We were told that the bee’s are usually pretty placid, but because the weather was bad there was a good chance that they would not be today, so we had to stand a fair way back. He put a sheet down first, I can only assume that this was to see where the bees were better when some fell to the ground, then he got an old fashioned skep full of other goodies and a big green wooden box.

First he clipped some of the foliage away so he could see them better and reach them, then he cut the branch which they were hanging on, he then carried it over to the box which was sitting on the sheet and simply shook them into it.

My mate put the kettle on and we had a cuppa as we watched the stray bees swirling around and all heading to the box he had put the others into and made their way in too. It was pretty interesting to see and he said that honey bee swarm collectors never get tired of watching it either.

Anyway, once they were all in, he went over and blocked the entrance of the catching box, put it in his car and he was gone again. He did say that the few bees which were still hanging around would return to their original hive which would be somewhere in the area, and probably within a few hundred metres of where we were standing.

I’ve been making half hearted attempts for quite a while now, in fact, it must be 5-10 years since my first attempt, so I decided to throw everything at it in one go, patches, will power and a hypnotherapist. I did toy with the idea of acupuncture too, but I just can’t face all the needles!

So you are probably wondering why this relates to any one of our three cities in question, well, being near to Swindon, I wanted to find someone locally, as if it’s a short course of treatments I don’t want to be hammering up and down the M4 to get there after work, whereas if I find someone in Swindon, I’ll try to book it for straight after work, that way by the time I leave, the traffic should have calmed down too and I’ll have a nice smooth drive home.

Why can’t you just stop the tobacco on will power alone I hear you cry (very quietly), the answer is: dunno! It’s a weird kind of addiction which you don’t even realise is there until you try to quit, then you suddenly want to smoke more then ever. It’s one of those feelings like when somebody tells you that you can’t do something, and that just makes you want to do it even more.

Anyway, in my search for a hypnotherapist in Wiltshire, preferably in Swindon itself, I found the National Smoking Cessation Institute, a body who have numerous approved acupuncturists and hypnotherapists who are specialists in their field, so that’s my first port of call to find someone to provide hypnotherapy to stop smoking, if I can’t find someone through them, I’ll look further afield, but would prefer to keep it local if possible, after all that’s also being a bit greener too!

Regarding the website in relation to the brief below.  There are 2 aspects to this, firstly the site design and content, then search engine optimisation (SEO). Whilst the design can incorporate certain aspects of SEO, which are referred to as on page factors, these and a few directory listings, may be enough to get the site on the top of page 1 in Google on their own for the domain name, which I expect people who know the company would search for.  However, if you want to be top of page 1 for other terms which are more generic this would take longer and require additional work. Again if centred around the Swindon area, midway between the two. If you decided you want an ongoing SEO campaign, it would need to be based on specific keywords and would be billed on a per results basis.

I would suggest using a content management system (CMS) probably wordpress. This could give you easy control over all the content without the need for additional software or any coding, both static pages such as homepage, drinks, menu, directions etc, as well as news pages which would automatically structure and file themselves when you add them in a typical blog format. In addition, should you decide to update the whole site at some point in the future, you will just need a new template designed and uploaded, so would keep the cost down, as page content would not need to be re-entered.

Using a wordpress CMS means the website can be interactive, so as well as contact/booking forms, people can post comments to your blog/news posts, you can chose to approve and show them and reply, or just delete them accordingly (regular posts and comments are also beneficial for SEO purposes)

Good navigation is essential for both site visitors and the search engines, so I would suggest a popular and familiar navigation structure, with main menu items across the top of the page, probably with drop downs for the subcategory pages, but also links within the text of pages taking the reader to relevant pages (again good for SEO).  An example could be a main header of “Drinks” the drop down could list “beers”, “ciders”, “Wine” etc. if you click on the drinks page there would be a page with a paragraph about each drinks category and links to those pages, or they could just select a page from the drop down and go straight to it.

Staying with the drinks theme, we could also link images on the pages, so if we used a Wadworths logo, or product shot on various pages, that image will link to the Wadworths page , either within your site or the Wadworths website could pop up in a new window. We could also have relevant words on a page link to more information, so for example the word wadworths, could be a live link to that page too.

This was from a local company who offer seo services an seo consultancy who can apparently optimise my website to appear high up in Google.

Salisbury isn’t far from either Trowbridge or Swindon.

The food was pretty good considering that they were catering for well over 200 people so no complaints there, well I’m sure I could hear somebody complaining that something wasn’t cooked just how they like it, but what’s that old saying about not being ablke to please all the people all the time!

Speeches, my favourite part of the day,, not! But it was fairly painless, the brides father make it short and sweet, probably because he was clearly so nervous about standing up and talking in front of so many people. The groom seemed surprised that he ha to do one at all so kept his very brief too and the best man cracked a few jokes, showed an embarrassing photograph and sat back down again too. So all in all I think we got off rather lightly.

There were all the usual accessories, table decorations, wedding cake and masses of very OTT wedding flowers all around the place, not just in the function hall but also from the front door and through the hallway to the room we were in.

Then the music came on for the first dance and up they got and started off doing a nice sensible romantic dance as you would expect, by half way through the music had jazzed up a bit and they were doing a silly dance they had obviously planned well in advance and the pro wedding band were most definitely in on it too as they played the live music for it. This is typical of those two though, they can never do anything too sensibly.

The group were fantastic though, they managed to keep the dance floor busy all night (and it wasn’t just the little kids and grannies either) the music varied from old 60′s songs through soul and into modern pop music, they were one of the local Swindon wedding bands, so I’m not sure if they were friends of someone involved in organising things, but they were a very good choice anyway.

We all drank and danced into the night, although some did more drinking than dancing, so there were a few people laying around the place by the end of the night, but it seems that all went well and a good time was had by all. The happy couple are off sunning themselves somewhere hot and romantic by now, so we will probably all catch up again once they are back in Wiltshire in a couple of weeks time.

There are a number of key local landmarks, however probably the most famous is the “magic roundabout” it was officially called County Islands (strangely, as island is a slang northern term for a roundabout) however in 1990 it was officially renamed the magic roundabout to match its local nickname.

Swindon is approximately halfway between Bristol to the West and Reading to it’s East, so was historically a region where travellers between the two would stop off, in fact one local village is called Halfway, due to being exactly half way between the two.

The area known as Old Town was the original market town until the industrial revolution , at this point in history the region experienced a large and rapid expansion, initially this was due to the canals passing through the region and creating viable transport and trade links, however, the later establishment of the Great Western Railway in Swindon during 1840 meant it became a truly thriving industrial town. Surrounding towns which also benefited from this growth include Marlborough, Cirencester, Malmesbury Calne and Devizes.

For many years the major employers in Swindon were the BMW and Honda factories, hence the close association of transpotation with Swindon, it also has a wide range of supporting industries in the region, these include the likes of metal works and tyre manufacturers.

To pause for reflection on where Three Cities Create and Connect has arrived and to consider the legacy and opportunities for the future, the Three Cities Cultural Consortium are holding a Training and Legacy Event on Wednesday 21st March at The VoiceBox, Derby 11.30am – 4.15 pm
02/02/2007 – Three Cities Partnership arts projects

Exciting new round of Three Cities partnership arts projects. A further round of innovative arts projects has been awarded a total of £150,000 for initiatives in 2007 as part of Three Cities Create and Connect. The projects, led by Leicester Comedy festival, DOT, Nottingham Asian Arts Council, Phoenix Arts and Active Ingredient, Film City, the Literature Development Network and Speakeasy Theatre all involve artistic collaboration across Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.
19/01/2007 – Love City 2007

Mobile Phone Game brings three cities together for Valentine’s Day
01/08/2006 – Proposal Fund 2006 – Round 2

Once again arts organisations across Derby, Leicester and Nottingham are invited to develop and submit proposals to the second round of the Three Cities Proposal Fund 2006/07.
19/07/2006 – Reggae Union proposed for Leicester!

For the first time ever, reggae artists and musicians living and working in Leicester met together at the African Caribbean Centre, to explore opportunities to develop the reggae scene in the city.
12/04/2006 – Funding boost for new Three Cities partnership arts projects

Innovative projects which bring together artistic communities across Derby, Leicester and Nottingham have been awarded some £150,000 for initiatives in 2006 and 2007 by the Three Cities Proposal Fund.

A Tale of Three Cities
Beacon main

Three Cities Beacons
Bobby Friction

Urban Beats Concerts
Caribbean Carnival Residences

Caribbean Carnival Residencies
International Childrens Theatre and Dance Festival

International Childrens Theatre and Dance Festival
Nanoplex

The Nanoplex
Three Cities Create And Connect Logo

Reciprico-city
Three Cities Create And Connect Logo

Get Involved
Latest News
21/12/2005 – New Proposal Fund announced!
Arts organisations across Derby, Leicester and Nottingham can bid for funding for collaborative, innovative new projects to be delivered in 2006 and 2007 through the newly-announced Three Cities Create and Connect Proposal Fund. Additional funding has been secured to enable new Proposal Fund bids. In 2005, outstanding projects involving literature, digital visual arts and children’s theatre and dance recieved funding from the Three Cities Proposal Fund. Click on the link above to find out more and access the application form.
01/11/2005 – Three Cities Beacons

Giant Beacons to be created and set alight in style at Diwali in Leicester and on Bonfire Night in Derby and Nottingham

Tri-Pod

South Asian Arts Kahani Diwali

Young Peoples Film Forum

Love City

International Childrens Theatre and Dance Festival

Past Three Cities Events

SPRING

Critical Meet
Latest News
01/08/2006 – Proposal Fund 2006 – Round 2

Once again arts organisations across Derby, Leicester and Nottingham are invited to develop and submit proposals to the second round of the Three Cities Proposal Fund 2006/07.
19/07/2006 – Reggae Union proposed for Leicester!

For the first time ever, reggae artists and musicians living and working in Leicester met together at the African Caribbean Centre, to explore opportunities to develop the reggae scene in the city.
12/04/2006 – Funding boost for new Three Cities partnership arts projects

Innovative projects which bring together artistic communities across Derby, Leicester and Nottingham have been awarded some £150,000 for initiatives in 2006 and 2007 by the Three Cities Proposal Fund.

Recent Project – Freedom and Tripod

Recent Three Cities Support Funded Projects

Recent Project – 2007 Childrens Theatre Project

Recent Project – Kite Festival

Recent Project – A Funny Place

Recent project – Film City

Past Three Cities Events

Recent Project – International Children’s Theatre and Dance Festival 2007
Latest News
04/04/2008 – Under Scan in Trafalgar Square

Under Scan will be installed by ArtReach in London’s Trafalgar Square from 14 – 23 November 2008.
04/04/2008 – Funding awarded to tour Telling Tales

Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham has been successful in securing funding from Arts Council England, East Midlands to tour Telling Tales throughout the region in 2008.
25/03/2008 – Trampoline’s Project Tours to Melbourne

Following the East Midlands premier, “Do Billboards Dream Of Electric Screens?” will now tour to Federation Square in Melbourne.
23/10/2007 – Three Cities latest news

Current position of Three Cities Create and Connect project