Swindon in the Past Lane

In 1966 the local authority purchased the railway village cottages from British Rail. The properties were in a state of disrepair and in a flashback to Victorian times were found to be insanitary and not up to modern expectations. Most of the cottages lacked indoor toilets and bathrooms and the rear extensions were dilapidated and infested with vermin. For some considerable time the fate of the cottages hung in the balance while residents led a crusade to save these historic properties. Eventually Thamesdown Council began a long running refurbishment programme, completed in the 1980s. Today the stone built former railway workers homes are central to the town's Railway Village Conservation Area designated in 1975. The 300 Grade II listed cottages constitute an almost complete planned railway settlement of the 1840s and 50s.  In 2016 the  Railway Village Museum was transferred from Swindon Borough Council to the Mechanics' Institution Trust and it is now open on selected wee...

Restoration Man - George Clarke Channel 4’s George Clarke was up in Cumbria visiting a project on a 19 th century church in this week’s episode of ‘Restoration Man’ (Thursday Jan 19). Phil Evans and his partner had paid £128,000 for a dilapidated church in the picturesque village of Gamblesby in the North Pennines. Built in 1868 St John’s had stood empty for eight years when the young couple took on the challenge of converting it into a family home.  The church was built in a mixture of architectural styles and loosely based on the Victorian Gothic Revival.  George took time out from the build to visit the Chapel at Exeter College, Oxford designed by the doyen of Victorian Church architects Scott, but he could have just as easily popped into Swindon to see more examples of the great man’s work. George Gilbert Scott was born on July 13, 1811 at Gawcott, Buckinghamshire, the third son of Rev Thomas Scott and his wife Euphemia Lynch.  Scott moved to London ...