Swindon

Swindon is the home town and place of residence of the members of XTC. It lies about 80 miles (130 km) west of London, and has a population of about 200,000.

Taking its name from "Swine Down" (literally "Pig Hill"), Swindon had been mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but 750 years later its population was still below 1800.

All that changed almost overnight when the Great Western Railway (GWR), initially linking London and the port of Bristol, opened in June 1841. Engineer-in-Cheif Isambard Kingdom Brunel appointed Daniel Gooch as his Locomotive Superintendent, and the two great men decided to situate an "engine establishment" in the green fields just to the north of the sleepy town on the hill.

Swindon Works opened in 1843 and quickly progressed from repairing locomotives to building new ones, then to manufacturing carriages, wagons, rails... in fact everything the railway needed. Within 50 years, Swindon was claimed to be the largest railway workshops in the world. At its peak, the Works employed more than 14,000 men and churned out a new steam locomotive every three days, a carriage every day, and a wagon every hour. Even so, it is for quality, rather than quantity, for which Swindon is famous throughout the railway world.

The GWR dominiated the town and every aspect of the lives of its inhabitants for a hundred years, but following the Second World War, Swindon Works slipped into a long and slow decline. With admirable foresight, the Borough Council began a drive to attract more varied industries to the town. By the time the railway works finally closed in 1986, such was the turnaround that Swindon was claimed to be the fastest growing town in Europe. Swindon is now home to a large number of national and international companies, and its strength lies in the diversity of business situated in the town.

Ironically, the phoenix of the old railway works is rising from the ashes. The recent opening of a 100-shop "Designer Outlet Shopping Village" on the site, and an 8.7 million pound grant from the National Lottery Fund for a Railway Heritage Centre nearby will hopefully ensure that Swindon's proud railway tradition will continue to be recognised well into the next century.

Text contributed by Swindon resident Brian Carter

appears in:

• "Red Brick Dream" (now on The Big Express)

further reading:

• Other entries in Your Dictionary that deal with life and places in and around Swindon include
  • Ermine Street
  • Great Western Railway (with related entries on Brunel, North Star, and Castles and Kings).
  • Ridgeway Path
• Civic boosterism, as perpetrated by Swindon & North Wiltshire District Council. This site, via the "Swindon- for business..." link, has good tourist information and maps showing where Swindon is located relative to the rest of the world.
• More civic boosterism -- this time the Swindon Chamber of Commerce and Industry's home page.
• Another site extolling the virtues of Swindon
• To find out what's been happening in Swindon, read the Evening Advertiser