It wasn't in 1773!
But, like most towns in the UK, it thrived and grew, becoming a "hub" for the surrounding rural communities.
But It Growed!
Here it is in 1933 with very little railway detail. (But see below)
It was the Industrial Revolution that provoked the biggest and most rapid growth. You can blame this man!
Somehow, he doesn't look the same without the silly hat and the huge cigar! Mr Brunel chose the town as the home of the engineering base for his big scheme which became known as The Great Western Railway.
So it was that Swindon grew rapidly!
Just observe the extent of railway development filling half of the above map extract. Everything left of the diagonal main line is "railway".
You may notice the grid of streets and terraced property.
These railway workers' houses still standing today, are officially preserved and well upgraded.
The GWR cared for its staff! But the town continued to grow as the railway grew.
This is Swindon in 1947.
The railway still dominates.
The town had trams ...
... and achieved the aura of a pleasant locality well suited to serve its workforce.
Swindon had buses, of course ...
... which took over from the trams as the town grew.
The railways changed with asymptotic decline in railway "works", goods yards and loco depots meaning that Swindon had to change. The huge railway sites have morphed into heritage, retail and new "lighter" industries.
With the improvement in the speed and frequency of passenger trains, Swindon could also be said to be a "commuter" town!
And Growed Some More!
Compare the modern map with that from 1947.
The M4 runs along the bottom and the built up area has been built up right to the GREEN A419 - and beyond.
There is an area in the centre called the "Old Town" ...
... and various bits of the old are still there, albeit somewhat changed in appearance - but then, aren't we all!
And here we have a street view well before StreetView ...
... dated 1876! Below is the same view today with an extra property filling the gap.
So "old" Swindon is still there, if you look. But new Swindon would probably not win any architecture prizes!
Perhaps the town grew too quickly for its own good.
So tomorrow we will look more closely at today's town and its transport infrastructure, continuing to ask the question, "Is it or isn't it?", as there are big changes coming VERY soon.
P.S. Pik-a-Stiks
The Chinese Stiks have now been fitted; and thanks to one of these ...
... the six Sticks stiked exactly where they were needed. The adhesive was a very fine roll of double sided sticky tape which was (a) very fiddly, but (b) very very sticky.
Th edging will form a small kerb which will discourage the bogie tank wagons, displayed chevron style, from plunging to a plastic-crushing death on the floor. Similar protection is applied to an extra four-wheel wagon area on top of the display case.
And, yes, fbb measured badly, hence the little missing cube on the corner.The gap will be filled.
Now to install all the tank wagons. Now to find all the tank wagons! And now to try to remember the correct historical order of the tank wagons!
P.P.S. The strange character is Flook (i.e. a fluke!) from the old newspaper strip cartoon Rufus and Flook. It was published in the Daily Mail from 1959 to 1994.
How we all laughed!(?)
Next Swindon blog : Thurs 21 Aug
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