The local paper is full of stories relating to the austerity measures our coalition government are pushing through. So far the main concern of residents appears to be crime, and whether a reduced police force is going to maintain law and order. There's another article worrying about how the young people of Swindon are going to cope with cuts in services. Probably by taking advantage of the reduced police presence I shouldn't wonder.

Because Of Pay Cuts

This morning I perused the libraries collection of old Ordnance Survey maps, some dating back to the 1880's. My primary interest was researching the route of a certain railway line I used to walk when I was a child. The saga of Swindons Other Railway is an interesting one. To build a north-south route through Great Western territory in the 19th century was tantamount to a declaration of war, and the two companies never fully co-operated even after being merged in 1923.

When the Midland & South West Junction Railway (or in it's earlier guise, the Swindon Marlborough & Andover Railway) reached Swindon, they intended to link up with Brunels Great Western main line east of the station. The plan was to build the line through the Goddard Manor grounds, roughly between where the two lakes are at Lawns, and with some eye to compensation build a small station there too. Lord Goddard was having none of that. They can build their grimey railway somewhere else.

So the next plan was to link up in the same place but instead of a route to the east of Swindon Hill, they started a tunnel under it. The workings were plagued with trouble. Swindon Hill was home to a large number of natural springs, and the complex geology did not lend itself to secure digging. In the end, workers weren't paid, and the whole thing was abandoned. The railway eventually forged a new route around the southwest of Swindon to join at Rushey Platt Junction.

That of course meant Swindoners were upset, because the road that linked old town with the newer urban growth down the hill was split in two by the tunnel workings. So they built a new road that linked Victoria Street and Regents Circus, and that's where I live today. My street exists because a railway wanted to build a tunnel.

The north side of the tunnel workings is now Queens Park, and looking at it today, you simply wouldn't know why it was there. Fascinating stuff.