Page 28 - link magazine

Swindon wide
28
Mini-Eden Project opens Spectacular new sculpture
Beautiful butterflies fluttering across lily ponds to feed on spectacular to emulate rare Swindon orchid
tropical flowers and screeching exotic birds swooping from tree to tree
in steamy temperatures is the scene at a major new tourist attraction at A new'gateway'to North Swindon is being proposed by the consortium
Hay Lane, south of M4 junction 16. of developers building homes at Priory Vale.
Rebranded Studley Grange Gar- ' Standing 12 metres high
den and Leisure Park, it includes atJunction 1 whereThames-
the now established craft work } down Drive meetsCricklade
shop centre, and Blooms Garden, , Road, which The Link has
Centre. dubbed the Mexican inter
Owner Tony Miller said the craft section because of its semi .^,
aw ^
and garden centres are extremely s3 : _ larity to the first junction of Sculpture location
successful and the butterflies will ! its kind in Mexico City, the at Junction 1
add another significant attraction ` ^A- sculpture will be a signifi- pa inspired by
to the area. "The butterfly farm at Tropical scene planned for cant landmark in the town. the rare
orchid
6,000 square feet is one of the butterfly farm I Designed by prestigious 2 ^ found in
larger ones in the country. Later in organised groups will have the London based architectural North Swindon
the year the project will go into a chance to go into an environment designers Softroom, the
third phase when we hope to open unlike anything else, to find out imposing internally lit steel
an otter sanctuary where injured what eightydegreeheatandninety and glass structure has
otters can be cared for and endan- per cent humidity is like, whilst . been inspired bythecurves
gered species bred." seeing some of the world's marvel- of junction 1 and Orchis
Educational opportunities are an lous creatures." Morio, the rare green
important part of the butterfly farm See the advertisement on page winged orchid which is
said Tony. "School classes and 32 for more details. found at the Haydon Site of
Special Scientific Interest
on the western edge of
Asda West Swindon to close Priory Vale.
But only for three days from 4 to 6 August whilst a £3.5 million refit takes The orchid is already used in the Angel of the North in Gateshead
place. Priory Vale logo. for impact."
The customer services desk and CTN kiosk will be relocated while the Swindon Council visual arts of- The plans will be displayed in
music. video and electrical departments will move to a mall shop unit to ficer Celia Yeoman said she was late August and September at the
make way for a larger George section. delighted that Priory Vale was sup- North Swindon Library alongside a
New tills and shelving will be fitted throughout the store. porting the council's visual arts large aerial panorama of North
Upstairs the Red Balloon restaurant has closed, to reopen as a policy with such a major project. Swindon taken by The Link.
MacDonalds in late September. I "The sculpture is quite breathtak- Look out for details in the next
• Freshbrook Village Centre's shop reopens as a Tesco on 11 August. ing and will rival the highly regarded edition, published on 23 August.

U WeOW%e

James Butcher Housing
Association provides a
wide choice of quality,
affordable housing for
those in retirement in the
Swindon area.
Tel: 01672 515622
www.jbha.co.uk

James Butcher

Housing Association
Providing accommodation throughout the central and south of England.
A charity, incorporated as an Industrial and Provident Society No. 16602 R.