Swindon in the Past Lane

Yesterday evening I attended a very interesting meeting chaired by Robert Buckland MP for Swindon South. The purpose of the meeting was twofold – to discuss how to better protect and use buildings central to Swindon’s heritage and the subject of the new Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. Those present spoke with passion, although it has to be said, sometimes without good manners or respect for opposing views. The new museum and art gallery is planned for a large, empty site between the magistrate’s court and the Wyvern Theatre in Princes Street, the designated Cultural Quarter of the Council’s regenerated Town Centre.  Some felt it should be situated in the former Carriage Works on London Street. So that was the gist of the meeting … No one questioned that the town needs a new art gallery to better showcase the acclaimed modern art collection, acknowledged as the best outside London. No one doubted that the town needs a new museum to better tell the story of S...

Today in the East End of London a group of dedicated people are trying to save the Smithfield General Market Hall - 'Behold the winged lion on the Holborn Viaduct looking down protectively upon the Smithfield General Market,' writes the Gentle Author on www.spitalfieldslife.com. 'as - over at the Guildhall the Public Enquiry that will decide the fate of this magnificent building designed by Horace Jones, the architect of Tower Bridge, reaches the end of its second week.' Read more about this threatened building by clicking the link - now read about Swindon's former market buildings, which sadly have also been lost. In the 1840s Old Swindon had a thriving shopping centre.  Blacksmiths, butchers and brewers rubbed shoulders alongside the Strange family's drapers store in the High Street and Sadler Bristow's ironmongers in Wood Street. But in the developing settlement at the bottom of the hill facilities for the early settlers in New Swindon were d...

Next week sees the launch of Swindon Heritage, an exciting new local history magazine all about Swindon. Contrary to Ricky Gervais and popular opinion, Swindon has, in fact, plenty of fascinating history and this new publication is set to reveal some surprises. In the first issue you can read about the myths surrounding the magnificent Mechanics' Institution, a hub of intellectual enterprise established by innovative railway men in the nineteenth century.  Today the dilapidated building, high on Swindon Borough Council's 'to do' list is a familiar sight, but what went on there will be a revelation to those new to the town. Local farmer John Arkell went to Canada, founded a township and returned home to establish a brewery.  Today Arkell's is Swindon's oldest surviving business and they will be hosting the official launch of Swindon Heritage. This magazine, the first of its kind in not only Swindon, but the whole of the UK, is the brainchild ...

In which Mr Huws tries valiantly to preserve my crumbling teeth.  A visit to the dentist and a lesson in dental history, which throws a light on my own predicament. The provision of dental care in the 19th century was definitely increasing. In 1887 the GWR Medical Fund set up a dental clinic with the appointment of a dental surgeon.  Four years later the expanding practice moved into consulting rooms in the new flagship building on Faringdon Road. Meanwhile residents of Old Swindon could call upon the services of visiting Bath dentist John Hay available every Monday 10-4 while Thomas Wrench (ouch) was practising in Bradbury, Chiseldon. Mr Huws tells how a high point for 20th century British teeth came during the second world war with the restricted consumption of sugar during food rationing.  Unfortunately for our molars once sugar made a come back our teeth went into decline and dental well being hit a low in the 60's.  Education, improved toothpastes and f...

This 1950s aerial photograph shows Swindon town centre on the threshold of a major revamp.  Vast tracts of terraced housing would be demolished to make way for the new Brunel shopping complex, constructed in several phases between 1970-1979 and Fleming Way, a major new road, was built along part of the route of the old Wilts and Berks Canal. The distinctive uniform planning of the railway village dominated by the Mechanics' Institution building is easily recognisable.  Closed in 1986, the Mechanics' building has been the subject of unsympathetic and flawed building applications and more than 25 years of neglect.  But if you thought this historic building was doomed, think again.  The future is looking surprisingly bright for this iconic building - read more about the history of the Mechanics' and the exciting proposals made by the Mechanics' Institution Trust on  http://mechanics-trust.org.uk/proposal-for-mechanics/ On Rodbourne Road ...

Those who stayed behind recall food shortages and deserted streets, just some of the memories recorded by Rose Matheson, not of wartime Britain but TRIP week in Swindon. Railway historian Dr. Matheson paints an evocative portrait of holidays past in TRIP - The Annual Holiday of GWR's Swindon Works when the Great Western Railway ruled in Swindon. From the first one-day sightseeing trip to Oxford in June 1848 when a group of 500 Swindonians were guests of the Oxford branch of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Matheson charts the phenomenon that was TRIP week. Between the 1860s and 70s the holiday increased first to three days and by 1874 a nine day break during early July. Whilst the train journey may have been 'free' to members of the Mechanics Institution, families made considerable sacrifices both before and after the event. Today trip week has entered the realms of affectionate nostalgia but Dr Matheson points out that until the 1938 Holi...