Swindon

For the local government district, see Borough of Swindon. For other uses, see Swindon.
Not to be confused with Swinton.
Swindon

Swindon town centre from Radnor Street Cemetery
Swindon
 Swindon shown within Wiltshire
Population 209,156 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSU152842
   – London  71 miles (114 km) 
Unitary authorityBorough of Swindon
Ceremonial countyWiltshire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town SWINDON
Postcode district SN1-6, SN25, SN26
Dialling code 01793
Police Wiltshire
Fire Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentNorth Swindon
South Swindon
Websitewww.swindon.gov.uk
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire

Coordinates: 51°34′N 1°47′W / 51.56°N 1.78°W

Swindon ( pronunciation ) is a large town within the Borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, 35 miles (56 km) to the west and Reading, 35 miles (56 km) to the east. London is 71 miles (114 km) to the east. In the 2011 census, the population of the built-up area of Swindon was 185,609.[1] The larger borough had a population of 209,000, including the small town of Highworth and the large village of Wroughton, an increase of 16.2% since 2001.[2]

Swindon was named an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952 and this led to a major increase in its population.[3] Swindon railway station is on the line from London Paddington to Bristol. Swindon Borough Council, is a unitary authority independent of Wiltshire Council since 1997. Residents of Swindon are known as Swindonians. Swindon is home to the Bodleian Library's book depository, which contains 153 miles (246 km) of bookshelves.[4]

History

The Wilts and Berks Canal near Rushey Platt
Main article: History of Swindon

Early history

The original Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill, where Sweyn is a personal name.

Swindon was a small market town, mainly for barter trade, until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, now known as Old Town.[5]

The Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindon's growth. It started with the construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810 and the North Wilts Canal in 1819. The canals brought trade to the area and Swindon's population started to grow.

Railway town

Swindon Community Centre - Railway Village

Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Swindon Works was built for the repair and maintenance of locomotives on the Great Western Railway (GWR). The GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage, including the English Heritage Archive, now occupy part of the old works. In the village were the GWR Medical Fund Clinic at Park House and its hospital, both on Faringdon Road, and the 1892 health centre in Milton Road – which housed clinics, a pharmacy, laundries, baths, Turkish baths and swimming pools – was almost opposite.

From 1871, GWR workers had a small amount deducted from their weekly pay and put into a healthcare fund – its doctors could prescribe them or their family members free medicines or send them for medical treatment. In 1878 the fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post the dentist extracted more than 2000 teeth. From the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS.[6]

The Mechanics' Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building looking rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, a co-operative, raised the funds for this path self-improvement and paid the GWR £40 a year for its new home on a site at the heart of the railway village. It was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed the railway's workforce into some of the country's best-educated manual workers.[7]

It had the UK's first lending library,[8] and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and a range of activities from ambulance classes to xylophone lessons. A former Institute secretary formed the New Swindon Co-operative Society in 1853 which, after a schism in the society's membership, spawned the New Swindon Industrial Society that ran a retail business from a stall in the market at the Institute. The Institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy.[9]

It is often thought that Isambard Kingdom Brunel was responsible for the growth of Swindon through GWR, this is incorrect as Daniel Gooch had a much larger impact on the growth of GWR and Swindon acting as its hub.

When tuberculosis hit the new town, the Mechanics' Institute persuaded the industrial pioneers of North Wiltshire to agree that the railway's former employees should continue to receive medical attention from the doctors of GWR Medical Society Fund, which the Institute had played a role in establishing and funding.[10]

Swindon's 'other' railway, the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway, merged with the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway to form the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, which set out to join the London & South Western Railway with the Midland Railway at Cheltenham. The Swindon, Marlborough & Andover had planned to tunnel under the hill on which Swindon's Old Town stands but the money ran out and the railway ran into Swindon Town railway station, off Devizes Road in the Old Town, skirting the new town to the west, intersecting with the GWR at Rushey Platt and heading north for Cirencester, Cheltenham and the LMS, whose 'Midland Red' livery the M&SWJR adopted.

During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around the main line between London and Bristol. In 1900, the original market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town.[5]

On 1 July 1923, the GWR took over the largely single-track M&SWJR and the line northwards from Swindon Town was diverted to Swindon Junction station, leaving the Town station with only the line south to Andover and Salisbury.[11][12][13] The last passenger trains on what had been the SM&A ran on 10 September 1961, 80 years after the railway's first stretch opened.

During the first half of the 20th century, the railway works was the town's largest employer and one of the biggest in the country, employing more than 14,500 workers. Alfred Williams[14] (1877–1930) wrote about his life as a hammerman at the works.[15]

The works' decline started in 1960, when it rolled out Evening Star, the last steam engine to be built in the UK.[16] The works lost its locomotive building role and took on rolling stock maintenance for British Rail. In the late 1970s, much of the works closed and the rest followed in 1986.

The Community Centre in the Railway Village was originally the Barrack accommodation for Railway Employees of the GWR. The building became the Railway Museum in the 1960s, before this was moved to the newly completed STEAM Museum in the 2000s.

Modern period

Swindon in 1933
Swindon in 1959 - grid squares are 1km

David Murray John, Swindon's town clerk from 1938 to 1974, is seen as a pioneering figure in Swindon's post-war regeneration; his last act before retirement was to sign the contract for Swindon's tallest building, which is now named after him.[17]

In February 2008 The Times named Swindon as one of "The 20 best places to buy a property in Britain".[18] Only Warrington had a lower ratio of house prices to household income in 2007, with the average household income in Swindon among the highest in the country.

In October 2008 Swindon made a controversial move to ban fixed point speed cameras. The move was branded as reckless by some[19] but by November 2008 Portsmouth, Walsall and Birmingham councils[20][21] were also considering the move.

In 2001 construction began on Priory Vale, the third and final instalment in Swindon's 'Northern Expansion' project, which began with Abbey Meads and continued at St Andrew's Ridge. In 2002 the New Swindon Company was formed with the remit of regenerating the town centre, to improve Swindon's regional status.[22] The main areas targeted are Union Square, The Promenade, The Hub, Swindon Central, North Star Village, The Campus and the Public Realm.

Swindon hosted Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2009 at Lydiard Park. Building on the work of Radio 1, Swindon Borough Council organised the Big Arts Day in 2010. Aiming to be an annual event celebrating the arts it was held at Lydiard Park in July for three consecutive years before being cancelled due to lack of funding.[23]

Governance

Swindon Town Hall, now a dance theatre

The local council was created in 1974 as the Borough of Thamesdown, out of Swindon Borough and Highworth Rural Councils. It was not initially called Swindon, because the borough covers a larger area than the town and encompasses villages and land. It was eventually renamed to Borough of Swindon in 1997, however. The borough became a unitary authority on 1 April 1997,[24] following a review by Local Government Commission for England. The town is therefore no longer under the auspices of Wiltshire Council.

The borough consists of parished and non-parished areas. Parished areas include Bishopstone and Hinton Parva, Blunsdon St Andrew, Castle Eaton, Chiseldon, Covingham, Hannington, Haydon Wick, Highworth, Inglesham, Liddington, South Marston, Stanton Fitzwarren, Stratton St Margaret, Wanborough and Wroughton. In 2015 Nythe will be granted its independence from Stratton St Margaret and become a new parish in its own right.

The executive comprises a leader and a cabinet made up from the Conservative Group. The council as of the 2011 election has a majority of Conservative councillors.[25]

Swindon is represented in the national parliament by two MPs. Robert Buckland (Conservative) was elected for the South Swindon seat in May 2010 with a 5.5% swing from Labour and Justin Tomlinson, also Conservative, represents North Swindon after a 10.1% swing at the same election. Prior to 1997, there was a single seat for Swindon, although much of what is now in Swindon was then in the Devizes seat.

Geography

The town has an area of approximately 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi).

Swindon has a temperate climate, with roughly equal length winters and summers. The landscape is dominated by the chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east. The hill that makes up what is known as Old Town consists of Purbeck and Portland stone; this was quarried from Roman times up until the 1950s.[26] The area that was known as New Swindon is made up of mostly Kimmeridge clay with outcrops of Corrallian clay in the areas of Penhill and Pinehurst.[26] Oxford clay makes up the rest of the borough.[26] The River Ray forms the town's western boundary, including its tributary of the River Cole.[26]

Climate

Swindon experiences a maritime climate type, as with all of the British Isles. This results in comparatively mild winters, and comparatively cool summers compared with what might otherwise be expected of its latitude. The nearest official weather station is RAF Lyneham, about 10 miles (16 km) west south west of Swindon town centre. The weather station's elevation is 145 metres, compared to the typical 100 metres encountered around Swindon town centre, so is likely to be marginally cooler throughout the year.

The absolute maximum is 34.9c (94.8f)[27] recorded during August 1990. In an average year the warmest day should reach 28.7c (83.7f)[28] and 10.3 days[29] should register a temperature of 25.1c (77.2f) or above

The absolute minimum is −16.0c (3.0f),[30] recorded in January 1982, and in an average year 45.2 nights of air frost can be expected.

Sunshine, at 1565 hours a year is typical for inland parts in much of Southern England, although significantly higher than most areas further north.

Annual rainfall averages slightly under 720 mm (28 in) per year with 123 days reporting over 1 mm of rain.

Climate data for Lyneham, elevation 145m, 1971–2000, extremes 1960–
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.7
(56.7)		 16.6
(61.9)		 20.0
(68)		 25.3
(77.5)		 26.6
(79.9)		 32.7
(90.9)		 34.4
(93.9)		 34.9
(94.8)		 28.8
(83.8)		 26.5
(79.7)		 16.5
(61.7)		 14.4
(57.9)		 34.9
(94.8)
Average high °C (°F) 6.6
(43.9)		 6.9
(44.4)		 9.4
(48.9)		 12.0
(53.6)		 15.7
(60.3)		 18.5
(65.3)		 21.2
(70.2)		 20.7
(69.3)		 17.7
(63.9)		 13.6
(56.5)		 9.6
(49.3)		 7.4
(45.3)		 13.3
(55.9)
Average low °C (°F) 1.2
(34.2)		 1.0
(33.8)		 2.6
(36.7)		 3.7
(38.7)		 6.7
(44.1)		 9.7
(49.5)		 11.9
(53.4)		 11.8
(53.2)		 9.8
(49.6)		 6.8
(44.2)		 3.7
(38.7)		 2.1
(35.8)		 6.0
(42.8)
Record low °C (°F) −16
(3)		 −11.3
(11.7)		 −8
(18)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 −1.6
(29.1)		 0.6
(33.1)		 3.8
(38.8)		 5.0
(41)		 1.5
(34.7)		 −3.6
(25.5)		 −7.8
(18)		 −14
(7)		 −16
(3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 70.1
(2.76)		 50.6
(1.992)		 58.3
(2.295)		 47.7
(1.878)		 51.8
(2.039)		 58.5
(2.303)		 47.2
(1.858)		 56.1
(2.209)		 63.9
(2.516)		 70.4
(2.772)		 66.9
(2.634)		 77.4
(3.047)		 719.0
(28.307)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 55.2 72.3 108.5 156.9 196.2 194.1 212.4 197.5 144.6 107.3 71.7 48.4 1,565
Source #1: Met Office[31]
Source #2: KNMI[32]

Demography

Christ Church

The 2001 census shows there were 180,061 people and 75,154 occupied houses in the Swindon Unitary Authority.[33] The average household size was 2.38 people. The population density was 780/km² (2020.19/mi²). 20.96% of the population were 0–15 years old, 72.80% 16–74 and the remaining 6.24% were 75 years old or over. For every 100 females there were 98.97 males. Approximately 300,000 people live within 20 minutes of Swindon town centre.

It is forecast that there will be a 70,000 (38.9%) increase in Swindon's population by 2026 from the current 180,000, to 250,000.[34] The ethnic make-up of the town was 95.2% white, 1.3% Indian and 3.5% other. 92.4% were born in the UK, 2.7% in the EU and 4.9% elsewhere.

The majority of Swindonians (70.3%) identify themselves as Christians. This is followed by those of no religion (19.2%), Muslims (1.0%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (0.6%), other (0.2%) and Jews (0.1%). In addition, 8.0% of people chose not to answer this question in the 2001 census.[35]

In May 2007, 65.3% of households in Swindon had broadband Internet access, the highest in the UK, up 5.5% from June 2006.[36]

Polish community

After the end of World War II, Polish refugees were temporarily housed in barracks at Fairford RAF base about 25 km (16 mi) north. Around 1950, some settled in Scotland and others in Swindon[37] rather than stay in the barracks or hostels they were offered.[38]

The 2001 UK Census found that most of the Polish-born people had stayed or returned after serving with British forces during World War II. Swindon and Nottingham were parts of this settlement.[39] Data from that census showed that 566 Swindonians were Poland-born.[40] Notes to those data read: ‘The Polish Resettlement Act of 1947, which was designed to provide help and support to people who wished to settle here, covered about 190,000 people ... at the time Britain did not recognise many of the professional [qualifications] gained overseas ... [but] many did find work after the war; some went down the mines, some worked on the land or in steel works. Housing was more of a problem and many Poles were forced to live in barracks previously used for POWs ... The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with a strong sense of Polish identity.'

In 2004, NHS planners devising services for senior citizens estimated that 5 percent of Swindon's population were not 'ethnically British'[41] and most of those were culturally Polish.

The town's Polish ex-servicemen's club, which had run a football team for 45 years, closed in 2012. Barman Jerzy Trojan blamed the decline of both club and team on the children and grandchildren of the original refugees losing their Polish identity.[42]

Economy

A Swindon-built locomotive (Hagley Hall) on display in the eating area of the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Swindon.
Retail in the centre of Swindon.

Major employers include the Honda of the UK Manufacturing car production plant at an old Vickers factory site on the former World War II RAF base of South Marston, BMW/Mini (formerly Pressed Steel Fisher) in Stratton, mobile phone companys Alcatel Lucent and Nokia Solutions and Networks, Dolby Labs, international engineering consultancy firm Halcrow Group Limited and retailer W H Smith's distribution centre and headquarters. The electronics company, Intel, has its European head office on the south side of the town. Insurance and financial services companies such as Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, the energy company RWE (which includes the well known retail brand npower), the fuel card and fleet management company Arval, pharmaceutical companies such as Canada's Patheon and the United States-based Catalent Pharma Solutions and French Medical Supplies Manufacturer Vygon (UK) Ltd have their UK divisions headquartered in the town. Swindon also has the registered Head Office of the National Trust.

Swindon businesses include banks such as Barclays, Natwest, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Handelsbanken, all having a commercial presence. The town also has a number of professional legal firms such as Clarke Holt, Thring Townsend, Lemon & Co, together with accountants such as Dennis & Turnbull and RSM Tenon and iSys Intelligent Systems.

Other employers include all of the national Research Councils, the British Computer Society, Alcatel-Lucent, eCommerce provider Shopatron, divisions of Tyco International, consumer goods supplier Reckitt Benckiser and a branch of Becton Dickinson.

Transport

Swindon Magic Roundabout
Main article: Transport in Swindon

At the junction of two Roman roads, the town has developed over the centuries, with the assistance of the GWR and the canals, into a transport hub. It has two junctions (15 and 16) onto the M4 motorway and is on the ex-GWR main line to London.

Swindon railway station opened in 1842 as Swindon Junction, and, until 1895, every train stopped for at least 10 minutes to change locomotives. As a result, the station hosted the first recorded railway refreshment rooms.[43]

Swindon bus operators are Thamesdown and Stagecoach. The local council acknowledges the need for more car parking as part of its vision for 2010.[44] Swindon is one of the locations for an innovative scheme called Car share. It was set up as a joint venture between Wiltshire County Council and a private organisation which now has over 300,000 members registered. Despite the name, however, it is a carpool or ride-sharing rather than a car share scheme, seeking to link people willing to share transport.

The town contains a roundabout called Magic Roundabout. This is not one roundabout but five, the central point of which is a contra-rotational hub[45] at the junction of five roads: (clockwise from South) Drove Road, Fleming Way, County Road, Shrivenham Road and Queens Drive. It is built on the site of Swindon wharf on the abandoned Wilts & Berks Canal, near the County Ground. The official name used to be County Islands, although it was colloquially known as the Magic Roundabout and the name was changed in the late 1990s to match its nickname.

Tourism and recreation

Events

Swindon Mela in the Town Gardens

Shopping

McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, a shopping complex built within the disused Swindon railway engine works

Green spaces

Other

Media

Print

King George V pulling the 'Bristolian' passenger train at the Swindon Steam Railway Museum.

Swindon has a daily newspaper, the Swindon Advertiser, with daily sales of about 21,000. Other newspapers covering the area include Bristol's daily Western Daily Press and the Swindon Advertisers weekly, the Gazette and Herald. The Wiltshire Ocelot (a free listings magazine), Swindon Star, Hungry Monkeys (a comic), Stratton Outlook, Frequency (an arts and cultural magazine), The Great Swindon Magazine, the Swindon Business News ,The Swindon Link (for information on the goings on in Swindon) and the Highworth Link for goings on in [Highworth].

Radio

Local radio stations include Jack FM and Heart Wiltshire in the commercial sector, with BBC Radio Wiltshire as a publicly funded alternative. A new community radio station was launched in March 2008, SWINDON 105.5, which is the only station in Swindon to broadcast totally locally all week. Brunel FM ceased broadcasting on 24 March 2010 as it was one of five stations owned by YMC Ltd closed by administrators. Although a new radio station has since opened on the same frequency, 107.7 Total Star FM which in June 2011 rebranded to become More FM, and changed again in 2012 to become Jack FM.

Television

Between 1973 and June 2000, Swindon had its own cable television channel. It was called Swindon Viewpoint, a community television project run mainly by enthusiasts from the basement of a Radio Rentals branch on Victoria Road. It was followed by the more commercial Swindon's Local Channel, which included pay-per-view films.[52] NTL (later Virgin Media) took over the channel's parent company, ComTel, and closed the station.

Regional news programmes covering Swindon include Thames Valley Tonight replaced by Meridian Tonight for the second time in February 2009 and The West Tonight from regional ITV1 stations and South Today (Oxford) and Points West from BBC One's regional variants.

Education

Swindon has 53 primary schools, 11 secondary schools and two purpose built sixth-form colleges. Two secondary schools also have 6th forms. It does not have an independent school; though Maranatha Christian School is located in nearby by Sevenhampton.

Secondary schools

Further education

New College and Swindon College cater for the town's further education and higher education requirements, mainly for 16–21-year olds. Swindon College is one of the largest FE-HE colleges in southwestern England, situated at a purpose-built campus in North Star, Swindon.

Swindon also has a foundation learning programme called Include, which is situated in the Gorse Hill area. This is for 16–19-year olds who are currently not in education or work.

Higher education

Swindon is the UK's largest centre of population without its own university (by comparison, there are two universities in nearby Bath, which is half Swindon's size).

In March 2008, a proposal was put forward by former Swindon MP, Anne Snelgrove, for a university-level institution to be established in the town within a decade, culminating in a future 'University of Swindon' (with some touting the future institution to be entitled 'The Murray John University, Swindon', after the town's most distinguished post-war civic leader). In October 2008, plans were announced for a possible University of Swindon campus to be built in east Swindon to the south of the town's Great Western Hospital, close to the M4-A419 interchange. However, these plans are currently mothballed.

However, Oxford Brookes University has its Ferndale Campus in north-central Swindon, containing its School of Health and Social Care (now known as the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Clinical Health Care) since 1999. The main OBU campus is 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Swindon.

The University of Bath in Swindon was established in 2000, with its Oakfield Campus in Walcot, east Swindon, although the campus has now closed.

University Technical College opened in Swindon in September 2014.

Museums and cultural institutions

Sports

The Stratton Bank

Football

Swindon Town F.C. play at the County Ground near the town centre. They have been Football League members since joining the then new Third Division (southern section) in 1920, and won promotion to the Second Division for the first time in 1963. They won their only major trophy to date, the Football League Cup, in 1969 beating Arsenal 3-1, at Wembley Stadium, and won the Anglo-Italian Cup the following year as the Football Association forbade Swindon from competing in the European Cup because they were in Division 3. They won promotion to the First Division in 1990, but stayed in the Second Division due to financial irregularities, only to reach the top flight (by then the Premier League) three years later. Their spell in the top flight lasted just one season, and then came a second successive relegation. A brief spite saw them promoted at the first attempt as champions of the new Division Two, but they were relegated again four years later and in 2006 fell back into the fourth tier for the first time since 1986, although promotion was gained at the first attempt. They were relegated again four years later. Notable former players of the club include John Trollope, Don Rogers, John Moncur, Fraser Digby, Duncan Shearer, Paul Bodin, Alan McLoughlin, Paul Rideout, Mike Summerbee, Shaun Taylor, Neil Ruddock, Jan Åge Fjørtoft and Phil King. Notable former managers include Lou Macari, Ossie Ardiles, Glenn Hoddle, John Gorman, Steve McMahon, Jimmy Quinn (a former player of the club), Colin Todd, Roy Evans, Andy King, Dennis Wise and Paul Sturrock. Under the charismatic reign of manager Paolo Di Canio, Swindon became League Two champions in 2011–12 and currently play in League One, the third-highest tier.

The town also has two non-league clubs: Swindon Supermarine F.C., playing in Southern League Division One South and West, and Highworth Town F.C., based in Highworth and playing in the Hellenic Football League.

Ice Hockey

The Swindon Wildcats play in the second-tier English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL). Since their inception, the Wildcats have played their home games at the 2800 capacity Link Centre. The club was founded in 1986.

Motor sports

In popular culture

Books set in Swindon include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, and the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde. Fforde's Thursday Next novels feature an alternative-universe Swindon that includes a parodic "Seven Wonders of Swindon". Robert Goddard's Into the Blue, Out of the Sun and "Never Go Back" feature the central character of Harry Barnett from Swindon, and all three novels start in the town. Terry Jones, the former Monty Python member gave Swindon a backhanded reference in one of the short stories in his 2011 collection, "Evil Machines". The story "The Lift that Took People to Places They Didn't Want to Go" ends with the section "...But actually... the evil elevator hadn't changed at all. In fact it went on secretly taking people to places they didn't want to go. For every time the lift took the inhabitants of Swindon back down to the ground floor, they stepped out of the department store and onto the streets of Swindon, and so found themselves somewhere they didn't want to be."

Swindon is home to the punk/pop band 'XTC', which has scored hits like 'Dear God', "Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" and 'the Disappointed" in both the USA and Britain. The group occasionally takes a musician's holiday to appear incognito as 'The Dukes of Stratosphear'. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding are accomplished songwriters who share an original point of view with David Gregory and other bandmates.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Population Overview of Swindon" (PDF). Swindon Borough Council. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "2011 Census summary p15 Accessed 16 July 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Great Britain Historical GIS Project. "Swindon: Total Population". A Vision of Britain through time. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  4. ↑ "Vast bookstore opens as famed library runs out of space". BBC News. 6 October 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 John Chandler, Swindon Decoded, The Hobnob Press 2005, ISBN 0-946418-37-3.
  6. ↑ ‘’Background’’ – The Mechanics Institution Trust, Swindon. Retrieved on 23 July 2007. Reference updated 12 December 2013
  7. ↑ 1850-1870 – The Mechanics Institution Trust, Swindon. Retrieved on 23 July 2007. Reference updated 12 December 2013
  8. ↑ Background – The Mechanics Institution Trust, Swindon. Retrieved on 23 July 2007. Reference updated 12 December 2013
  9. ↑ This is Our Heritage — 1996 lecture by Swindon labour movement historian Trevor Cockbill. Retrieved on 23 July 2007. Reference updated 12 December 2013
  10. ↑ Background – The Mechanics Institution Trust, Swindon. Retrieved 23 July 2007. Reference updated 12 December 2013 Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Swindon's Other Railway — the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway. Retrieved on 23 July 2007.
  12. ↑ The Midland & South Western Junction Railway, Railspot Reloaded.Retrieved on 23 July 2007.
  13. ↑ GWR Museum picture gallery. Retrieved on 23 July 2007
  14. ↑ Leonard Clark, Alfred Williams – His Life and Work, David and Charles 1969
  15. ↑ Alfred Williams, Life in a railway factory, first published 1915, 2007 edition published by Sutton Publishing ISBN 978-0-7509-4660-5
  16. ↑ Evening Star — Steam Locomotive, BBC, 29 November 2006. Retrieved on 21 July 2007.
  17. ↑ "SwindonWeb – Brunel Tower David Murray John". swindonweb.com. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  18. ↑ The 20 best places to buy a property in Britain, The Times, Property pages, February 2008
  19. ↑ More councils expected to ban speed cameras, The Times, October 2008.
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ Weaver, Matthew (23 October 2008). "More councils expected to ban speed cameras". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  22. ↑ New Swindon.
  23. ↑ Scott D'Arcy. "The curtain falls on town Big Arts Day". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  24. ↑ "The Wiltshire (Borough of Thamesdown)(Structural Change) Order 1995". Opsi.gov.uk. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  25. ↑ ""BBC News – Election 2011" (BBC News)accessed 6 May 2011". Bbc.co.uk. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Crittall, Elizabeth; Rogers, Kenneth & Shrimpton, Colin (1983). "Geology". A history of Swindon to 1965. Wiltshire Library & Museum Service. ISBN 0-86080-107-1.
  27. ↑ "1990 August maximum". Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  28. ↑ "1971-00 Annual average warmest day". Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  29. ↑ "1971-00 >25c days". Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  30. ↑ "1982 minimum". Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  31. ↑ "Climate Normals 1971–2000". MetOffice. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  32. ↑ "Climate Normals 1971–2000". KNMI. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  33. ↑ "Swindon UA". Census 2001. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  34. ↑ "Vision proposes 35,000 new homes". BBC News. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  35. ↑ "2011 Census". Statistics.gov.uk. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  36. ↑ Swindon and Milton Keynes top the UK broadband league – Computer Weekly, London, 23 May 2007. Accessed:2007-08-21.
  37. ↑ Community celebrates its golden anniversary, Swindon Advertiser, 31 May 2000.Retrieved on 23 July 2007.
  38. ↑ Polish club closes doors for last time – Swindon Advertiser, 1 April 2007. Retrieved on 24 July 2007
  39. ↑ Born Abroad, BBC News.Retrieved on 23 July 2007.
  40. ↑ – Polish Community Focus Multicultural Matters.Retrieved on 23 July 2007
  41. ↑ Modernising Services for Older People in Swindon– Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Swindon Primary Care Trust and Swindon Borough Council.Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
  42. ↑ Polish club closes doors for last time – Swindon Advertiser, 1 April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-27-24.
  43. ↑ LTC Rolt, Isambard Kingdom Brumel, Penguin 1957.
  44. ↑ "Car Parking – General Information". Transport & Streets. Swindon Borough Council. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
  45. ↑ Aerial view from Google maps
  46. ↑ Swindon Mela.
  47. ↑ "Family fun at Summer Breeze festival". Swindon Advertiser. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  48. ↑ "Toploader to headline Swindon's Summer Breeze festival". Swindon Advertiser. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  49. ↑ "Catch the Breeze". Swindon Advertiser. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  50. ↑ Richard Craven (26 July 2007). "Swindon Shuffle 2007 – A Retrospective". BBC Wiltshire. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  51. ↑ jtptrust.org
  52. ↑ Swindon Cable — Swindon View Point — The Local Channel, Swindoncable.co.uk. Retrieved on 21 July 2007.

Further reading

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Swindon.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swindon.