Swindon Council planning committee has given permission for the owners of Alexander House to turn the side of their building into the biggest artwork in the town.

In a kick start to the regeneration of the town centre a ‘road’ is to be painted up the side of the liftshaft of the stark white office block facing Fleet Street and two fibreglass Minis on loan from BMW will be attached to it, one driving up the side, the other on the top. Also part of the decoration will be some roundabouts for which Swindon is famous for. However the planners vetoed the idea of a speed camera on the top of Alexander House after the council became the first in the country to cut its funding for them.
In 2009 Alexander House manager Rachel Hampson said she was taken aback when she saw the July Link magazine, after several tenants had sent her texts about how we had provided unusual publicity. “Having been here for fifteen years I’m protective of the building, it has a good reputation, lovely tenants and owners who really care about the service we provide. But I was impressed by the quirky idea.

The idea for decorating the building was suggested as a bit of fun in the July 2009 Swindon Link magazine when we suggested it was an ideal canvas for urban art and called for submissions using Photoshop or traditional pencil and paper. Far from being offended Lenta Business Centres saw an opportunity to draw attention to Alexander House and offered to run a competition for young people and adults and to fund a technical feasibllity of turning creative inspiration into reality, with support by town centre regeneration company, Forward Swindon.

“Alexander House is very white and stands out in the town centre and I started wondering whether an artwork on the exterior could attract even more attention. I approached the owner and he could see the possibilities immediately.”

After hearing that the planning committee had given Lenta permission for three years to mount the minis with the ‘road’ markings on the side of her building, Rachel said she was ‘over the moon’ “It’s so exciting that this project is now to become a reality.

“We studied the feasibility of using one of the competition entries but the cost was prohibitive. Then Forward Swindon heard that BMW had removed the two minis on the side of their pressing factory in Stratton and they were willing to lend them to us. It’s great that Alexander House is able to display two of Swindon’s iconic features – a car partly made in the town and our famous roundabouts.”

She said the contractors responsible for attaching minis for BMW to various buildings around the country will undertake the work. “Getting this far with the project has been hard work but it’s great that Alexander House is going to become a public art place and a talking point in the town.”  She hopes the new work will be completed by the Spring.

www.alexander-house.org.uk

See more digital treatment ideas of Alexander House.

Below, Rachel Hampson presented prizes to children at Peatmoor Primary School for their entries to the competition

Swindon Samba is a voluntary run, community band, welcoming anyone from 14 upwards to join in. See video clips of the band in action at www.swindon-samba.co.uk where you can also find out more about the workshops.

Most people will know of Apple in its more recent incarnation as creators of beautifully designed and supremely functional mobile devices to make phone calls and send email, listen to music, read books, write books, search web sites and engage with social networks electronically.

But The Link was part of an earlier revolution when Apple was the first to produce a graphically based computer with a mouse. Before 1987 The Link was a newsletter created using a typewriter, cut and pasted together with a blade and glue, and stick-on lettering, a very crude time consuming and difficult to amend procedure.

When we relaunched as a monthly we used a typesetter and graphic artist but by 1988 three inventions inspired by Apple made it possible to produce the publication in-house – literally our front room in West Swindon: a faster Macintosh computer with larger screen, the Apple laserwriter and Aldus Pagemaker desktop publishing software.

We were following in the path of Eddie Shah, now a fellow Wiltshire resident, in the use of the Macintosh to produce the Today newspaper in 1986, and then Rupert Murdoch’s News International breaking in that same year the antiquated control of newspapers exerted by the trades union in the graphical and printing industries.

The availability of the ‘new technology’ from Apple and the changing industry landscape meant that we could take control of how we produced the magazine at a lower cost and in less time.
We’ve been doing much the same for over 23 years, except we now use much faster and much cheaper iMacs. The speed allows us to do a lot more at the same time – replying to email, adding articles to www.swindonlink.com, putting out story announcements on Facebook and Twitter.

Much has been written and said about Steve Job’s pursuit of perfection and his genius ability to convince buyers that Apple offer must-have products whilst making shedloads of money.
Jobs once described Apple’s aim was to make insanely great products. Whilst we at Swindon Link can only aspire to that ideal, we’d like to thank him for giving us the means to produce an excellent read, for, perhaps, far longer than we could have thought of when we first started.

The Woodvilles are a living history and battle re-enactment group covering the “Wars of the Roses” period. Founded in Hampshire in the early nineties the group now draws members from all over the UK who perform at special events and historic sites across the country, this will be their first visit to Lydiard Park.

There will be a thrilling display of “bows versus guns” in the walled garden as the two sides demonstrate their skills and guided historic walks around the park. For children, there will be a fun craft activity to make a jester hat and a “bladder on a stick”. Entry to the Woodvilles living history camp is free, walled garden entry applies for the combat display and the crafts cost £3 per child.

Visitors to Lydiard Park will be able to learn a lot about how life was lived in the past and have fun interacting with the camp members. It’s a chance to travel back in time to the turbulent times of the Wars of the Roses when the knights, ladies and soldiers of the 15th century had to decide whether to take up the White Rose of York or the Red Rose of Lancaster in a dynastic struggle for the English Crown.

See the full story at SwindonLink.com and find out more at the Woodvilles website.

Once again BAD will be a showcase for the very best of the arts in Swindon. Last year the event attracted over 20,000 people on a gloriously sunny day, about 15,000 more than was planned for. But it was enjoyed greatly by all. See photos below.

Plans are well under way to make this year’s one-day free event – again at Lydiard Park – even more fantastic. The Culture Swindon team are promising an excellent line-up of performers and artists and there will be taster sessions/workshops so that everyone can have a go at participating in the arts.

There will be a great selection of stalls including arts and crafts, charities and food and across the site will be roving entertainers and stages with fabulous performances starting at 12 noon.

This will truly be a magical day for all the family, young and old. There will be so much to see, explore, enjoy and get involved with and it all guarantees that you can be part of the ‘Arts in Swindon.’

And why are we doing this? Culture Swindon and all its partners want you to know that Swindon really Does Do Arts. We want you to experience the very best of all that is creative in Swindon and hope that it might inspire you to find out more about what Swindon has to offer and, ultimately, get involved.

If you are interested in performing or would like to find out more about running a stall or workshop, contact the Swindon Does Arts: swindondoesarts@swindon.gov.uk

www.swindondoesarts.co.uk

One very positive and easy thing we can do to ensure wildlife, such as
butterflies and bees, visit your gardens or take up residence, is to
grow some native wild flowers.

There are places in any garden, however small, where wildflowers may
be grown. There is a native wildflower for every situation, no matter
how dry, wet, shady or hot. They can be grown in containers, in grass
or in your borders.

With its line-up of novelists, poets, politicians, philosophers, scientists, storytellers, sportsmen, historians, comedians, artists and activists, it will put a spring in your step.The festival is a celebration of ideas: serious, fascinating, and funny. Going to the festival is like opening a book, when you start reading, you never quite know what you will discover.

This year, like all the others, the festival offers tremendous entertainment, exploration and ideas galore, for all ages and tastes. It sets out to prove that when readers meet writers, and writers meet readers, enjoyable, interesting, challenging, worthwhile, unpredictable, amusing and memorable things happen.

From Spring Bank Holiday, Monday 2 May until Saturday 14 May, there will be events at midday, teatime, and in the evening, carefully spaced and placed to enable you to attend almost every one. The 40 page festival programme is available from libraries and information centres or see it at www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk

The 7 May event, being funded by a national lottery Awards for All grant, takes place in conjunction with Toothill Primary School and will be held in the school grounds, at Toothill Church and in the community centre.

Ruth Kiddle, from the organising group, said the day would be an introduction to the National Lottery Big Local Project which has awarded £1 million to develop community projects in Toothill over the next ten years. “The lottery announced that Toothill had been selected to be part of the Big Local last September, but it would only start later this year after a national grant giving trust had been set up.

Visit our main website to see full details about the Toothill Festival.

The BT Digital Music Awards was established in 2001 to recognise the pioneers in the then fledgling digital and online music industry. The Music Fix was launched in 2009, rising from the ashes of an earlier site.

From the website’s Swindon-based headquarters, site manager Colin Polonowski said, “It was a surprise to find out we were shortlisted – and it was an even bigger shock to discover we had won. With Swindon’s increasing relevance to the music industry, we think this kind of recognition is another example that you don’t need to be based in London to succeed.”

“The site is a team effort with writers spread throughout the UK and it’s a testament to the people who work tirelessly to bring readers the most wide-ranging and up-to-date music news and reviews possible. And we mustn’t forget to thank every one of those readers who took the time to vote for us over the last two months.”

Other winners at the 2010 awards last Autumn included Cheryl Cole picking up two awards for Best Female Artist and Best Singer, JLS also took away two for Best Group and Best Video. Tinnie Tempah, Professor Green and Robbie Williams also took away awards.

The Music Fix is online at http://www.themusicfix.co.uk Please contact info@themusicfix.co.uk or telephone Colin Polonowski on 07540 234537 for more information.

The Music Fix is a music news and reviews website based in Wiltshire that, as part of the wider ‘The Digital Fix’ network of sites, attracts more than 250,000 visitors each month.

Chris Birdsall discovered the forgotten draft for The Zandies, an illustrated children’s book, which he wrote when he was a young journalist in Lancashire, now he has fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition to be an author by publishing the book which features fantastic creatures from another planet.

Chris, 52, of St Michael’s Avenue said, “I was in my early twenties when I wrote the book. It was a flight of fancy brought about by a new settee we bought which I thought looked like a hippopotamus. I then began thinking what if animals could be used as furniture and household appliances? So I created a world where people were so lazy the animals had to do everything for them and creatures like The Sofapotomus, the Griller and the Showertoise were born.

“I got my friend Steve Butterfield who was the cartoonist for the newspaper I was working on at the time to do the pictures and he did an amazing job in bringing these animals to life.” Publishing the book proved more difficult until recently when it was rediscovered in the loft.

“As a communications specialist I was lucky to have good contacts in the design and print world and I worked closely with old colleagues from Romec in Swindon who were very patient and made sure the book looked exactly as I wanted.

“It is a fantastic experience taking a book from a simple idea to having a copy of it in your hand.

“The hardest part was tracking Steve down after all these years but luckily I found him. He was very surprised to find he had a book out but is very pleased with the results!”

The book features a number of creatures who act as everything from vacuum cleaners and showers to wardrobes and doorbells for the Slobblings, the laziest beings in the universe.

Chris said he also hopes to sell the books to schools and has produced a special work sheet which has a quiz, comprehension exercises, discussion topics, and art, drama and music exercises for children. “I have had some really positive feedback so far from both individuals and schools and if it all goes well, I have already discussed a sequel with Steve.” said Chris.

The Zandies is available from CBC Publishing, 10 St Michael’s Ave, Highworth SN6 7JZ price £4.99 + £1 P&P. It is also available online through Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith.