SWINDON COMMUNITY MURAL

We were visiting a friend to try and help with some printer issues this morning and as he lives quite near to this mural in Cambria Bridge Road, I decided it might make a good Blip.

The community mural, in Cambria Bridge Road, is 200 feet long, was completed in October 2015 and designed by local artist, Ken White, to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the start of the Great Western Railway in Swindon.  It was created by a local artists’ group known as The Visual Drop that collaborated with a youth group known as The Railway Kids and in partnership with the local Council.

The mural shows many key people from the life of the town, together with several buildings and organisations and includes a steam locomotive, of course.  However, this collage just shows part of the mural to include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer who built the railway line from Bristol to London, Daniel Gooch, who was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway.  Only Swindon Borough Council could put a litter bin right in front of the locomotive!

At the bottom left is a portrait of Ken White, who first painted a different mural at the canal bridge over 30 years ago and the bottom right photograph shows the Tardis, one of Doctor Who’s assistants being Billie Piper, who was born in Swindon.

I wonder how many of the children who play on the swings in the play park next to the mural have any idea who these people are?  

There appears to be quite a lot of wall painting in this area, so perhaps another visit to blip some of them might be a good idea.

"History will judge us 
     by the difference we make 
          in the everyday lives 
               of children." 
Nelson Mandela