Swindon From The Air

11/06/2026

Fingers crossed that the new administration will be able to bring places like the Mechanics and the Locarno back to life and also support our other heritage assets. There’s a lot to do.
I’m also looking forward to a sit down with Councillor Matthew Vallender very soon

Courtesy of Swindon Advertiser, supporting fantastic local groups like Swindon From The Air showcases our Town's heritage buildings, open spaces and ultimately show why we are proud to be from Swindon.

Jason and I talked over various feathers to Swindon's cap, from Lydiard, Mechanics Institute, Locano and others, head over to his page to see some of his work!

10/06/2026

Next in my little series of The year so far.
The demolition of Swindon Bus Station.

This is a musical slide video from photographs taken of the bus station demolition from the last days of it being used up until all everything is gone apart from a lump of the Octagon Restaurant

10/06/2026

A lot of visitors to my page will know Royston. He’s a swindonian through and through. Known to anyone who’s anyone to do with the Richard Jefferies Museum and the wider history & heritage community in and around our town.
A conversation with Royston is never boring, he is a mine of local historical information.

And I’m very happy to call him a friend 🙂
A jolly good fellow!!

We are grateful to all our volunteers for the time and effort they put into helping the museum. This is Roy, in his own words:

"I first read Bevis at Sanford Street School back in the 1950s and was enchanted by it.

Then around 20 years ago on a rainy day in winter I found the museum was open and went in and bought another copy of Bevis.

Since then I have spent many hundreds of days helping out or reading about the museum and all the great things that it does from holding local events to helping children to learn about nature.

I was proud to be allowed to pay for the blue plaque that was deservedly warranted after all those years to the World's greatest nature writer, a man from Swindon.

Then when the garden make over project was being conceived, I realised that a second hand glass house held all sorts of problems for the team but a new one solved them all so once again I was able to help in my own little way.

I take a great deal of pleasure in going to the Sunday music events and taking pictures of each performer knowing that the museum is giving many young players a leg up the ladder whilst bringing joy to those that sit in the garden with their cream teas in the sunshine.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers that make all this possible, without them we would have nothing."

📖
"The sward on the path on which Bevis used to lie and gaze up in the summer evening, was real, and tangible; the earth under was real; and so too the elms, the oak, the ash-trees, were real and tangible—things to be touched, and known to be."
Bevis: The Story of a Boy

09/06/2026

You have to ask yourself why the Savoy Cinema in Swindon ever opened, you see the good people of Swindon were already well served with cinematic offerings.
By 1913 Regent Street alone already had three cinemas, the Arcadia, the Picturehouse and the County Electric. Twenty four years passed until the Savoy was built by ABC (Associated British Cinemas) and opened it’s doors at the top end of Regent Street in 1937, but apparently this wasn’t going to be any old spit and sawdust sort of venue, this was billed as a ‘Super Cinema’.

The Savoy was large, had a plush interior and an art deco styled exterior entice you through the door to sit in one of the 1770 seats. The first films were part of a double bill, a British comedy A Star Fell from Heaven & Captain January.
The facilities at the Savoy were the very latest in comfort and technology that meant live music and stage shows could also be hosted.

Over a period of fifty four years the cinema had various changes. In 1960 it was renamed to the ABC cinema and in 1973 it was refitted and two more screens were added. Some years later Canon took over and added a new staff uniform of red and white stripes. The cinema also apparently had a resident ghost called George.

Due to competition from out of town multipleplex cinemas it closed its doors in 1991 with the last film being Three Men and a Little Lady.

The building was sold to the JD Wetherspoon pub chain. The Savoy public house opened in 1996 after a long refurbishment that saw a number of problems arise with the building works.

As of May 2026 the Savoy is up for sale and the next chapter in its history is about to begin.

(Black & White pictures courtesy
Of Newsquest)

09/06/2026

A little musical slide reel of the new bus boulevard of Swindon’s Fleming Way.

08/06/2026

Recently I posted about the ground marker to indicate where John Street Bridge crossed the canal. On the pavement near the top of the bus boulevard on Swindon’s Fleming Way is a second historical marker that tells you this was the location of Whale Bridge.

Whale Bridge crossed the Wilts & Berks Canal in this area. Some of you may remember that when Fleming way was constructed there was a roundabout with pedestrian underpass routes.

The picture of the bridge is from the late 1950’s and looks down the canal, today’s bus boulevard would be on the far side of the bridge.
It is worth explaining that Fleming way follows the route of the old canal so the road you drive down today was once a waterway with canal boats traveling along it instead of vehicles of today.

The lower half of my drone shot is in the area of where the bridge crossed, the yellow dot is where the centre of the bridge was.

Picture of Whale Bridge Courtesy of the Falkner Archive WBCT Swindon Branch

Picture of the underpass Courtesy of Swindon Libraries

All other images taken by myself

07/06/2026

Nice of Swindon Advertiser to run this article 👍

A drone photographer has been praised by a senior councillor for his "voluntary" work promoting cultural assets in Swindon

07/06/2026

This is the new Wildflower area at Shaw Ridge in West Swindon. This is one of those occasions when something actually looks more interesting from ground level rather from the air.

Originally the wildflower area was located where the play park is now on the crown of the hill, but West Swindon Parish Council have found and cultivated an nearby patch of land at Shaw Ridge and a group called Flowers & Butterflies or FAB for short have been very busy conditioning the soil and planting it with wildflower seeds.

The fruits of their labours can now be seen as everything is now out in flower with the red of the poppies and the blue of the cornflowers being the most dominant colours that make a wonderful display, that is also of course a great habitat for butterflies and insects.

It’s nice just to stand there, smell the flowers, see and listen to the insects that are flying and crawling around. Worth a visit, especially with the kids.

Thanks to Roger Ogle for the post info

06/06/2026

Today we commemorate D-Day. 82 years ago today Operation Overlord started and allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. Thousands made the ultimate sacrifice on this day and many more gave their lives on the days that followed.

But how much of a part did Swindon play in Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings? Well quite a lot actually!

Let’s firstly look at the GWR Works.
Many men from the Works and from other occupations across the town went to fight during WWII and some were involved in the D-Day operations, sadly a lot gave their lives and never came home.

Swindon Women took up the roles in the GWR Works left by those who went to war.
In excess of 60,000 shells, 200,000 aircraft parts and loads of other military vehicle parts were produced for the war effort. Many of these were used in the lead up to D-Day and throughout Operation Overlord.
The GWR Works also built a great many landing craft, some of which were used in the beach invasion on D-Day.
The Works also produced Naval Guns and spare parts for them. Aside from all of the above the GWR Works carried on with train and waggon maintenance that helped with the logistics of moving troops, artillery and everything else needed to start the invasion.

Just up the road from Swindon American troops from the Airborne divisions were billeted in the village of Aldbourne and commenced months of training for the D-Day operations, these troops also came to Swindon for entertainment and recreation. Local Swindon businesses would have been involved in making sure they had a lot of the supplies they needed including perishable food items like dairy products and fresh vegetables.

Other troops were also stationed and involved in training around Swindon, many of which took part in Operation Overlord. Camps existed at Burderop above Wroughton, Chiseldon, which also had a casualty hospital and the Lawn House in Old Town.

Lydiard Park also played a part, in 1943 the military requisitioned the house and grounds. The park had a field hospital and it was made ready to receive injured troops from the D-Day landings and throughout the rest of the war.

Now let’s not forget the work of the local airfields. RAF Blakehill Farm near Cricklade took part in Operation Tonga, this was the airborne part of Operation Overlord and they flew from here directly into the battleground the night before D-Day. They were towing Horsa gliders of The Glider Pilot Regiment and were followed by 24 Dakotas carrying troops.
On the 6th-7th of June a re-supply mission was flown from here to Caen in France as part of Operation Rob Roy. Wounded troops returning from France were flown back into Blakehill Farm.

Local airfield RAF Lyneham played a vital role in the lead up to D-Day and also returned injured troops from the landings. A large number of Hamilcar gliders that could carry battle tanks were assembled at RAF Lyneham for use on D-Day.

RAF Membury was very busy in the lead up to D-Day and Five C-47 aircraft from Membury were lost on D-Day.

RAF Wroughton on the outskirts of Swindon was a maintenance and supply airfield. In preparation for D-Day the unit received crates of what were in effect flat pack Horsa gliders that they assembled while other aircraft on the site were made ready for battle with maintenance, gun assembly and test firing checks. On the eve of D-Day over 600 aircraft were on the ground at Wroughton that were sent to take troops from regional airfields into the D-Day landings.
RAF Wroughton also had the Princess Alexandra Hospital, a state of the art hospital and casualty clearing station that had in excess of 1000 bed spaces. In the six months following D-Day 4,811 wounded personnel were treated at RAF Wroughton.

A bit further out from Swindon but also worth a mention were RAF Down Ampney and RAF Ramsbury who also played pivotal roles in Operation Overlord.

Apart from the GWR, Swindon also had a number of factories that were directly involved with the D-Day landings. R.A Lister, also known as Marine Mountings made parts and equipment that directly supported the Royal Navy and Allied landing craft on D-Day.

And finally one we all know, Vickers at South Marston. Throughout the war they produced many aircraft including Supermarine Spitfires and Seafires that were sent into battle before and during the start of Operation Overlord, they protected our heavy bombers landing craft and naval ships as they crossed the Channel towards France.

So when someone says to you, ‘what did Swindon do for D-Day?’ you can say, ‘well rather a lot actually!’

RAF Blakehill Farm
Swindon Railway Village Community