at Haydon Wick Working Men's Club. The couple, who live in
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Firm moves in, creating 30 new jobs
One of Britain's best-known catalogue companies is moving its customer service centre to Swindon, creating at least 30 jobs. Mail order company Scotts of Stow plans to move 110 of its staff to two warehouse and office complexes in Groundwell. A £300,000
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Santa will go to the Carnival!
A very posh Father Christmas will be joining this year's Christmas Carnival through the streets of Swindon. The suit Santa will be wearing has come from Harrods in Knightsbridge at a cost of £350. It has been bought by fancy dress shop owner, Luke Skywalker
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Christmas cheer for the homeless
Volunteers are needed to help provide a warm and welcoming place for homeless people over Christmas. For the last 11 years Christmas Care has provided a temporary shelter for people in Swindon who are homeless, hungry and lonely. This year the project
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Musical gives a great sound
I AM writing to congratulate Sheila and the Kentwood Choir on their first, full scale musical, The Sound of Music. I have said for some years that Kentwood is capable of a full scale musical of some sort. Well, it's now been done. It would be good to
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Rail firm has one track mind
THE suggested £2.5 billion railway revamp appears to be laudable in many points, such as "Railtrack's plan to increase the Great Western main line from two track to four from London to the West Country". In other words, four tracks fully installed from
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Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah
AT Elim Church, during a meeting held to discuss matters of concern to Christians, there was much discussion about homosexuality. What was generally agreed was that we should be tolerant and accept the fact that homosexuality is a private matter. People
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Building up for the main event
A GROUP of people of all ages met in Wootton Bassett High Street one morning last week at about a quarter to eight. They formed a long line along the pavement by Apsley Arcade and, despite the extreme cold, they spent the next half hour watching the traffic
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Cricklade try spree
Cricklade scored ten tries without reply, but Hungerford's admirable and dogged determination meant they were never able to take it easy and scores had to be earned rather than being gifted. Cricklade scored three early tries early on through flanker
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Cup joy forMarine ladies
Supermarine Ladies travelled away to play arch rivals Clifton in the first round of the National Cup. While battling against difficult conditions Clifton took the lead in the first half with an unconverted try. Supermarine then took a quick penalty which
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Sheppard swings it
Supermarine gained a vital victory in the dying seconds of the game. Marine continued their attacking style rugby and remained in the opposition's half. Only good defence from the Bath backs stopped Marine from scoring. Marine pushed forward on another
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Following the children's lead
Pupils at Lydiard Millicent Primary School are clearly growing up with a spirit of generosity and a concern for other people. They deserve a pat on the back for the performance they will be giving at Prospect Hospice's Light a Life evening. Lydiard Millicent's
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Group's AGM
London Road Partnership chairman Alex Schlesinger was re-elected at the first annual general meeting held by the organisation on November 13. In a bid to comply with the rules of the Charity Commission, the partnership set up articles and a memorandum
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Carnival helpers required
An organiser of the London Road Carnival has issued an appeal for community and business involvement in a similar event next year. Liz Lavender, who organised the bands and stalls at this summer's lottery-funded event, wants to stage another carnival
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Hotel wins award
Owners of The County Hotel, Maureen Kent and Sandra Masson, won the RAC's 2001 regional Little Gem award at the Cafe Royal in London this month. The sisters received the award for their relaunch of the Bathwick hotel. Mrs Kent said she was thrilled to
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Winning villages
Bath solicitor Sharon MacDonald is campaigning for a law to protect unmarried couples who split up. The Withy King solicitor is backing a national bid by the Solicitors Family Law Assoc-iation, of which she is a member, to ensure legal rights for cohabiting
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Testing march
A former King Edward's School pupil has completed a 100-mile march in the Nether-lands, as part of his RAF officer cadet training. 19-year-old Nick Monahan risked blisters and heat exhaustion during the 84th annual Nijmegen marches, as part of The Saints
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Council stalls on CCTV pledge
Furious residents have been left reeling after Bath councillors voted to delay the installation of four closed-circuit television cameras in the city centre. City centre resident Dr Sarah Webb has arranged a public meeting at the Pump Room tonight, to
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Wiltshire says yes to homes on garden
Plans to open up Swindon's Front Garden to housing have won the backing of Wiltshire County Council. After five years arguing, negotiating and consulting, the Wiltshire and Swindon Structure Plan was finally approved by the council. The plan, which sets
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Forum to meet on recycling
The sixth meeting of the Waste Local Plan Forum for Wiltshire and Swindon will be held next Wednesday. The forum, which is being held at Devizes comprehensive school from 7pm is open to county, borough and district councils. The following meeting of the
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Thank you for the toilet seats
Swindon's scouting community now has enough toilet seats to open a shop after an appeal in the Evening Advertiser. They made a plea for three of the bizarre items along with two rubber chickens and 12 drums so they could stage a spoof of the 12 days of
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Sex change vicar to return to work
Upper Stratton vicar, the Reverend Peter Stone, has become Carol Stone after undergoing a sex change. The 46-year-old, who serves at St Philip's Church, has announced she will return to parish duties on Advent Sunday, Decem-ber 3. She has refused to talk
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Jail breakers are captured
Three prisoners went on the run through the Wiltshire countryside after using a makeshift ladder to scale their jail fence in broad daylight. But the men, who had escaped from Erlestoke Prison near Devizes yesterday, were spotted by two farm workers after
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OAPs could get cheaper train travel
Pensioners could still win their fight for cheap rail travel after a last minute amendment. At last night's Swindon Council ratification committee meeting, Conservative councillors Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawns) , Nick Martin (Shaw and Nine Elms) and
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Shirt-shedding barmen are a clickety-click hit with the ladies
Women bingo players had problems keeping their eyes down when barmen half-stripped for charity. But the full house was only to be expected. The Cancer Research fundraiser at Gala Bingo in Greenbridge was the idea of the four staff willing to shed their
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Shakespeare success for Peatmooryoungsters
Peatmoor junior teams put up some crushing performances in the Annual Shakespeare 2000 Junior Open Team Championship when the match was switched from The Warwickshire Avon to the Grand Union Canal at Hatton. They not only supplied the top and third placed
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Sainsbury's rises to meet challenge
A £4 million revamp of Sains-bury's Bridgemead store in Swin-don is set to be unveiled to the public in 10 days time. The store will shut its doors on Saturday for a week while building work is completed and re-open at 9am on Saturday, December 2. The
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Songs in key of life
Children from Lydiard Millicent Primary School are getting into practice for a performance around the Prospect Hospice Christmas tree for the Light A Life evening. The youngsters will be joined by the Swindon Choral Society on Saturday, December 9 for
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Children get a special surprise
Children at Princess Margaret Hospital's Thames Ward had a surprise when the unit was presented with a wide-screen television. The 32-inch TV was handed over to staff at the ward by IT solutions company PricewaterhouseCoopers which is based at the Delta
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Political big guns in town
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson is visiting Swindon today to meet Regent Street shoppers. The minister is spending 20 minutes in the town centre greeting and thanking residents who voted Labour in the last general election. He was also visiting
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Rapid promotion for Swindon chess international
Swindon's 10-year-old chess player extraordinaire Daniel Hall, of Old Town, had a weekend to remember when he travelled to Leeds for the national Rapidplay championships. Not only did he become the new British Under-12 Rapidplay chess champion, he also
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Memoirs of nurse Ena
Ena Walters, who died aged 80, started her nurse training in 1933 earning just £20 a year. In her diary she charts her journey from a freshly qualified junior to an experienced war-time midwife. Ena penned the story after she gave up nursing to become
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Others suffer to give a few their view
I HAVE just received a publication, November 11, with the now almost compulsory headline from Mr Terry King and his FRAG Lobby. They have made it abundantly clear just what their agenda is really all about. Build all the industrial and housing to the
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Swindon's unbeaten run comes to an end at last
Swindon's unbeaten run of 27 league games was halted by Southern Counties North leaders Beaconsfield. Within minutes Swindon were under pressure and defending their own line, but the defence held firm. For the first 15 minutes the game was a stalemate
