A VETERAN broadcaster who has been in the business for over 35 years has praised the work of Swindon’s community radio station.

Mark Seaman, who is also an actor and award-winning playwright, was at Liden Library to launch his first book and reunite with station manager Shirley Ludford.

Mark said: “We’ve known each other from working at GWR Radio and BBC Wiltshire. I presented breakfast shows at both and we’ve kept in touch. Swindon 105.5 is a proper community radio station with a really good listenership and fantastic resources.

“Shirley works really hard and she manages a brilliant station, so it was great to have a look around and get the chance to launch my book here.

“Libraries are hugely important and sadly, things which councils will cut back on, but Liden Library is a great community resource, especially with the radio station in the same building.”

Mark has starred in Poldark and worked as a director and voice actor, but he has now turned his hand to novel-writing with his book A Corner of My Heart. He was first inspired to put pen to paper when an idea for a play grew beyond his expectations.

He added: “It started life as a play but as it got bigger and bigger I realised that no-one would sit through it all and one performance of it would probably have lasted weeks!

“It’s about a young Jewish girl who survives Auschwitz, moves to the UK after the war, becomes pregnant and stays at a children’s home run by nuns.

“Her six-week-old baby is taken away from her and the book follows the journey of these two women finding each other again after years apart. It’s based on real events, it’s shocking that this actually happened, people grew up without ever knowing their parents and parents grew old without ever knowing their children.

He said: “It’’s exciting to launch the book in Swindon and speak to people about it, and I’ve got a few more ideas on the go.

“Out of everything, I’d come back to radio. It’s such a personal medium and you really feel like you are talking to one person. I love acting, directing and directing, but put me in a radio studio and I’m happy.”