Truth is Swindon is not a cultural desert, and never has been in my experience. I've always found plenty of things to do in Swindon over the years, usually, it has to be said, on the small to medium scale lacking as it still does a large concert hall venue or large theatre, with the Wyvern capacity only around 700.
Swindon gets a bad press much of it undeserved, and yet ... and yet... today I went to Whalebridge practice for my annual 'flu jab, and unusually was able to get this done with no queuing. I had an unexpected hour of parking to use up so decided to walk around the town centre for a while trying to look with a visitor's eye at the early evidence appearing on the horizon of some of the much delayed re-development of the town centre. I have to say as I started out it was not a particularly inspiring walk.
Starting out from the Whalebridge area and the new Kimmerfields development - initially dubbed Union Square in the original master plan for the long-term re-development of Swindon - the original idea being for this part of town to be a pedestrian-friendly urban space now sadly sidelined and replaced by the predictable temple to the motor-car with a brand-spanking new multi-storey car park. The whole area around this part of town is rather dispiriting to walk around - bland blocks of concrete, glass and featureless brickwork, no discernible originality of design, or indeed purpose - could be flats, could be office blocks, could be a warehouse - who knows - no redbrick dreams to be woven here sadly. Actually too bland to be deemed ugly, the best that can be said is it is no worse than that we have come to expect from the architects and planners who seem to have held sway in Swindon for many post-war decades now. I am pretty sure it is this ugly urban exterior particularly in the centre of town that has served Swindon and it's population so badly over the years. It is reflected in the lost and neglected architectural gems we have suffered over the years, the Hermitage, The Baptist Tabernacle, The Locarno and The Mechanics Institute. A sad architectural litany displaying a lack of civic leadership over many years, a lack of pride in our history, a lack of respect for past, present and future generations of Swindonians, a rather tragic failure to understand the importance to our well-being of the urban environment we all share. As I head on through the under-pass to the Parade past the proliferating coffee shops and boarded-up shop fronts it seems we've given up shopping to drink coffee instead. This could be any town in the UK of course, and this in many ways has been Swindon's claim to fame over the years, particularly amongst social scientists - Swindon has often been seen as the quintessentially average English town, in terms of demographics and economy. Though this used to be the case it is maybe not so true over recent years with Swindon salaries on average now being amongst the lowest in the country. The economic downturn following the financial crisis of 2007-8 and the resulting recession hit plans for a number of re-development projects just as plans were about to be turned into reality. Finally though here we are late in 2013 and some of the plans are starting to move from drawing board to reality.
The white frame of the new Regent Circus development is now taking shape and will eventually house a new 7-screen cinema, restaurants and supermarket and will probably be crucial to the much needed re-generation of the town centre and the night-time economy. It should hopefully help to transform the centre of Town which for too long in the evenings has been a no-go zone for families and those unwilling to negotiate the vomit and vehemence emerging from the binge-drinking outlets that previously dominated the bottom end of town.
Before heading back down Princes Street a detour into Theatre Square and a little example and reminder of the hidden beauty of Swindon - the artsite studios that reflect the community-led culture that is really Swindon's best-kept secret. There is a very vibrant artistic community in Swindon much of the best things community-led or the result of the driving passion of a few committed individuals. Swindon Bluegate Poets, Swindon Festival of Literature, Swindon Film Society Festival, Old Town Jazz festival, the annual original musical extravaganza that is the Swindon Shuffle being just a few examples. With many active visual artists, musicians, writers and poets in Swindon things are looking up in many ways - and just up the hill Old Town has been thriving over recent years with new start up businesses, new bars, cafes, food halls etc. Hopefully the re-development now starting in the "New" town will see similar regeneration there. In the meantime Swindon and Swindonians will continue to create their own art, their own music, their own poetry - a little away from the limelight perhaps, in a corner away from the bright lights, beneath the headlines, in spite of the jokes, the real Swindon will continue to show it's true beauty.
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