Lydiard Friends

Gill Carne - Part 3
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 28th February 2024

In this third and final reflection, Gill Carne recalls meetings with Lydiard’s last lord, Vernon St.John Viscount...

Gill Carne Part 2
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 29th December 2023

What was it like to be immersed in parish life in the 1960s, bring up a family and enable her husband, Revd. Brian Carne, to...

Gill Carne Part 1
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 29th November 2023

Held in great affection by all who know her, Gill Carne has been part of our Friends community for over fifty years....

Greg Shepherd
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 28th August 2023

Our man in Hawaii! Greg Shepherd is a professor of music and theatre at Kauai Community College in Hawaii, USA. He tells us...

Chris Barry
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 31st July 2023

‘After a long and happy career in General Practice, as retirement beckoned I began thinking of what to do.  When my sons...

Christine Senior
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 1st July 2023

Life Member of the Friends, Christine has clocked up a fantastic record, transcribing 50 historic wills relating to Lydiard...

Anne Barr
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 31st May 2023

This month we have a very special “Friend of the Month” piece from Anne Barr, who recalls her memories of first meeting...

Debra Melsom
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 19th August 2022

Our Friend of the Month is Debra Melsom, whose ancestors lived and worked within the Bolingbroke estate, worshipped and...

April James
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 2nd June 2022

April James joined the Friends in 2021 and provides minute-taking support to the Trustees at their regular meetings. I...

Mike Montagu
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 6th April 2022

Mike Montagu is the Host & Historian at Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire where he was until very recently Bursar for over...

Julie Holland
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 31st January 2022

It was a lucky day for the Friends when Julie joined us! Here she describes the surprise gift which turned into years of...

Anthony Oliver St.John
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 26th November 2021

My first encounter with Lydiard House and Park was in the summer of 1965 when one Saturday afternoon my father announced...

Jo Kelleher
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 19th October 2021

After some years of commuting within my love triangle, Bournemouth being home, Bristol for work and Swindon to visit my...

Chris Pocock
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 3rd August 2021

‘Living in Shaw as a boy in the 1960’s Lydiard Park was our playground, being only about five fields away.  We messed...

Per-Axel Warensjo
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 5th July 2021

Friends trustee Per- Axel Warensjo recounts, ‘My family and I moved permanently to Swindon from Sweden in January 1992. I...

Tania O’Halloran
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 27th April 2021

‘For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by graveyards and cemeteries’ says Tania O’Halloran. ‘ They...

Bruce Hedge
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 6th April 2021

From English Heritage outreach programmes to the restoration of the parkland and a paranormal experiment, Bruce Hedge has...

Sue Gray
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 1st March 2021

Since supporting the Friends successful campaign to protect Lydiard House and Park from outsourcing in 2016/17, art lover...

Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Collett
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 29th January 2021

From Commonweal School and Cub Scout camp at Lydiard Park to commanding The 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles, Nigel...

Lynda Pidgeon
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 31st December 2020

Brought Up Of Nought: A History of the Woodvile Family by Lynda J. Pidgeon As a Swindonian I was always familiar with...

Florence St.John Heller
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 30th November 2020

Based in North London Florence has a keen interest in her family history, raising awareness of the important influence of...

Joe Gibbs
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 27th October 2020

From his home, Belladrum in Scotland, long standing Friend Joe Gibbs describes the family connections with Lydiard Park that...

Frances Bevan
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 1st October 2020

Local historian and Friends of Lydiard Park trustee Frances Bevan has been breathing life into Lydiard characters and...

Robert Cooles
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 28th August 2020

My first visit to Lydiard Tregoze was in the fifth year at Sir Walter St John’s School in Battersea when a small party of...

Pauline Bowler
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 23rd July 2020

Pauline Bowler has been closely involved with the parish and community of Lydiard Tregoze all her life, spending her early...

Janet Cooper Tydeman
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 26th June 2020

“When my husband and I moved to Swindon eight years ago to be nearer the children, we did not know that Swindon had a park...

Michael Gray
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 4th June 2020

I first became interested in Lydiard House after a visit in 1983 to see the new extension project with the Borough...

Kate Griffin
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 5th May 2020

Kate Griffin, her family and a very special pony called Sidney became familiar faces at Lydiard Park during the 1980’s,...

Colin Davies
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 1st April 2020

Colin Davies and his wife Marion have been members of the Friends since 2005 after Colin’s work at the BMW group in...

Jane Caudwell
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 27th February 2020

Our Friend of the Month for March is retired teacher Jane Caudwell, a regular “jogger” taking part in the weekly Lydiard...

Billy Beaumont
Category: Lydiard Friends Published on: 27th November 2019

This month our “Friend of the Month” is Billy Beaumont who talks here about what he loves about Lydiard and how he draws...