As we continue to celebrate the Adver’s 160th anniversary we are pleased to present 160 reasons why we love Swindon.

No-one is saying Swindon is perfect and our town has sometimes been criticised for allegedly lacking history, character, heritage and culture.

In the next few stories you will find 160 examples of why the Adver thinks Swindon and the surrounding area has all of these and more.

We celebrate the festivals, institutions, achievements, facilities and environmental aspects that – in the opinion of the newspaper that has served Swindon since 1854 – make this town and its environs a colourful, multi-faceted and community-spirited place to live and work.

60 HEALTH HYDRO: Funded by GWR workers the multi-faceted redbrick structure has fulfilled many key roles since opening in 1892: wash-house, dance hall, public and private baths (Turkish and otherwise), market place, swimming pool, fitness centre, doctor’s and dentist’s surgery, roller skating rink – and even World War One hospital.

61 HERITAGE MAGAZINE: Published every three months since January 2013, Swindon Heritage is a glossy, high-quality labour of love written and produced by local historians whose passion for the town’s heritage is matched only by their knowledge and enthusiasm. 62 HIGHWORTH CENTRE: Ancient Highworth – “gateway to the Cotsworlds” – is notable for its Queen Anne style architecture, Georgian buildings from the town’s 18th Century heydays and Grade I listed 13th Century St Michael’s church. Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman wrote: “When I am abroad and want to recall a typically English town I think of Highworth.”

63 HODSON: An unspoilt hilly hamlet tucked away in a small wooded valley, it is hard to believe Hodson is just a couple of miles from busy Swindon - or indeed, a stone’s throw from the M4. There is a timeless ambience to leafy Hodson which adjoins wildlife-rich Burderop Wood.

64 HOLY ROOD RUINS: With its broken tomb stones and cracked memorials, there is a spooky, almost Gothic feel to the remains of Swindon’s original parish church in the Lawn, the earliest mention of which is from the 12th Century and which are said to have been built on Norman ruins.

65 IRISH DANCING: The town’s sizeable Irish population has seen a string of Irish dancing schools arise that have invariably been run by pupils (or pupils of pupils) of Swindon’s “Mother of Irish Dancing” May Kelly (1927-2010) who started the first school in the 1960s. Many Swindon dancers have gone on to represent the town at the World Irish Dancing Championships.

66 KENTWOOD CHOIR: Formed in 1964 by gifted singer Sheila Harrod, hundreds of local singers have passed through its ranks over the subsequent half-century. In 1993, members of its junior section performed in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, starring Philip Schofield, at the London Palladium.

67 KING GEORGE V: The loco, not the monarch, rolled out of the Swindon Works in 1927 whereupon it was shipped to America to feature in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s centenary celebrations. The mighty engine’s impact was so great that it was awarded an honorary bell that it still wears today.

68 LAWN PARK: Almost 90 acres of gently sloping countryside in the heart of Swindon, Lawn Park boasts ancient lakes, woods, meadows, an avenue of trees, an ice house and gazebo, ha-ha wall and an Italian sunken garden. It is a true haven both for wildlife life and Old Town residents and workers.

69 LEAGUE CUP FINAL 1969: March 15, 1969 wasn’t just the greatest day in Swindon’s sporting history – for many it was the greatest day in Swindon’s history full stop. Some 98,189 fans watched Third Division Swindon rip mighty Arsenal to pieces as Don Rogers skipped majestically through the mud to seal the historic 3-1 win.

More to follow