Description

Built For Comfort emerged from the ashes of Swindon based, The Hot Tamales in July 2002. Founder members Alec Adams and Bill Jones were joined by Phil Tait on drums, Chris Goddard on bass and John Ingleson on guitar.

Bill and Alec had met in the summer of 2000 when Alec was seeking harmonica lessons. Bill knew Chris from many years of playing together in The Vindaloo Brothers, Phil was a chance encounter from working with a TV leasing company and John answered a local advert by the boys for a guitarist. And then the story began. By the summer of 2004 the band had played over 65 gigs together, averaging about one a week.

Now, over a decade and hundreds of gigs later, Built For Comfort have turned into one of the tightest, rocking Rhythm and Blues outfits on the circuit today! The recent addition of Blues guitar maestro Michael King on guitar and Simon Needler on Hammond organ and piano have added a new dimension to the band. Little wonder they wow audiences wherever they play!

Built For Comfort have supported among others Wilco Johnson, Paul Lamb And The Kingsnakes and Ben Waters.

Description

'The Bakers' celebrated a century of ownership by Arkell's in 1996, but it was built back in 1847 by William Slade of Moredon. He also owned The Red Lion (now renamed The Boundary House) even though by trade he was a butcher!

The butcher sold it to a baker and in 1866 the proprietor was William Perrin. He - like many Victoria bakers - offered a valuable service to the local community who would take along their own bread to bake in his oven.

Unfortunately, Mr Perrin also sold them beer to drink with their Sunday dinners which landed him with a hefty fine. The local constable solved the crime when he discovered beer mugs hidden in the oven! It is not recorded when The Bakers finally stopped making bread.

It was surely only a matter of time before John Arkell bought the pub as only the Kingsdown Inn is closer to the brewery and Arkell's also own a row of cottages adjacent to the pub.

A major renovation in 1956 and an extension in 1984 & 2013 have brought the Bakers Arms up-to-date - but not too up-to-date. This is a no-frills pub and as such belongs to a rare breed of traditional British locals that you will find nowhere else in the world.

121 Beechcroft Road,

Upper Straton,

Swindon,

Wiltshire,

England,

SN2 7RE.

01793 832 227