From the archives by Roger Ogle

From Barbury Castle’s hill, West Swindon sits sparkling

A mix of buildings and trees stands proudly ....

From these words written by James Deeley from Westlea Primary School, 671 lyrical lines known as the West Swindon Long Poem, or Westwords, emerged.

Students from Greendown Community School and seven primary schools worked together for many months with Greendown English teacher Cristina Bennett and community poet Marcus Moore towards a performance at the May 1998 Swindon Festival of Literature.

It was never published or recorded, yet it is a unique, enchanting description of West Swindon, a social and psychogeographical history in verse. With the anniversary in sight, Ms Bennett and myself are hoping to create a video record of the poem for all to watch, with some of the original writers and young people of today reading the lines on location around West Swindon. The students in the pictures here are now in their late 20s and early 30s.

Are you one of them and would you be interested in a Westwords reunion to participate in a recording? For more information about the project, please contact: [email protected]