Page 27 - link magazine

Swindon Wide 27

the bigger picture

Three steps from North Swindon to 1904 via Swindon’s water features
1. Need to get town centre water feature right
The New Swindon Company is proposing to replace the
Jubilee Clock on Canal Walk in the town centre with a
water feature.
But fountains expert Stuart Tanfield, below, who has
overseen the refurbishment of the jumping fountains at
the North Swindon District Centre, says the idea has to
be thought out correctly. “It’s great when a water feature
is working, but our experience at North Swindon should
prepare the town centre for problems. The design and
build has to be very high quality to withstand intensive
use and vandalism, which can result in expensive repairs
in the future.
“Water fea-
tures are attrac-
tive but they’re
not cheap.”
Right, the foun-
tains at North
Swindon District
Centre. Photo:
www.urbanbuzz.
net
2. Water to return to Canal Walk
Despite economic uncertainty, The New Swindon Company is pushing ahead with a £3.9 million
transformation of Canal Walk in Swindon town centre.
Existing paving, street furniture and advertising hoardings will be removed to make way for new
high-quality stone paving, with new benches and lighting. The overall design will have a ‘ribbon’
feature set into the paving which will run the entire length of pedestrian route, with historical text
about the old canal - which used to lie along the route - set into the stones.
The Jubilee Clock at the junction of Canal Walk and Bridge Street will be replaced by a specially-
designed water feature, illustrated right, while the statue of the Golden Lion will be moved to a new
location closeby. Funding to pay for the work to be done over the winter comes from the South West
Regional Development Agency and a further £1 million from the government’s ‘Growth Points’ fund.
3. Ken’s mural returns brighter than ever before
Swindon’s famous mural artist Ken White has repainted his Golden Lion mural for the third time, 33
years after he created it on the side of a house at the Whale Bridge roundabout on Fleming Way,
next to the line of the canal that used to run through Swindon.
It depicts a scene from a well if they’re on a Sunday School out- Look closely for IK Brunel sup- As a child Ken used to roam the
known photograph taken in 1904 of ing. Ken kept some of the children porting a bridge stanchion through Whale Bridge area with his friends,
children standing on the two bridges and introduced Victorian figures in his top hat, as he did in the original having been born in Gordon Street,
built across the canal in the 1870s, the mural he first created in 1976, mural, but this time in green. where Swindon magistrate’s courts
where the Jubilee Clock is presently including Swindon’s railway poet “I’m really pleased by how it’s are now.
located on the junction of Canal Alfred Williams. It was commis- come out,” said Ken. “I’ve applied “It’s amazing to think that I’ve
Walk and Bridge Street. They’re sioned to mark the centenary of a lot of the tricks of mural painting created public art just a couple of
dressed in their best and look as his birth. I’ve learnt since I started. The brick hundred yards from where I was
work is more realistic and I’ve used born,” said Ken.
the sunlight behind the figures more Funding for the mural refurbish-
effectively and included shadows; I ment came from Swindon Does
think it’s more expressive than the Art.
mural in 1976 and when I repainted • See images of the Golden Lion
it in 1983.” mural at www.swindonlink.com

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