Talk:Swindon

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Contents

[edit] Bullet Points Overload

There seems to be way too many bullet points in this article. I think the completely bulleted sections need to be actually written into something. Don't get me wrong, bullet points are a good tool for the internet but maybe not for so much of an encyclopedia article ;o)

[edit] Magic Roundabout

The 'Magic Roundabout' sounds like the one at Hemel Hempstead - same designer perhaps? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A381089

[edit] Acidic water

Is it true that the water is the most acidic in the country? Has someione got a link of this? A pH of 4.3 would not kill you, it is similar to that of beer, as seen here; PH Marky-Son 10:01, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Personally I would think it is bollocks, seeing that the surrounding area is all chalk

The water there is very hard so i can't see how it can be acidic. 145.253.108.22 12:05, 19 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] largest town

i have never heard this before & i have lived in Swindon all my life. i think this needs deleting.

True - I've deleted it. I wonder if it's the largest in England or the UK though, will check popn tables. MarkThomas 13:25, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
It's not the largest, the town and borough of Milton Keynes is much bigger and the urban area of Reading is bigger still. Marky-Son 15:01, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
Confirmed. 2004 National Statistics tables 1 show Swindon as 155,432 total, Reading as 369,804 (although that includes Wokingham) and Milton Keynes as 184,506. Problem of course with all these figures is they relate to arbitrary local authority boundaries and not always to build up areas. I'm not sure if the built up area of Swindon significantly exceeds the local authority definition area. Maybe all those large southern overspill areas like Wroughton are not included? MarkThomas 08:15, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
The local authority of Swindon has about 180,000, whereas the 155,432 is just for the urban area itself, although this has increased by a few thousand since 2001 of course. Marky-Son 12:04, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Expanded Town

Apparently Swindon was a designated "Expanded Town", whatever that is. note to self: research. Morwen - Talk 16:05, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dun

Dun is a Brythonic word, not an Anglo-Saxon one. If it is Anglo-Saxon, it is adopted into Old English from British. Enzedbrit 10:34, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure which of the following meanings the Domesday used (as it appeared both as Suindone and Suindune (see History of Swindon)), Dun meaning fort (Brythonic) as opposed to the Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) Don meaning hill (see List of generic forms in British place names and Place name origins). Don, possibly derived from the use of Dun as hill fort, is a fair bet for the correct meaning - Swindon has never been a hill fort. Anyway, it's not really important to the direction of the article but it's amazing what makes you think Foxhill 13:59, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
The '-don' in Swindon is generally taken in topographical works to be from Old English dūn = 'hill', Modern English 'down' as in 'South Downs' and the adverb. It is a common English place-name element. The Celtic element meaning 'fort' (Goidelic 'dun', Brythonic 'din, dinas') is a separate word. Celtic settlement-names are generally rare in England (except in a few pockets). Those who want the article to say we have a Celtic name here really need to give a reference, because it is not the conventional view. Oaken 16:24, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History

From memory, Swindon new and old towns were merged in 1900, not late 20th c as implied by the article Rob Burbidge 13:13, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Have fixed this vandalism that had remained un-noticed since the beginning of this month, thanks a lot for pointing this out. Foxhill 19:34, 22 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Oasis

This snippet

"Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of the rock band Oasis chose the name of his band after visiting Swindon's Oasis swimming pool and leisure centre in 1993, while working as a roadie for a band, Inspiral Carpets, which had been performing at the centre)."

2 things. I have never heard of the oasis center being used a rock venue, and certainly not for the Inspiral Carpets in 1993. Secondly, Oasis was formed in 1991 according to the Wikipedia entry..... so this does not make sense.

I think this should be removed?

Apacheeng lead 22:40, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

The Oasis has been used by a number of bands for concerts as the large sports hall is (possibly) one of the largest venues available in the town, see [1] and [2] for forthcoming concerts. The Inspiral Carpets played there on April 28, 1991.[3] 86.21.74.40 22:47, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Further - [4], the dodgy date actually comes from bad reporting on the SwindonWeb page on this at [5] 86.21.74.40 22:50, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Good to know.....

As an aside I have added Diana Dors and Billie Piper. There was a band, some one like 10CC (but not 10CC) came from Swindon. Apacheeng lead 23:07, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

See Swindonian, XTC and a few other musicians (including Gilbert O'Sullivan) have connections to the town. 86.21.74.40 23:12, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Roundabout Research

In the 1980's my father was a property developer in Swindon. During this time he and his collegues talked about the DoT Road Research Laboratory using 2 towns to try out new rundabouts. The Magic Roundabout is the most famous, but the town used to have dozens of 'weird' roundabouts. The other twon was Bracknell in Berks.

Does anyone else know anything about this?

Apacheeng lead 23:07, 31 October 2007 (UTC)