Page 4 - link magazine

4 The Link Magazine • December 1999
More growth before regeneration? Can we be a city when a town centre
Mollie Groom, a Wiltshire County Councillor from Lydiard Millicent, landmark crumbles before us?
calls for a pause in Swindon's expansion
Trevor Cockbill, who died in May, knew more about Swindon than just
If Swindon is to retain its attractive towns that are not sustainable.
green and pleasant environment, Recent research by the Bradford about anybody. A humble man who hated the limelight, he always found
we have to think very seriously and Bingley building society gave the courage to speak out when his community needed him.
about what kind of town or city it Swindon a clear warning. It placed He impoverished himself pursuing the 1986 - 91 effort to save the
should be. the town bottom of the league of Mechanics' Institution for future Swindonians. In his last years Trevor
As I write, we are in the midst of one hundred towns and cities to wrote the paper ' This is our Heritage' which convinced English Heritage
the Examination in Public of the which firms should locate/relo- earlier this year to give the Mechanics an A* listing in recognition of its
Structure Plan on the next stage of cate. The reason: congestion and social significance, and established the national importance of this central
Swindon's growth. House devel- lack of a transport infrastructure. but derelict feature of the Railway Village and town.
opers are obviously anxious to Swindon is unique in that it has Here his wife Mary Cockbill tells what Trevor thought about the
make capital of their landbanks, doubled its size since the last War. campaign for city status.
opposed by some towns people However, a breathing space is
and environmentalists who want needed when thought can be given n the cover of Finest Things Out, his story of the first thirty
to see more inward growth and to an effective transport system years at the Mechanics' Institution, Trevor wrote: 'From all
urban regeneration. and improved cultural and educa- O the corners of the Kingdom, they came and brought their
Obviously we have to be for- tion facilities. It is very disap- skills, this Legion of the Spanner, Lather & Forge'
ward looking but at the same time pointing to see that these facilities The knowledge they brought to purpose built arts centre at the Link
consider new concepts. Earlier this were mentioned in relation to other rural Wiltshire was the product of Centre can be converted to a gym,
year Lord Rogers published the towns in the revised draft South the Industrial Revolution of the which is advertised by saying 'Stop
results of his Urban Task Force West Regional Strategy - but not to previous hundred and more years. Ageing and Start Living'? Shal-
examination on how to stop urban Swindon. There is also the fact It provided work for other un- low, shallow, I hear Trevor mutter.
decay. A major point was the need that issues like water resource and skilled men who could no longer I pass by the former Co-op build-
to stop the ever-expanding hous- treatment need to be addressed be supported by the rural economy. ing in East Street, where Trevor
ing developments on the edge of before large-scale development It laid the foundation not only for lived above his print shop before
can take place. the success of the railway between we married, and am appalled with
The South West Regional Devel- London and Bristol, but for the what they have done to the mas-
STRESSED! opment Agency has come into be- international communications sive Co-op Hall opposite. 'Kaos'?
In need of relaxation? ing and we are urging it to direct which followed. This knowledge 'Destiny & Desire'?
Reflexology or Aromatherapy resources to the areas of greatest they eagerly shared at the Mechan- Just look at Radnor Street cem-
could be the answer need, rather than the areas of 'op- ics' Institution, as the true basis for etery, a place Trevor used to visit
Call Isabel on 01793 720065 portunity'. We feel that this ap- all Swindon s K, to gather informa-
peal will arrest migration to the subsequent de tion on those gone
Fully insured. IIHHT qualified. Qualified nurse
Answer machine, all calls will be answered already well-developed areas. velopment. They before, vandal-
No men for massage, only for reflexology called it 'mutual ised, including
improvement', the records the
notjust'self-help' Council so negli-
PHILIP STONE which was the jar- gently left stored
gon of the day. A in the chapel in-
PAINTER & subtle difference stead of an ar-
worth reflecting chive. It is a good
DECORATOR upon as we shift place to visit and
into 'lifelong look out over the
For a high standard learning' promo- town, and reflect
of work tion. on time and
Trevor would Trevor Cockbill progress and our
References available say, "City for the by Welsh artist Andrew Morgan place as individu-
21st Century? I als in it all.
Telephone now for a think not!" We discussed this of- Look at the circus/fairground
FREE ESTIMATE ten, and it enraged him to think town centre. Imagine the destruc-
that this unseemly'campaign' and tion of fine historic buildings (there
Tel: 870515 or the STEAM museum project, were were some lovely ones, mostly
Mobile 0374 - 208527 being pursued in the face of the pulled down by the Council), see
neglect of the Institution which had the pub-land Bridge Street has be-
sustained the community that the come. Swindonians call this 'the
men and their wives worked so centre', yet Stead & Simpson had
hard to create, in a time when local no protection as a landmark build-
$
Busy B Book-Keeping government as we know it did not ing featured in many old photo-
graphs.
exist.
Trevor believed that the heart Trevor was a very proud fourth
For those of you too busy had gone out of Swindon, and that generation Swindonian who loved
the Mechanics' offered a chance to the town. The pursuit of a label,
earning a living to keep re-light the fire of learning and city status, is really only about 'sta-
caring, where everyone could tus' - the status of those transient
the Tax man and VAT man happy share it. Before it can truly be a officials who occupy the Civic Of-
city, Swindon needs to find its heart fices and mostly don't even live in
Why not start the new millennium by letting
again, where it always was - at the Swindon, let alone appreciate it.
an experienced book-keeper take the strain from you? Mechanics', the centre of all that And as for our local councillors -
Book-keeping, VAT returns and tax returns done at was good here. well, they need to remember that
competitive rates Who wants to live in a city dedi- jobs and the economy are only the
cated to leisure and consumerism? means to an end. The end being a
Also familiar with the new CIS legislation & administration Where PR puffery tries to distract good life, well lived, that leaves
Contact Lynette on 01793 705997 us from the closure of schools, loos something significant for the fu-
and cultural facilities? Where a ture.