Swindon 1957 To 1966

A Memory of Swindon.

We moved to Swindon in 1957 from London (Wimbledon, actually) when my dad, a skilled engineer, got a job at Vickers Armstrongs at South Marston, with a brand new council house thrown in. In those post-war austerity days there was no problem getting a council house - in these austerity days, however, very, very few are being built despite a great need. I digress.

But by the time I left Commonweal Grammar and then served an apprenticeship as a surveyor/estimator at local builders Pattisons, I left home for the West Midlands, and have rarely been back.

So memories of Swindon are no more than a snapshot of that short period of time there - here are some at random -


The single decker bus from Regent Circus to Commonweal.

Buses had clocks on them; also "NO SPITTING" notice - (neither were on the London buses).

Chinese laundry at top end of Commercial Road.

Church at top end of Regent Street looked like the Parthenon in Athens.

Most incomers thought "The Centre" was Regent Circus, and couldn't understand where the buses going to "The Centre" were actually going.

Old theatre at the corner of Groundwell Road/Clarence Street.

The drained canal from the County Ground into the town centre, subsequently turned into Fleming Way. Is the canal going the other way, that is east, still in water? Cycling the towpath there I managed to fall over into the water, fortunately not too deep in those days.

Steam trains running through Burderop woods, at the end of Broome Manor Lane.

The railway works hooter.

Newport Street before being redeveloped had a shop that sold stink bombs! Well, we were teenagers at the time!

Swindon Town football club had many players who were born and still lived in the town. And they earned a living during the summer driving lawnmowers in public spaces - at least Ernie Hunt was seen cutting the patch next to our house did.

As kids from London, the sight of pig pens in Dayhouse Lane, Coate was fascinating.

Queens Drive before the second carriageway was added to finally make it into the planned dual carriageway.

Watching from Commonweal's playing field aircraft doing circuits and bumps on Wroughton airfield.

Is the Avenue Road driving test centre still there? My scooter test was postponed quite a bit thanks to the 1963 dreadful winter, but I passed despite running out of fuel shortly after I started. (I had forgotten to re-open the on-off fuel valve on the Vespa).

The 'Magic Roundabout' layout being initially tested with piles of tyres being used. Actually I always thought that Swindon's road traffic management was quite imaginative - I remember several sets of traffic lights being successfully replaced with mini-roundabouts; pedestrian crossing poles normally painted in black and white bands, had the white bands replaced with lighted segments. I suspect current drivers have their own opinions on how traffic is managed nowadays!

Working for a building company I was directly involved in various contracts, including Covingham Infants School, originally a supermarket but now the hospice and clothing company on the corner of Cricklade Road and Whiteman Street, the Swiss Chalet pub in Chapel Street (then called the Carpenters Arms), the full 1961 refurbishment of the Milton Road baths complex, the building of the sports complex off Hilary Close (near the Moonrakers), the bowling alley off Cheney Manor Road. And I have to confess a small part in the closing of the railway works when in 1965/6 we converted one of the railway factory buildings for use by Yorkshire Imperial Plastics.

Park South –

Shops on the estate were not built for a some years, but we were served by mobile shops (notably Liptons and a man selling paraffin from the back of his van). There was also a temporary prefab type shop tucked away at the top end of the estate, and whilst the estate was still being built a large contractors canteen hut halfway down Cranmore Avenue would also sell vegetables to local residents. Also Scratchleys (the local newsagent – still going?) had a temporary shed nearby

Also at the top end of the estate was Laings canteen, which was used (in non-working hours presumably) for community purposes, including a youth club (although I only went there once).

Every now and again a jet fighter would take off from Vickers Armstrongs airfield, and, flying on past the town on the east side, was clearly visible form our house. Forget the name of the plane now - like many kids at the time I could put a name nearly all aircraft.

At the time these new houses were not interconnected with a tv cable, so we all had a tv aerial pole tied to the concrete washing line post. We saw one bright spark a few gardens away who decided to adjust his aerial by climbing up the pole - once up there, though, the pole bent, returning him to terra firma somewhat earlier and quicker than he planned.
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So Swindon for me is still remembered as a quiet town, not much traffic (safe for us kids to cycle anywhere), no massive town centre redevelopment. But also gone is Commonweal Grammar, Pattisons building company, the railway works, the old theatre, the Victoria Hospital in Okus Road, where I had my appendix out in 1961, and I think the bowling alley.

But despite the odd dabble with higher divisions, Swindon Town are still (effectively) a Division 3 football club. Not so much nowadays, but I used to go and watch them when they played in the Midlands - my friend still remembers a game we went to at Leicester when Don Rogers briefly transfixed a group of their defenders into a 'not knowing what to do' standstill.

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