'There is very little architecture in Swindon and a great deal of building,' John Betjeman famously wrote in 1950. 'But Swindon is more interesting than many towns which are more beautiful,' he also observed. The adoption of the 1952 Town Development Act saw Swindon enter a new era - new industry, new housing and a new town centre. In 'A Swindon Retrospect 1855-1930 local author Frederick Large remembers when green fields separated Old and New Swindon with Regent Street a mere farm track leading down to the canal. Regent Circus 'was part of the farm, with a large cowyard and stalls for the housing of cattle where the Town Hall now stands,' Large writes. The first few cottages along this track were built in the 1850s and by 1865 the enterprising householders were trading from their front rooms in the newly named Regent Street. Once a busy traffic through road, Regent Street was pedestrianised in 1965. The imposing Baptist Tabernacle was built ...