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Swindon Wide
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GWR175 - celebrating Swindon’s heritage

Over the coming year railway historian Steve Wakefi eld will be writing a number of articles looking back
over the last 175 years since the inception of the Great Western Railway and its profound impact on the town
Today, some 140 years after Isam- Swindon today is much changed. celebrations in 1985 were cancelled
bard Kingdom Brunel’s death, Gone are the pigs and the railway because of the impending closure.
Swindon is still benefi ting from this works, along with the long tree lined In this 175th year since the birth
great man’s legacy. country track that was Drove Road of GWR, Swindon and its railway
Before Brunel Swindon was where cattle meandered their way heritage is now represented by
known as the ‘town on the hill’ or to market on the hoof. STEAM, the Museum of the Great
‘down of swine’, and though it was The green zone buffer has well Western Railway. It lives on in a
a small town it had been granted the and truly been swallowed up by a GWR tradition touching the future
right to hold a weekly market and burgeoning population of around by holding onto the past.
even an annual Mop Fair. 195,000 with plans to expand to the In its grasp is a knowledge and
In 1831 the census reported east beyond the A419 as well as de- appreciation of the great people,
that there were some 350 houses velopments currently under way in machines and community that
in Swindon and its population was North Swindon and South Swindon underpinned the Great in the Great
1,734 based around agriculture. The (Wichelstowe). It is projected that Western Railway.
hill is made up of Portland stone so Steve Wakefi eld, when he was mayor over 250,000 will live here by 2035, • STEAM has announced a pro-
quarrying was also an important of Swindon in 2008/09, toasting the when it will be GWR 200. gramme of celebrations starting in
income to the town. man who made the town Swindon’s ‘works’ survived only March. See details at www.swindon
The Industrial Revolution had ing with strange dialects, accents a few months after the GWR 150 .gov.uk/steam
certainly bypassed this quaint rural and even languages from every King George V, Swindon’s most famous engine. Photo: Roy Nash
backwater, but all that was about corner of the British Isles.
to change as Swindon embraced Swindon become a town of two
the opportunity of enterprise and halves Old and New town. Some
innovation. Brunel could have put people in Old Town were reluctant
the railway through Hungerford, to take in lodgers from this new
Devizes and Bradford-on Avon. ‘uncouth workforce’ and Old Tow-
Had he done that then Devizes may nies were also thankful that the
have been the ‘Swindon’ of the GWR green fi elds and pastures between
world ..... now there’s a thought to the two settlements acted like a
conjure with. green zone keeping a respectable
Old Town dominated the hill and distance between them. Maybe the
down below was the railway, buzzing New Townies felt the same about
with the ‘new incomers,’ people talk- the snobs up the hill.

Stratton Community Leisure Centre Studley Grange Dolls House Workshop

Ballroom, Latin & STOCKISTS OF THE
FOLLOWING SUPPLIERS
Sequence Dancing • Bodo Henning Miniatures
• Carl Schmieder houses and furniture
Thursday 4th February 2010 • Dolls House Emporium houses and
furniture
in the Stratton Suite • Dolls House Mall Quality Miniatures
• Dolls House Parade Miniature Flowers
Ra e / tea, coƒ ee, biscuits • Dolls House Workshop houses
• Glenowen houses
Live music • Heidi Ott quality Miniatures
2.00pm start • Little Trimmings Haberdashery Over 200
• Reutter Porcelain
£2.75 Members • Sid Cooke Houses wallpapers
• Streets Ahead Houses and Furniture
£3.75 Non Members • Wanham Furniture now in
stock!
3
3 good reasons to visit Studley Grange good reasons to visit Studley Grange
Saturday 13th Dollshouse Workshop...
February 2010 ● Earn up to 10% discount with our new loyalty scheme
● We can match most of discounts offered by
All types of music from Dollshouse Emporium on their website
•And we are now twice as big so there is more to choose from!
Ballroom to Jazz & Modern Including an exclusive new range of hand made fruit and vegetables and hand-knitted
(60’s, 70’s, 80’s) clothes, a further 4 fabulous dollshouses, adding to our existing collection, fine
Doors open 7.00pm furniture, carpets, lighting and a huge range of wallpapers.
•Dolls houses in kit form
Entertainment starts or fully built - 24 different
stock styles
approx 8.15pm •Build your own dream
home to your own
specification
•Full range of electrical ST_SW1631607
equipment
Tel: (01793) 825525 One of the biggest selections in the South West
www.strattonstmargaret.gov.uk Telephone 01793 852400 www.studleygrange.co.uk
Unit 5, Studley Grange Craft Village, Hay Lane, Wroughton,
Grange Drive, Stratton St Margaret, Swindon SN3 4JY Swindon, Wilts, SN4 9QT follow brown signs from M4,
Junction 16 (1/2 mile towards Wroughton)

21-52 February 10.indd 22 22/01/2010 11:47