More than 50 guests attended, including councillors, senior officials from Swindon Borough Council and Dr Mike Pringle, Director of the Swindon Cultural Partnership. There were also representatives from many of Swindon's cultural and historical organisations.

Society Chairman Dr John Cullimore not only spoke to guests but also sang the title song from his CD, The Hammerman.

He said: "We owe a debt of thanks to the Mayor, who is very informed, said some nice things about our society and our website, and did an excellent job as our guest of honour.

"We also need to thank the management and the staff of Swindon Central Library for letting us hold the launch here, especially Roger Trayhurn, Darryl Moody and Alex Dawe. We are very grateful for the help they have given us, and it's entirely appropriate that the launch of our society should be in the library.

"We are delighted with the turnout for the launch, but also honoured by the calibre of people who are here tonight. Many of those here already realise that Alfred is a person who is worth remembering, and could be good for Swindon. There are a number of people here who are already actively involved in celebrating the heritage of Swindon, and we are proud to be associated with them.

"To also receive support from councillors and senior officials of Swindon Borough Council is obviously important if you have ambitious plans for a cultural initiative, and we thank them for the time they have spared us.

"Tonight, we have also made a good start in forging stronger links with Swindon's Asian community. This is very important to us because of Alfred's deep love of India and its culture. It's something we're sure he would have approved of.

"Best of all is that we sense that Alfred could be a unifying force. Everybody we have spoken to is really enthusiastic about our plans and we are looking forward to working with lots of different groups. We'd like to think that Alfred could be responsible from bringing people together in a way that he could never have imagined.

"There really is a feeling that the time has come - not just to celebrate Alfred and his achievements, but for a general celebration of the rich heritage of Swindon and the surrounding area."

The launch featured on the front page of SwindonWeb (see below), which included links to John's interview and a performance of The Hammerman.



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