Growing Up and Working in a Railway Town Swindon Heritage Preservation invites you to an engaging illustrated talk titled Growing Up and Working in a Railway Town, presented by Colin Parsons. This event explores Swindon’s railway heritage through personal experience, memory, and local history. As a result, it offers a unique insight into how the […]
Gareth Powell from Historic England talks about The Missing Pieces Project. All over England are places with stories to tell: from buildings to battlefields, some on your doorstep, others just a day trip away. Their stories are still being written, and they won’t be complete until you share your side. The Missing Pieces Project invites […]
Join us at The Railway Village Museum to step back in time at the cottage to discover Victorian traditions. Witness the sights, sounds and smells of local community life, and learn how a Great Western Railway worker would have lived with their family living in Swindon c1901. What are the details? This approximately 30 minute […]
Join us at The Railway Village Museum to step back in time at the cottage to discover Victorian traditions. Witness the sights, sounds and smells of local community life, and learn how a Great Western Railway worker would have lived with their family living in Swindon c1901. What are the details? This approximately 30 minute […]
Dr. Ojoawo is a senior change, culture, and communication specialist with over a decade of experience leading transformation programs across the UK, Europe, and Africa. Holding a PhD alongside qualifications in Business Strategy and Leadership, she combines professional rigor with a human-centric approach. Her work focuses on how individuals and communities navigate change, utilizing her […]
Swindon’s Secret History: Jane Lark & The GWR Girls Step back into the 1940s and discover the untold stories of the women who kept the tracks running. Join best-selling author Jane Lark for an evening dedicated to the resilience, romance, and grit of the Great Western Railway girls during WWII. From the chaos of the […]
Moonies, Movers & Shakers, by Graham Carter Moonies, Movers and Shakers is an illustrated talk about a book of the same name, written by Swindon local historians Noel Ponting and Graham Carter. When they looked into an association for former Swindon railwaymen who moved to London, they made some surprising discoveries: remarkable (but previously untold) stories of leading Wiltshiremen (aka […]
Three painters and a sculptor by Philip Garrahan is an illustrated talk featuring works from the heyday of Swindon’s artistic life. This was the interwar period when the School of Art thrived under new leadership and an exciting generation of young artists were attracting attention. Why not join us September 10th 2026 at 7:30 PM […]
The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is a dedicated charity committed to a massive undertaking: restoring 70 miles of canal and towpath for the benefit of local communities, wildlife, and leisure enthusiasts. Restoring a Historic Waterway Their mission is to restore the full length of this historic canal, reconnecting the waterways from Wiltshire, through the […]
Join us to celebrate Heritage Open Days 2026 on Saturday 19th September in Swindon's historic Railway Village! The theme this year is "Everyday Histories of Working Lives". With a range of FREE activities you're set to discover and learn about the Village's past, present and future. All told through our heritage buildings and dedicated volunteers. […]
The story of Thomas Richard Guppy who was a great friend of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and a fellow engineer who helped Brunel with the GWR, SS Great Western & SS Great Britain. The presentation gives the family history and the exploits of Thomas from birth in Bristol to his death in Italy. He has a […]
The North Wessex Way was rediscovered by David Robertson Mitchell, a local historian living near Malmesbury. 'My wife and I were in Hay on Wye for our wedding anniversary in 2014. I have always loved old maps and I came across the Ogilby map in an old map shop. I saw that the route must […]