MY STREET CHALLENGE - KEMBLE DRIVE

I wasn't sure why this road is named Kemble Drive, so got in touch with the kind lady at the Local Authority, who emailed me back to say that the only snippet of information she can give is that Kemble in Gloucestershire was the source of a private water supply to the Great Western Railway.  I therefore assume that as so as many of the buildings here are concerned with the railways, that could be the reason for the name.  It worked out rather well, because I had arranged to meet my friend, Linda and her daughter, Vyara but it was a shame that the day was grey and rainy, although we enjoyed meeting, as always.

There are many interesting buildings on this almost crescent-shaped road.  Next to the Kemble Drive sign on my collage is the Hooter House.  Until it last sounded in March 1986, it had been summoning workers to the factory for over a century.  Two or three generations of Swindonians grew up knowing that a 17-second blast of the hooter meant it was 6.45 am, another 12 seconds signified it was 7.20 am, seven more seconds told workers it was 7.25 am and if they weren't inside the works when they heard another 12-second blast it was 7.30 am and they were late.  The hooter also sounded at lunchtime and at the end of the working day, again to a strict timetable, measured to the second.  Mr. HCB remembers that he needed to leave his house by 7.20 am to get to work by 7.30 am with just a minute’s leeway and if he got there at 7.35 he lost 15 minutes’ pay, but he assures me he didn’t lose this often!   

On the far right, top row is the Headquarters of The National Trust called Heelis, apparently named after Mrs Heelis, better known as Beatrix Potter.   Mrs Heelis bred Herdwick sheep and bought numerous fell farms in the Lake District in order that the National Trust might preserve them.  The building was designed in 2005 and used timber taken from NT woodlands and wool from Herdwick sheep that grazed on Trust farmlands.  It is an impressive looking building and as it has a café as part of the set-up, I have often been in there.  It has a light and airy feel and in the same building is a National Trust shop.  It has previously won a number of awards for its transformation of the brownfield site into a sustainable modern-use, low-energy building – even beating the Eden Project at one awards ceremony in 2007.  The site was once home to Brunel’s Great Western Railway complex, and still houses a number of brick-clad shed structures with corrugated roofs which are now part of the Swindon Designer Outlet.

This complex has a very good range of outlet shops, but I rarely find anything to fit as many of them seem to have an over-abundance of very small sizes, which they obviously feel will appeal to younger people - but interestingly, I don’t often see many there under the age of 40!  There are also countless coffee shops and restaurants and it has recently undergone a refit and many more shops and restaurants have been added.

The shops are in a building that was previously the locomotive works and was home to tin smiths, the brass foundry and other workshops, and there are a number of original features around the complex, reminding shoppers of its origins.   

Mr. HCB worked for Great Western Railways from the time he was 15 in 1957, when he worked in the offices, until about 1972 when he was working as a Fitter/Turner/Erector, but with the demise of the Railway Works in Swindon, he was made redundant.  Many people in Swindon worked “inside” as it was known, and Mr. HCB says he enjoyed his time there, but he has no inclination to visit the site now because, as he points out, “It’s just shops!”  

Apparently about 3 million people visit each year - and that probably includes a million or so husbands or boyfriends who are “dragged” round by their spouses or girlfriends. When I first got there today it was relatively quiet, but after about an hour it was heaving, mainly I guess because of the awful weather outside.

As well as the shops there is also the Museum of the Great Western Railway, known as The Steam Railway Museum.  This opened in the year 2000 and replaced the former GWR Museum which was located in the former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Faringdon Road, Swindon.

The Steam Museum is in a restored Grade II railway building in the heart of the former Swindon railway works and tells the story of the men and women who built, operated and travelled on the Great Western Railway, often referred to by historians and railway fans as "God’s Wonderful Railway".

Interestingly, Mr. HCB's grandfather, Fred Stone, was an engine driver and used to tell Mr. HCB when he was a young lad, many stories of his working life.  However, there were a couple of things he didn't mention - one was that in 1890 he was fined sixpence for disorderly conduct and neglect of work and another was that he was stopped half a day’s pay and fined sixpence for “absenting himself from duty without leave”.  In the Railway Employment Records for 1899, it states that in October of that year “Mr. Stone was walking towards the Time Office in the Locomotive Yard in Newport, South Wales, when he fell into the turntable pit and bruised his left knee”.  It further states in the records "The fog was thick at the time and Stone was a stranger to Newport."  He returned to work in December 1899 so would have been without wages for almost two months, which must have been very difficult as he was married by then and had a child.

Fred retired from work in 1933.  In the latter part of his life he lived with his daughter and her husband, Mr. HCB's parents, and died in October 1963 at the age of 90, leaving the princely sum of £290 which would be worth about £6,000 today.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was born in 1806, and lived at the time of Britain's Industrial Revolution.  By 1830, steam railways were being built all over Britain and in 1833 Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, which linked London to Bristol and later Exeter.  He built all the stations, tunnels and bridges, his most memorable design being the Clifton Suspension Bridge over the Avon Gorge in Bristol.  At the time of building it was the longest bridge in the world.  He also designed Paddington Station, which opened in 1854 and is still in use today.

An 8 foot high statue of Brunel has recently been returned to the Swindon Town Centre and it now stands facing towards the former Railway works - before the recent renovation, Brunel was looking the other way!   Isambard Community School in North Swindon opened in 2008 and is named after Brunel.  I have to confess that I took this photograph a couple of days ago - as you can see by the beautiful blue sky - but all the others were taken today!

Following the closure of the Railway Works in 1986, the National Monuments Record Centre moved from London in 1994 to the refurbished Engine House, bottom right in the collage, a magnificent building, formerly the GWR General Offices, although part of this large complex is actually located in what is known as Firefly Avenue, but the postal address is Kemble Drive.  The National Monuments Record Centre is a public archive and holds over 12 million historic photographs, plans, drawings and other documents recording the archaeology, architecture, social and local history of England - another place I need to visit, although I have walked past it many times.  It does look much better when the sun is shining though!

“The aristocrats, if such they could be called, generally hated the whole concept of the train on the basis that it would encourage the lower classes to move about and not always be available.” 
Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam