Page 19 - link magazine

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Swindon &
Cricklade Railway

City of Truro Weekend
Saturday 5th &
Sunday 6th March,
10am to 5pm
A unique opportunity to ride behind
THE LINK (MAGAZINE'S GUIDE TO WHAT'S ON IN INID AROUND SWINDON this historic locomotive on loan from
the National Railway Museum, York
Achieving good things in difficult times

An exhibition - Art bra New World a range of new cultural activities or An acquisition's policy was es-
-at the Swindon Museum and Art 'extension activities' as they were tablished and the collection has
Gallery in Bath Road. Old Town known. continued to grow. with many works
until 12 June looks at the town's Using the empty electricity show- being lent for exhibition allover the
commitment to improve its culture rooms as a children's library and world.
over 60 years ago. laying the foun- meeting room, the new groups were Robert Dickinson. Swindon
Adults £6, Children & Seniors ==
dation for Swindon's renowned art encouraged - a gramophone soci- Council's Heritage Manager, said.
Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children) £18
collection. ety. a play-reading group and an the exhibition reflected a commu-
Cafe, shop and free parking
nity investing in new art and new
T R `
ideas. "It celebrates the foresight ^^^ . TA DPOLE LANE
of building a new cultural founda-
umsoom NORTH
ti on for the town. 3 ATION SWINDON in
"Many of the works collected in Blunsdon Hoq,VE °
those early years seemed to be art Station 5^"
that was truly for the future, but Tadpole Lane ` ^' °` 3 HAYDON
WICK
WEST
now. after 60 years, they are rec- Tel: 771615 SWINDON
ognised as being part of a classic www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org
tradition." The society can accept no responsibili ty for losses
• Children's Easter activities at the due to cancellation or alterations beyond its control
•1
Museum - see page 27.
Robert Dickinson with Tower Bridge. London - A war time nocturne,
Francis Barry's evocative painting of the capital preparing for attack
The Battle El Alamein in 1942 art discussion group.
was a turning point in World War II. This last initiative was linked to
There was a growing sense that two developments in the visual arts:
the allies could be the victors in the a series of exhibitions held in the
long, and continuing, conflict, and Town Hall which were organised
an optimism that it would be fol- nationally by CEMA (The Council
lowed by a new bright future. for the Encouragement of Music
Swindon, heavily committed to and the Arts - now the Arts Council
the war effort, was also changing of England) and the establishment,
when the first public library opened in 1944. of a permanent art collec-
in 1943. This was a new venture. ti on for Swindon which soon en- I
independent of the Great Western compassed the traditional and the
Railway which still dominated the avante garde.
town, and in addition to the Me- They including paintings given
chanics' Institute Library and Read- by a well-known local baker F.C.
ing Room which had been estab- Phelps who later left a bequest to
lished for almost 100 years. the collection. specifying that it
Under a new librarian, James should not be used to purchase
Swift, the library opened in tempo- modernist works like Picasso.
rary premises in the now demol- On the other hand. London stock-
ished Mcllroy's Store in Regent broker. local landowner and art
Street. It soon became the focus of collector H.J.P. Bomford gave a
talk to the art discussion group
about one of Picasso's works, lent
some of his paintings for exhibi-
tion, then donated them to the town.
These included two Henry Moores,
a Graham Sutherland. a Lowry and
three works by Kenneth Martin.
Left, a section of zoologist and au-
thor Desmond Morris 'picture of his
one time girl friend and later Swin-
donstar, the blonde bombshell Diana
Dors