A rediscovered great Swindon writer will be celebrated on Sunday - 26 September
Noel Ponting and Graham Carter are the anthologisers of George Ewart Hobbs, whose local journalism and short stories, written in the first half of the last century, were acclaimed by readers throughout Wiltshire and beyond.
They have painstakingly tracked down his work and published their first anthology, A Swindon Wordsmith, in 2019.
On Sunday at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Mr Ponting and Mr Carter will read from the next volume, A Swindon Radical, which covers the period from 1924 to 1940.
Their appearance, part of the Readings from the Cart event organised by Museum chief Dr Mike Pringle, is set to start at about 3.30pm.
Mr Ponting said: "So just who was George Ewart Hobbs? Well, he was born in 1883 in Rodbourne and spent all of his life there, completing his apprenticeship in the GWR as a fitter and turner before going on to become the foreman-in-charge of X Shop (Points & Crossings) in late 1926 - a position he held until his premature death in 1946 at the age of 63.
"He became a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher in 1910 and was closely associated with the Wesleyan church in Percy Street, eventually becoming a frequent (and much admired) visitor to Methodist chapels throughout the Swindon and the surrounding district. He was instrumental in the setting up of the original Coate Amateur Rowing Club in 1921.
"His account of the Royal Visit to the GWR Works in 1924 was published in the prestigious GWR Magazine."
George Hobbs was also an author of science fiction, and Mr Ponting and Mr Carter have traced and arranged the reprinting of a classic 1927 story, A Visit to Venus.
Further information about the Richard Jefferies Museum's events can be found at www.richardjefferies.org
They have painstakingly tracked down his work and published their first anthology, A Swindon Wordsmith, in 2019.
On Sunday at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Mr Ponting and Mr Carter will read from the next volume, A Swindon Radical, which covers the period from 1924 to 1940.
Their appearance, part of the Readings from the Cart event organised by Museum chief Dr Mike Pringle, is set to start at about 3.30pm.
Mr Ponting said: "So just who was George Ewart Hobbs? Well, he was born in 1883 in Rodbourne and spent all of his life there, completing his apprenticeship in the GWR as a fitter and turner before going on to become the foreman-in-charge of X Shop (Points & Crossings) in late 1926 - a position he held until his premature death in 1946 at the age of 63.
"He became a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher in 1910 and was closely associated with the Wesleyan church in Percy Street, eventually becoming a frequent (and much admired) visitor to Methodist chapels throughout the Swindon and the surrounding district. He was instrumental in the setting up of the original Coate Amateur Rowing Club in 1921.
"His account of the Royal Visit to the GWR Works in 1924 was published in the prestigious GWR Magazine."
George Hobbs was also an author of science fiction, and Mr Ponting and Mr Carter have traced and arranged the reprinting of a classic 1927 story, A Visit to Venus.
Further information about the Richard Jefferies Museum's events can be found at www.richardjefferies.org
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