IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Letcombe Lane, SN1 7DW

At the right is the almost-completed Waitrose supermarket scheduled to open in April 2014. Quite a bit of landscaping remains to be done.

The supermarket is being developed for Waitrose, the food retailing arm of the John Lewis Partnership. It is scheduled to open in a month's time.

Seen from the M4.

A new supermarket in the new Wichelstowe community on the edge of Swindon.

This part of the lane has been remodelled as part of the development of a significant new Waitrose supermarket behind the viewpoint. It carries traffic over the M4 motorway marked by the line of trees.

This rather futuristic looking building is Swindon's first Waitrose supermarket, which opened in April 2014. Built on former farmland, it is at the moment almost in the middle of nowhere. But the mainly residential area known as Wichelstowe continues to be developed and before long the building will be adjacent to large numbers of houses. On the building's west side is an attractively restored section of the long closed Wilts & Berks Canal. Wichelstowe seems to be the general name given to the land between the old railway line skirting Swindon's Old Town and the M4 motorway. It used to be described as Swindon's front garden and the Borough Council years ago promised it would never be built on. A policy which was soon reversed.

Overseeing the growth of 'a brand new community to live life as you've always wanted'.

The bridge is intended to cross the Wilts & Berks Canal and connect Waitrose & Partners supermarket Image with the recently-opened H&W (Hall & Woodhouse) restaurant visible to the right of the end of the bridge. The bridge was delivered a week ago but unfortunately prolonged spells of high wind have prevented it being removed from the truckbed and lowered into place. Quite a good story about the bridge project on the local paper's website https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/17490584.for-me-its-straightforward-says-driver-of-truck-that-bore-giant-wichelstowe-canal-bridge/

The bridge installed back in March this year is now open. It crosses a restored section of the Wilts and Berks canal and connects a Waitrose store and a pub/restaurant.

This section is back in water a year on from this photo Image The section terminates about 200 metres away in the direction of view. It isn't in water again until about 4.85 kilometres west at this point Image There are major obstacles to the stretch in between ever being connected not least being the existence of the M4 motorway 220 metres or so further on from the end of the section.