The County Ground Hotel Swindon
Hello lovely listeners. Hot on the heels of Secret Swindon, came my second publication for Amberley – Swindon in 50 Buildings – published in 2019.
The Spectrum Building
[jetpack_subscription_form] The Spectrum Building My second favourite building, in Swindon, the David Murray John Tower being my number one, has to be the Spectrum Building – or the Renault Building as it still tends to be known. [gallery type="rectangular"...
The David Murray John Tower
Back in 1950, in his ‘Studies of Swindon’, John Betjeman wrote, apropos of architecture in Swindon, that there was ‘very little architecture in Swindon and a great deal of building’. He then went on to say that ‘Swindon, instead of being a West Country town, looked on its outskirts at any rate, like any industrial town anywhere.’
The Civic Society Movement & Swindon
The Civic Society Movement & Swindon. Okay! If you’ve been paying attention at all you’ll know by now that here in Swindon we have an organisation by the name of Swindon Civic Voice. But what you might not know – and I didn’t until relatively recently – is that the civic society movement is a national one and there’s civic voices and civic societies all over the shop.
Surprising Swindon – Past & Present Explorers’ Guide
21 November 2015 'New Swindon' 1840 - 2015 - Swindon Civic Voice Walker's Guide Swindon - this is Swindon Though not intentionally planned that way, it turned out to be rather timely that Jess (@swindondriver) and I should go on an EXPOTITION and go exploring the New...
The ugliest town in England? Really?
Swindon hits the headlines of the nationals – and yet again it’s an insult.
Beauty is only skin deep – and it lies in the eye of the beholder. You may have to dig but it’s there. Okay. There can’t be many of us by now that have missed the recent press coverage by The Telegraph and the Independent of Swindon’s bid to ‘become Britain’s new cultural magnet’ (The Telegraph.)
Coate Water diving platform Swindon
The now-defunct 1935 Art Deco style diving platform at Coate Water invokes a fair amount of nostalgia in me. As a child I was sometimes taken to Langold Lake (5 miles the ‘other’ side of Worksop). This was a large country park thing – my memories are hazy as it was MANY years ago now. But I recall a swimming lake with a diving platform in it.
Swindon and iconic buildings
I’ve always rather liked the Spectrum building or the Renault building as it tends to be referred to, even though the car company moved out of it some years ago.











