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Grow great flowers Open gardens for National Swindon’s parks need you
Gardens Scheme
and vegetables TWIGS Community Garden, Manor Without the hard work and dedication of volunteers, Swindon’s parks and
open spaces wouldn’t be the havens for people and wildlife that they are
in planters made Garden Centre, Cheney Manor today – and new volunteers are always welcome.
Sunday 21 July, 1pm to 5pm
to fit your garden Admission £3; children free Swindon’s Volunteer Rangers carry lives of others. For many people the
Wildflower nursery, bee keepers, out vital work such as orchard prun- appeal is to spend a few hours doing
Pet & poultry housing plants, crafts for sale, refreshments ing, gardening, surveying wildlife, something completely different.
as well Lydiard Park Walled Garden general maintenance, sharing local “Our volunteers are a friendly
knowledge and experience, or simply bunch and are always happy to see
Sunday 18 July, 11am to 5pm
Handmade and built to last Admission £2.50; senior £2; children £1 making people feel safe and welcome new faces and support each other.
with pressure-treated timber Ornamental C18th walled garden, in the parks. Volunteer rangers will receive train-
Competitively priced shrubs, annuals, sweet peas and Michael Lilley, volunteer coordina- ing, expand their knowledge and
Free local delivery wall-trained fruit trees tor for Swindon Commercial Services, enhance their CV. Best of all, it can
said: “Not only is volunteering a great be great fun and keep you fit at the
Tel: Neil 01793 814068 All proceeds from both events will be way to help others, but it can be incred- same time.”
donated to NGS charities
ibly rewarding too. For details contact the SCS Engage-
“It’s great for people who want to ment Team on 01793 490150; mail:
spend quality time away from work or parksandwaste@swindoncommer-
a busy lifestyle and at the same time cialservices.co.uk or visit www.swin-
help the environment and improve the don.gov.uk and search for ‘volunteer’.

Couple complain about dangerous corner
Colin and Jean Goddard from Nine Elms awoke on 30 May to discover
some of their preparations for the West Swindon Open Gardens weekend
in mid-June destroyed after a car drove over their front garden.

Colin and Jean surveying the damage as traffic speeds by
The couple’s bungalow faces the don, but the road running past it
UNITS 19-20 KENDRICK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE right angle bend at The Elms and is the border with Wiltshire which
SWINDON WILTS SN2 2DU they’re now used to vehicles being has highway safety and maintenance
TEL: 01793 536784 driven too quickly and often hitting responsibility. The back road from
their front wall. But they’re frustrated Common Platt to Tewkesbury Way
that both Swindon and Wiltshire has become a rat run to avoid driving
SANSUM SAND & GRAVEL SUPPLY TO THE councils have been reluctant to do through West Swindon.
GENERAL PUBLIC AND TRADE CUSTOMERS anything about it. “We built this bungalow 45 years
On this occasion the car driver ago when Nine Elms was just a hamlet
BRICKS, misjudged his speed in the early hours, between Swindon and Purton; now
drove over the foundations of the wall we’re right on the edge of the town
CONCRETE BLOCKS, which was awaiting repair after being and we experience a huge amount of
CELCON BLOCKS, demolished several weeks previously, traffic, most of which is driving too
before skidding across the front lawn. quickly.
BLOCK PAVING, The driver then backed into a flower “In the past I’ve been in touch with
PATIO SLABS, SAND, bed and bumped over the wall to Swindon Council and they pass me
escape. Luckily he didn’t hit the car onto Wiltshire, but they don’t contact
GRAVEL, TOP SOIL, BARK, parked in the driveway, but a rose me about anything. I really want to
CANTABURY SPAR, pergola was knocked over. know what will happen when another
“Our bedroom is at the front of 700 houses are built at Ridgeway
LANDSCAPE FABRIC, the bungalow facing the road and we Farm. Maybe the traffic through
DRAINAGE CHANNELS, heard something outside,” said Colin. Washpool will be so heavy it won’t be
“By the time I got up I saw lights of a able to speed like it does now.”
BUILDING CHEMICALS, car leaving and only saw the damage in Cllr Nick Martin visited the
ROCK SALT AND CEMENT the morning. It’s disheartening;we’ve Goddards in June to be followed by
got used to the near misses and people a Swindon Council road engineer
www.sansums.co.uk hitting the wall.” who is contacting highway officials
The Goddard’s home is in Swin- at Wiltshire Council.
36 swindonlink.com • July 2013

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