JANUARY: Former Mayor of Swindon and council leader Maurice Fanning died aged 74.

Although a staunch Labour representative, he won affection and respect across political boundaries as a person who saw his first duty as standing up for the borough and its people.

He was the first mayor after the abolition of the old Thamesdown council in 1997, when Swindon became a unitary local authority.

One of the first things he did after being sworn in was to get married.

He and Sheila were married by the boroughs registrar in the council chambers first wedding ceremony.

The many people who paid tribute to Mr Fanning included Conservative council leader David Renard, who said: Maurice was on the council when I was first elected and, as a councillor for Pinehurst and a former mayor of the borough, he had already given extensive public service to the people of Swindon by the time I arrived in the chamber.

Maurice was a great ambassador for our town and will be missed by all who knew him.

Labour group leader Jim Grant said: Maurice was a larger-than-life character whose good humour and generosity rubbed off on everyone.

He was one of those people who lit up a room when he walked into it.

On a personal note, he was very kind to me and helped me a lot when I first became a councillor.

He will be much missed.

Mr Fanning was survived by his wife, four children and stepchildren and grandchildren.

Mourners invited to his funeral at Kingsdown Crematorium were asked to wear a splash of colour in order to reflect his life.

JANUARY: There was a special guest for one of North Swindon Librarys storytime sessions.

The Duchess of Cornwall visited the town for a double bill of literary events as part of her work as a patron of the Literacy Trust.

Hundreds of children were waiting to cheer Her Royal Highness when she arrived for her lunchtime date at the library.

She listened intently as storyteller Olivia Williams delivered an interactive story about nature, with enthusiastic call-and-response sections for the young audience, and then presented a prize to Molly Roberts, winner of the Literacy Trusts Lost Words poetry competition.

As Molly read her poem, childrens author and artist Steve Anthony improvised a quick-fire illustration.

Steve repeated the feat when the duchess read one of her favourite works by Alfred Williams, Swindons Hammerman Poet.

The illustrator said afterwards: It was a complete honour but also quite nerve-wracking, especially when my pen started running out towards the end of the duchess reading!

It was quite a special moment to be part of an event which is the culmination of a project weve all been involved with, and an event which highlights the library service.

Later in the day, the duchess visited the borough councils Lyndhurst Centre to meet foster carers and the family support team. She also played with an energetic group of foster children.

JANUARY: A vandal who sparked widespread outrage by taking wreaths from Swindons Cenotaph and strewing them on the ground was jailed.

Magistrates sentenced 54-year-old Ashwani Kumar to eight weeks in custody after he admitted offending public decency.

His actions were reported by newspapers and other media outlets throughout the country and across the world.

The court heard that Kumar committed the offence 48 hours after being released from an earlier sentence.

The vandal, who insisted he was ashamed of himself, had drunk three quarters of a bottle of vodka before stumbling to the memorial and throwing up to 50 poppy wreaths across Regent Circus.

His attack was captured on CCTV, and when Kumar was shown the footage by police officers he admitted having thrown the wreaths.

However, he said he was unable to remember doing do because he was drunk and had not been able to take medication he needed.

The case was heard by Salisbury Magistrates. Chairman of the bench Simon Crichton told him: You would have caused a great offence to many people, both who live in Swindon and who have any connection to those names on the war memorial.

The action could also offend those who had connections to other war memorials or who had laid wreaths at Remembrance Sunday commemorations.

FEBRUARY: Honda announced that its South Marston plant would close in 2021.

Many of the workers spoke of their anger at having learned of the closure in media reports before any official statement was made to them.

Andy Foster, a union representative and 20-year assembly line veteran, said: We are not going to lay down and take the factory closure.

We are putting a case forward to save Honda. We are not talking about redundancies, lets talk about saving the plant.

Swindon will be destroyed. Its not just 3,500 jobs in the factory, it could be 10,000 or more.

People feel like the world is ending, it was like a morgue in there yesterday morning. You had some people coming in in tears.

Earlier in the month, the company had reiterated its commitment to Swindon and its workforce, but blamed market changes, notably the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, for its decision.

The firm said in its statement: The significant challenges of electrification will see Honda revise its global manufacturing operations, and focus activity in regions where it expects to have high production volumes.

Swindon MPs Robert Buckland and Justin Tomlinson, together with senior councillors, vowed to do all they could to help the Honda and supply chain staff affected.

Mayor of Swindon Coun Junab Ali said: I am saddened to hear that Honda will be closing its Swindon plant in 2021 and my heart goes out to every single person who will be affected.

Throughout the years, the company has played an extremely important role in Swindons economic success and Im sure I speak for many people when I say Honda will be hugely missed.

But it is important to remember that Swindon is a resilient town with an unshakable sense of community spirit which will see us through the challenges we face.

FEBRUARY: Snow blanketed Swindon and the surrounding countryside early in the month.

Care workers and nurses battling heavy snow to reach Great Western Hospital, Prospect Hospice and the Marlborough House unit near Old Town were given a helping hand, ensuring their crucial work was not disrupted.

They were driven by staff chauffeured by staff from the Grange Jaguar Landrover showroom who wanted to make sure patient safety and comfort were maintained.

The company put out an early-morning message offering all NHS workers lift in one of its three top-of-the-range 4x4s.

Mike Edwards, a boss at the Dorcan Way showroom, said: We have had quite a large response.

We expected to get some people, but its kept us busy for most of the day.

Its good to be able to help if we can. It makes sense really - thats what the cars were designed for.

Sometimes theres much more important things than selling cars.

A hospice spokesman said: We are very grateful to Land Rover Jaguar for their help in enabling staff and even patients family members get to Prospect Hospice today.

We would like to say a big thank you to them and to everyone else whose efforts and kindness helped us to give our care to people from across our community, despite the snow.

Staff at First City Nursing helped dig colleagues vehicles free, ensuring they were able to visit patients in the community.

Managing director Stephen Trowbridge said: Were so proud of our entire team our internal staff, frontline staff and out of hours team for how they have all pulled together and gone the extra mile to ensure that our customers are safe and cared for.

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