Swindon in General

I've lived here for 15 years, not by choice as my parents moved here. There are certainly far worse places to live. Today the population of Swindon is 180,000. Swindon is now one of the fastest growing towns in Europe apparently. History:-Most people think of the railway connection...but Swindon's earliest settlers were a stone age community living on Swindon Hill. The location afforded an excellent defensive position against attack, with the added advantage of a water supply. Interesting or what? The Romans came next and then the Saxons. They gave Swindon its title. The town's name derives from the Saxon's reference to its burgeoning livestock ...

As a life long Swindonian, I would like to think that I know the Town pretty well. Unfortunatly I do not share the point of view that Swindon should be given City status. I'm not saying that Swindon is a bad pace, because it is not. I'm sure there are far worse places to live in the UK than Swindon. Although I do not think that this ever growing Town should be given City status. To start with you only have to compare Swindon with our main rivals we are fighting for City status with, Reading. My wife comes from Reading, and I have visited the town on several occasions, and for me, Reading has far more attractions than Swindon. ...

Swindon's one of what those in the know call 'boom towns' - it's growing at an extremely rapid rate, and this growth has been reflected in its town centre which has been given a near-total makeover in the last few years. The focal point in Swindon's town centre is the revitalised Brunel Centre, an indoor shopping centre, with House of Fraser, Virgin and M&S been the anchor stores. It's clean and spacious - a little too spacious in fact, the second floor of the complex is still half-empty since the complex opened a couple of years ago. The rest of the shopping area is open-air, but light, spacious, clean and pedestrianised. All the usual ...