There's a strange phenomenon that takes place when Swindon gets bad press. You suddenly find hordes of people who say "We like it."

Swindon has tried ceaselessly to reinvent itself ever since the railworks closed. Out with the old, in with the new, oops we made mistake, look at our brand new plan. In fairness, the pace of beautification is increasing. The victorian pidgeon nets are vanishing, plans to reintroduce the canals throughn the town center are in place, and architects impressions of wide pedestrian areas between tall glass buildings regularly put on display.

It's not all plans and ideas though. There's an italianate influence in the new architecture. You can't help feeling that the town planners took a holiday in Tuscany and discovered the outside world really was prettier.

The biggest problem with Swindon though is exactly what it always was - the people who live there. Another cannabis farm was uncovered by police in a house half a mile from mine just the other day. Graffiti Mice are breeding and leaving lots of territory markers on any available surface. Supermarkets are now refusing to deliver in some parts of Swindon in the evenings. On the way to the libraray today I passed a group of four men arguing about who the girlfriend belonged to, and it wasn't calm polite exchange. Motorbikes blast along any straight road with engines howling, often with front wheels in the air, regardless of situation. Kids gather on streets and everyone, including number ten buses, have to go around them.

The alleyway behind my home has become so filled with discarded windows, piano's, bottles, exercise machines, childrens toys, cardboard, sofa's, and the occaisional mattress that someone has now decided that throwing their rubbish into my front yard is a good idea. This is what I mean about our local population. They seem to want this urban degradation around them as it's their natural habitat.

I guess they would say "If you don't like it, go somewhere else". That attitude, above all else, is why Swindon will never be beautiful.

Speeding Fine of the Week

A granny has just been fined for speeding on her moped which has a maximum speed of 8mph. That's the trouble with speed camera's, they've left the police without anything to do.