MY STREET CHALLENGE - ISLINGTON STREET

I really wanted the sun to be shining this morning when I went out just after 6.30 to take photographs of Islington Street but it was quite murky and grey.  

Many of the streets around our town centre in Swindon no longer have houses as these have been demolished to make way for other buildings, and Islington Street is no exception.  Islington Street ran parallel to Princes Street, and most of the terraced houses were demolished in 1965 to make way for the Courts of Justice and in fact, Cow Lane, which  was the backway, or the “backsies” as we called them, for Islington Street, disappeared altogether.  

Islington Street and nearby Edgware Road were built by a London builder, Mr. H.C. Smith of Edgeware Road, London - which is obviously the reason the streets are named as they are.  

This morning there weren’t many people about - just the usual few on their way to work, so I was a bit naughty and parked on double yellow lines outside The Law Courts - I must admit, I half-expected to see a ticket on my windscreen when I came back, but I was very fortunate and there wasn’t one!  Looking up Islington Street, towards the Town Hall, you can see that I was there at 7.a.m. and heard the clock strike.  

Walking along this street brought back memories of when the Child Welfare Clinic was there and in the early 1970s this was housed in a large temporary wooden building.  We took our babies there to be weighed and also to have their injections, bought tins of National Dried Milk, orange juice and the dreaded cod liver oil and it was a meeting place for  mothers.  

I remember one mother had a very large Silver Cross coach-built pram, the sort with two large wheels on the back and two smaller ones on the front.  I had a Royale pram but hers was so much bigger than many of us had and we did envy her.  In those days, you just left your pram outside the clinic or shops and it was still there when you got back!   

Just for interest, I have put a photograph of my pram in the collage, complete with child seat on the top.  Son Number 2 is in the pram and Son Number 1 is standing by the side.  It must have been winter because they are both well wrapped up!  No fold-up buggies for us in those days as we walked almost everywhere - in those days we only had one car and if our husbands had taken it to work, then we had to walk or stay at home all day. 

Swindon Magistrates’ Court, the side of which is in Islington Street, is where most of the criminal cases start, with the less serious offences being handled entirely in the Magistrates’ Court.  More than 95% of all cases are dealt with here, but more serious offences are transferred to the Crown Court.

Swindon Crown Court and the County Court are housed in a building that, according to the date on the wall, was opened in 1985 when the courts moved from Clarence Street at about that time.  The Crown Court and County Court deals with serious offences, with a Judge and jury and interestingly, I have been called twice for Jury Service.  The first time I was excused because I worked at the time in the office of the Prosecuting Solicitor, before the Crown Prosecution Service took over this role, but I had to sit the second time about 8 years ago.  At least I’m not likely to be called again, because I have reached the ripe old age of three score years and ten!

At the top of Islington Street in what is known as Theatre Square, stands The Wyvern Theatre, named after the mythical wyvern which was once the emblem of the kings of Wessex. It was opened on 7 September 1971 by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

I stood in the car park near the spot where Cow Lane would have been located and took the photographs looking up to the theatre and then climbed all the steps and took a photograph looking down towards Fleming Way (top left).  On the left is a huge empty space where once stood the multi-storey Wyvern car park, which was deemed “unfit for purpose”. It did not have adequate lighting or security and many of the spaces were not wide enough - but of course, this was built when cars were much smaller.  It was always difficult going up the spirals to the various floors because it was so tight. 

The Wyvern car park has been replaced by the Whale Bridge car park (bottom left) which I think looks quite funky.  The original bridge was built in 1893, was one of several bridges over the canal, but was sadly demolished to make way for the Fleming Way roundabout sometime in the 1960s.  

At the other end of Islington Street stands the empty and now very forlorn-looking Menzies Swindon Hotel.  This was formerly known as the Wiltshire Hotel and was quite a vibrant place, but I daresay this will be demolished and something equally as unprepossessing put in its place.  

There is a lot of work going on in this area, known as Union Square Regeneration and when it is finished, it should look very attractive - a hoarding states “Central Business District - a place to work and live” - I even stopped and spoke to a couple of men who were about to start work - because they remarked that it was unusual to see someone out taking photographs that early in the morning!

“So much of our future lies
     in preserving our past.”
Peter Westbrook