q World Music in the Bowl. Six great concerts coming up

Swindon invites the world and its music into the town this summer with six exciting and lively con- 4j certs offering high energy enter- -tainment. . -

Organised by Swindon {, Artscape at the Old Town Bowl in Town Gardens, the concerts will feature bands from Cuba, Ja mss. maica, the Congo and India.

And to keep the Golden Jubilee weekend celebrations going, after the jubilee parade in the morning of 1 June (see page 23), the classic 1950's jump jive and doo wop band The Extraordinaires from London will get everybody moving with sweet harmony vocals and stunning dance routines. Celebrate 50 years with this incredible outfit.

Cathedral of cloth launches choir sponsorship Swindon's famed Kentwood Choir is to receive financial backing from integrated energy company Innogy, based at Windmill Hill, for the next three years.

Some of the fifty strong choir formed in 1964 celebrated the sponsorship by serenading Innogy managing director Mike Bowden inside the the company's hot air balloon at Lydiard Park on 16 April.

World Music at the Bowl

All the fun of the shows

People of a certain age will re- Members of Stage Struck, well member Jane Marie Osborne sing- known for their comedy and musiing Phantom of the Opera on BBC cal productions, will also be perTVs Opportunity Knocks 15 years forming favourites including Coago. She has rarely sung it since, acabana, songs from the musicals but she has been persuaded to and Phantom. perform it at Music and Passion, In the show will be a selection of the next spectacular being planned the better songs from the by Swindon's Stage Struck at the Eurovision Song Contest since it Wyvern on 16, 17 and 18 May. first started 45 years ago. - "We always strive for something unusual," said producer Geoff Marsh. "Jane Marie's appearance will be very special and it's surprising how many decent songs have come out of Eurovision." Tickets at £8 (conc £7) are on sale from the Wyvern box office: tel. 524481; or call 642542. The Extraordinaires 195(E Jive and Doo M p at it's very best. Unmissable! + Jive dance class

June 8th African Plante Elegance 1 the musicians sox dancers - fantastic + African dance class

June 22nd Ska The Top Cats Vintage ska and rocksteady. 'The Top Cats... will keep your skankin 'feet alive!" Sl ime

June 6th Salsa Chacon y su Timba Ten piece Salsa explosion. + Salsa Dance Class

ft,lI u 20th Pri is Lion Train A tribute to Bob Marley - Rock solid aethyth

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August 3rd Bhangra Apna Sangeet

One of the most successf i Bhar acts arxxnd. + Bhangra dance class Curry nit special at the 8o'4

Tickets Et Info Tourist Information Centre: 01793 530328 Evening Advertiser: 01793 528144 Link Centre: 01793 445566 i2 SWINDONARTSC.APE

How's your knowledge of royal

Swindon? As part of Local History Week Swindon Council Libraries are running a jubilee quiz, 4 to 25 May, based on photographs of royal visits to Swindon.

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Entry forms are available at all libraries. Correct entries will be entered into a prize draw. Right, Wood Street in Old Town, .:. dressed up for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubillee in 1887

Local History Fair at STEAM

Thursday 9 & Friday 10 May, 10.30am to 5pm Saturday 11 May, 10am to 4.30pm This Local History Week fair brings together history societies from across Wiltshire giving you a chance to discover how you can trace your family roots or find more about the place where you live. Presented in association with English Heritage, National Monuments Record Centre, Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office, Wiltshire Local History Forum and Swindon Library Service.

The History of St Mary's Church & the St John Family A talk by Sarah Finch-Crisp, Keeper of Lydiard House, in St Mary's in the park, followed by light refreshments in Lydiard House. Friday 24 May, 7.30pm Tickets £2 in advance from 870244, (on the door if available).

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Free estimates Woodworking since 1969: an excellent finish and personal service guaranteed, all at an affordable price Historic reminder from an earlier age Keeper of Lydiard House Sarah Finch-Crisp describes a surprise find

Objects are regularly donated to Swindon Museums and at Lydiard we collect items which are connected with the house, the St John family who owned it and material drawn from the wider estate lands and parish of Lydiard Tregoze.

The recent gift of a Union Jack bearing the portrait of the ill-fated Edward VIII whose romance with Wallace Simpson and abdication from the throne in 1936 rocked the nation, is a fascinating and rare addition to the collection. The flag has been donated by a member of The Friends of Lydiard Treoze and it comes from the old rectory of St Mary's Church which stood on Hay Lane The rectory Union Jack can be seen in the Royal Swindon exhibition at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Bath Road. Below: The Rectory where Tregoze School now stands until its demolition in the 1 980s. The site is now occupied by Tregoze Primary School and it is hard to imagine the once elegant house and spacious gardens where the local rector and his family lived.

Built in 1830 to replace a dilapidated rectory which stood beside Lydiard House, the 19th Century building was fondly remembered by Mrs North whose father Rev. Willetts Into took up the living in 1937, when this particular Union Jack must Arts & Crafts . have been consigned to history Can't find what and quietly folded away. you want?

The Lydiard rectory was a substantial building with a large flagstone hall and flowing staircase. Try us! Well worth a visit Mrs North recalls her first impres- A few of the items we stock sion as being 'almost like a glimpse Airbrush Mosaic tiles of heaven' a home in the country Basket making Pergamano with uninterrupted views across the Beads & sequins Pyrography fi elds to Swindon. Candle making Quilling

There were rose beds and lawns, Glass paints Rug making a grass tennis court and a round Sculpting clay Sandy Art summerhouse with athatched roof Cross stitch Silk fabrics shaded by a giant oak. A beautiful Face paints Silk paints old mulberry tree stood on the main Hama beads Stamping lawn and a pa rt ly walled kitchen Jewellery making garden contained a green house Sewing threads with peach and fig trees beside. An Selection of haberdashery orchard, paddock and spinney pro- D.M.C. Main Agency vided further enjoyment for the Daylight lamps stockist Willetts who had moved from Hull. 100s of other craft items

In 1996 Mrs North reflected sadly and a huge range of products on the loss of the rectory and coun- for the artist & student tryside surrounding it but added: Picture framing service plus 'there is a school where the spin- DIY framing supplies ney and entrance gates of the long Framework Art & Craft drive used to be. I am pleased that 63 Pembroke Centre this field has been used fora school. Cheney Manor Trading Estate I wonder if the aspen trees were Swindon SN2 2PQ left? Even on the hottest, stillest Tel/Fax 01793 513069 days the leaves of the aspen trees Email: enquiries@facswindon.co.uk would move and rustle, giving the Phone for directions. Free parkingfeeling of coolness.'