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Birch Street, SWINDON, SN1 5EU

Looking SW from Park Lane.

The title refers to the typical 1960s building at the left. It was built by the then British Rail Engineering Ltd ('BREL') company who were the British Rail subsidiary operating the original Great Western Railway ('GWR') railway factory nearby. The original purpose of the building was an apprentices' training school. That use became redundant some time before 1986 when the works closed for good after nearly 150 years as the engineering heart of the GWR. It is now owned by GWE Business West Workspace, part of GWE Business West Ltd and has been converted into a multi-occupied office complex. Behind this building once stood a substantial house called 'Newburn' which was once occupied by one of the key figures in the history of the GWR, G J Churchward. He was killed on the line not far from here, probably on the section of line seen here http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1114251 Update March 2014: the building was demolished sometime after 2009. The future of the site remains uncertain.

The building that stood here until fairly recently has now gone Image and the future of the site remains unclear. The building was first built in 1962 as an apprentices' school and about 2400 apprentices were trained there over the next 22 years when it closed. It had a second life as a business centre until about 2010.

Amongst many other locomotives withdrawn after the War is ex-Rhymney Railway class 'A1' 0-6-2T no. 64 (built 7/14, acquired by GWR 1922, withdrawn 5/50).

Newburn Crescent was laid out in the 1930's as a loop connecting two older streets of terraced houses. The houses were built with metal framed bay windows, but all of these appear to have been replaced with modern upvc. Opposite in the 1950's were allotments, but these have now been built over. To the rear of the houses was greenery and only the railway line stood between them and open countryside. A glance at the OS map will reveal just how far Newburn Crescent is from the open country some 70 years later.

A curious little area of between the wars housing that links the ends of older Birch Street and Dean Street. This was once land belonging to Westcott Manor Farm, itself long gone. In the 1950's the land across the road from these houses was a small area of allotment gardens, but these have now been swallowed up by more housing.