MY STREET CHALLENGE - TAUNTON STREET

We weren’t out quite so early this morning as it was lashing down with rain, but after our usual coffee in Old Town, the weather had brightened up a little so we went down to The Railway Village so that I could take photographs of Taunton Street, the next one in my Street Challenge.

In 1841 when the Great Western Company began work on a major new engineering works in the town, which would become one of the largest industrial complexes in the world, open farmland was chosen as the site, two miles from the market town that Swindon was at that time, on top of the hill.

There was no existing housing in the vicinity of the works so to provide accommodation for many of the workers, it was necessary to build quickly, and the Model Village came into being.  Most of the houses in this complex are terraced stone houses built using Bath stone, most probably from the cutting out of Box Railway Tunnel, together with stone from Swindon quarries and they still stand today, many of them having been refurbished, and they look very good.  The “village” was planned as a community that would be self-contained and it provided all that was necessary for a good life for those who lived there.  

By 1842, three hundred cottages were built for the workers but they were quite small, most of them were “two up, two down” having 2 bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen.  There was no bathroom and there was a lavatory outside in the yard. Cooking was done on an iron stove, heated with coal and water had to brought in, which was obviously why most of them only had one bath a week, in an old tin bath, probably in the kitchen where it was warm.  There would have been severe overcrowding too, with both families and lodgers living in these cramped houses.  Some of the more imposing cottages built for the management of the company were slightly bigger, had 3 bedrooms, overlooked the park and were close to St. Mark’s Church.  Many of these cottages were modernised in the 1980s and are a lasting memorial to the Great Western Railway and in fact, they are all Listed Buildings. 

The Mechanics’ Institution, shown in the bottom right photograph, opened in 1855, and enlarged 50 years later, was a social centre for the railway workers, catering for the educational needs of the people in the locality and also a place where they could go for concerts, social events and lectures.  The library in this building pre-dated England’s first public library by several years and provided a reading room with newspapers and journals, as many of the railway workers would not have been able to afford to buy these out of their meagre earnings.  

There was also a large dance hall used not only for dances but as a meeting place for various societies and also for amateur dramatic productions.  It also housed a market where the workers could obtain fresh produce and was a forum for grievances that pre-dated the trade union movement, so it was far from being a mere building.  It was the hub of the community, but in 1930 there was a terrible fire and following that, it was remodelled and opened in 1931 as a 700 seat theatre known as The Playhouse.   It is, or should I say, was, a beautiful building in its heyday;  in 1986 it was sold to a private developer but sadly, as you will see, it is now one of Swindon’s most neglected buildings and is in a very sorry state. Hopefully it won’t remain in this state for too much longer. 

The Mechanics’ Institution was the base for a campaign to form a sister organisation, the GWR Medical Fund, and a cottage hospital was built by converting a number of cottages in what was then Faringdon Street in 1871.  This is no longer used as a hospital, however, but is now a Community Centre. 

Each of the roads in the Railway Village was named after the destination of trains that passed nearby – Bristol, Bath, Taunton, London, Oxford, Exeter and Reading, naming a few and they were built in two blocks of four parallel streets.  However, the houses on the opposite side of Taunton Street were demolished several years ago when Faringdon Road was widened.  

My grandfather, Alfred Reginald Randell, was born on 16th November 1899 at number 22 Taunton Street, shown at the top left of the collage, where he lived with his parents and 7 siblings but by the time of the 1911 Census, they had moved to number 6 Taunton Street, at the top right.  My great grandfather was a Hair Cording Brush Machinist so this cottage obviously went “with the job”.  It was a typical cottage, as outlined above, with just 2 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and outside lavatory.  However, 2 adults and 8 children managed in a house this small, I will never understand.

When my grandfather was 15 years old, he enlisted in the 3rd Wiltshire Regiment, but served for just 3 weeks before his frantic mother had him sent home again - as he was under age.  On the British Army WWI Pension Record that I have it says “Discharged 24/4/15 having made a mis-statement as to age on enlistment.”

At 16 though, he was off again, this time enlisting in The Royal Navy, being assigned to HMS Warrior just days before the Battle of Jutland.  Again, his parents feared the worst, only to be reassured by a telegram that he was fine and coming home on leave.  Reading through his log book, dating from 1919 to 1923, which I am privileged to have, it was a difficult and physical job - at very high temperatures, in an atmosphere full of coal dust, with the furnaces roaring, in a rolling and pitching ship, knowing that you were under the water line – but he never spoke about his war experiences.

He was a handsome young man, as you will see from his photograph in the centre of the collage, and was a stoker on board ship.  This was taken when he was assigned to HMS Durban in 1939 and is the only photograph I have of him when he was a young man, although by this time he was about 40 years old.  In fact, I only realised recently that it was taken in that year, as he has written on it "With love and best wishes, Reg -1939" but this is hardly discernible unless held up to the light!  

The photograph in the middle left of the collage shows the alleyway at the back of the houses in Taunton Street, commonly known as “backsies” - the children would have played out there, probably in and out of the washing lines that I’m sure were strung up between the houses and amongst the muck and filth that abounded at that time when things were not that clean.  

They would also have played in what is now known as Faringdon Road Park, shown at the bottom left, but which, according to the sign is actually the GWR New Swindon Park - over the years has also been known as The Plantation and Victoria Park.  Apparently, this was originally a cricket ground with a pavilion when cricket was a popular sport amongst the railwaymen.  

It played a big part in the social life of those who lived in the Railway Village, although was not exclusively for their use, and was somewhere they and their families could go to relax, and where children could play in safety – strange to think that my grandfather could have played in this very park.  During World War II, trenches were dug under the trees and air raid shelters were put in place, due to its proximity to both the Railway works and the Railway Village.  The GWR works became a war factory and this led to Swindon becoming a target for bombing raids, with the works' hooter being used as one of the town's air raid sirens, as it could be heard all over the town. The main entrance to the park is from Church Place, just across the road from Taunton Street.

A Children’s Fête, organised by the Mechanics Institution was held annually in the park on the Saturday following August Bank Holiday between 1866 and 1939, except during World War I, so I have no doubt my grandfather and his siblings would have attended.  Every child under 14 was given free admittance together with a slab of fruitcake, a cup of tea and one free ride on the roundabouts.  The fete always concluded with a fireworks’ display.  In 1904, when my grandfather would have been 5 years old, 38,000 people attended this fete with about 3.5 tons of cake and 1,200 gallons of tea being distributed to all those attending.  A foreman in the works even designed a slicing machine to speed up the cutting of the cake – obviously rather a different job to building and repairing locomotives.  

At the entrance to the park is what Mr. HCB tells me could be the wheels of a shunter but has no idea how long they have been there.  To mark the 150th anniversary, a Children’s Fête was organised in July of this year, when about 10,000 attended, with the children being given a decorated cupcake, and a good time was had by all. 

A trip down memory lane for me today – walking the streets and enjoying the park that my grandfather would have seen over 100 years ago – it was just a shame that the weather wasn’t brighter.

When our hearts turn 
     to our ancestors,
          something changes inside us.
We feel part of 
     something greater
          than ourselves.
Russell M Nelson