Councillors are sometimes accused of behaving like unruly schoolchildren when political wrangling breaks out – but they were on their best behaviour when in-person meetings returned in an unusual setting. The first Swindon Borough Council meeting since the pandemic began took place at the Deanery Academy, rather than the civic offices, to allow for social distancing. And the town s ward representatives – sat in serried rows, as if they were in detention – were as good as gold. It was possibly the novelty of the setting at the school s theatre, the largely uncontroversial nature of the meeting – mostly procedural – or just the strange sensation of being in a room along with other people.