Following the passiing on of Charlton Heston, it turns out that the man himself visited grotty old Swindon in July 1968 because his families nanny, one Murial Loveridge, was a swindoner. He happened to be in britain at the time, appearing on stage in Bath, and popped across discreetly. Apparently he called in for lunch to the Riflemans Arms in town (now the Plum Tree - why do people have to keep changing pub names these days?) which caused a bit of a stir. I've fed and watered myself in that very pub many times - albeit without causing quite such a reaction.... So - Moses came to Swindon.

Its a small world. It really is.

Rural Oddity of the Week

Wandering around my local area, I visited some agricultural land left fallow, hemmed in by railways departed and in use, plus the River ray and some recent housing developments, particularly the houses built on the old moredon power station site (I remember watching the explosive demolition of the cooling towers) and the new recycling center. I knew deer inhabited the area, but I was suprised at how calm this particular animal was to human beings in the vicinity. It sort of gave me an appraisal them wandered off into the undergrowth just to be on the safe side.

Well, the natural side of things was great, but I noticed some lorry tires amongst the grass and that woody white stuff you see growing near water. More tires over there. And there. And over there... A field full of overgrown discarded lorry tires. Bizarre! Considering how remote the field has become in recent years, you have to wonder how those tires got there in the first place.