Swindon From The Air

29/10/2026

The Swindon Society will be hosting Dr Mike Pringle who will be giving his excellent presentation entitled SWINDON Remembering 1914-18

Mike is a local historian and an expert on WWI with a particular emphasis on Swindon’s involvement during this period and afterwards.

The talk takes place on the anniversary of Armistice Day, the 11th of November, 7.30pm at The Commonweal School The Mall, Swindon SN1 4JE.

A small entry fee of £3 will be charged for non Swindon Society members.

See the poster for more details.

29/10/2026

I recently viewed a post by Annie Cox showing a picture taken in Swindon’s town centre. The picture was looking towards the now sadly demolished McIlroys department store and the equally sadly no longer here Oven Door bakers shop.
(If you know me you will know why I miss that shop 😀)
I’m not to sure of the age of the first picture but the Swindon Local Studies seem to think it might be the 70’s, if it is I think it must be the very late 70’s or early 80’s

Anyway I was in the town early this morning and thought I might do a then and now picture.
The very obvious thing in this image is how much bigger the tree has got.

Old image courtesy of Swindon Local Studies

29/10/2026

Lydiard House Museum will be open from 10am – 4pm on Thursday this week, and it’s well worth a visit.
Friends of Lydiard Park

28/10/2026

This is a good time to train as a skipper as quite soon the navigational route that the boat takes will become quite a lot longer.

Fancy becoming part of our skipper team?⚓️

We’re looking for volunteers to train as skippers and crew and help support our boat trips!

🚤 Free training– no need to worry if you’re new to boating.

🚤 Flexible volunteering – there’s no requirement to volunteer every week. Give as much or as little time as you can!

It’s a great opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and get involved in something rewarding.

🏴‍☠️ Come aboard and join the crew! To enquire about joining our happy little band, email [email protected]

28/10/2026

The Shaw Ridge Leisure Park. A little bit of history

28/10/2026

The Shaw Ridge Leisure Park in West Swindon officially opened in April 1991. The complex originally had a nightclub called Cairo’s and a large w**e bar called Pinkertons.

The new cinema was operated by MGM and was screening the n movie Never Ending Story II. The Shaw Ridge Tavern was at the top of the site with what was then called the Super Bowl next door.
Near the entrance to the site was the Pizza Hut in its iconic shaped building.

The statue of Diana Dors was installed on June 14, 1991 and unveiled shortly after by her son Jason.
Soon after the opening of the Leisure Park work was started on the Hotel that opened in the spring of 1992 as the Devere Hotel.

27/10/2026

Badbury Park sits in the South East of Swindon between Coate Water and the Great Western Hospital.

Construction on the first phase was between 2014 and 2015 by Redrow and Persimmon Homes. An area of woodland sits on the edge of the development, it is known as Day House Copse. Some people think this woodland has only existed since the 1970’s, but it is much older and indeed features on maps from at least the 19th Century.
In a field very close to the Copse is the site of Coate Stone Circle.

Did you know?
The area takes its name from the hamlet of Badbury that lies just a little further away to the south of the M4. From the date of the Domesday Book Badbury and the surrounding area was in the ownership of Glastonbury Abbey, who held it until 1539.
(In 1203, Badbury was passed to the Bishop of Bath but it was returned to the monks of Glastonbury in 1219, where it remained until 1539)

26/10/2026

Today is an historic day!

The Wichelstowe Southern Access Road has officially opened today.

26/10/2026

The third and final building that I have given a mock up to is the Oasis Leisure Centre. Again a Grade II listed site that will be completely derelict if something isn’t done soon.
Can it be saved? Could it look something like the mock up rather than the way it does at the moment?

I’m not getting into the politics of this site as it’s a complicated situation and Save Oasis Swindon are fighting the good fight, but someone needs to pull the iron out of the fire over this before it’s to late.

25/10/2026

So as I understand it, the plan in the future is to demolish the Tented Market, the Brunel West car park, Market Street, the Brunel Centre and the other part of the original Brunel Centre where House Of Fraser was.

I also wonder what is happening with the David Murray John Building, it’s been empty for a while now. apparently the buildings structure is sound but the exterior cladding has reached the end of its life!

One of the reasons I’m trying to photograph our town from the air is to provide an historic archive.
If the DMJ Tower goes as well then pretty much everything in this picture will disappear, making this a truly historic photograph in future years, for future generations to reference when we are no longer here.