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The Swindon Society was formed in September 1972, following a series of WEA lectures by the late Eric Arman, to further interest in Swindon, its surroundings and history.
From its very beginnings the society has attempted to record the social history of the area as shown by the camera by making slide copies of photographs taken since the 1850's. Original slides showing the many changes that have taken place in Swindon since the 1950's have also been added continually to the Society's collection to keep the record up to date. This collection now numbers over 8100 slides and is used to illustrate talks to local groups, both old and young, of how life used to be in the town. These talks bring back many memories to older Swindonians and also enable newcomers to discover more about the area. The wealth of material available about the post-Second World War era also adds to the interest for younger people for, as the motto of the Society has always been, "history starts yesterday..."
Many slides are also available showing surrounding villages and towns including: Blunsdon, Chiseldon, Cricklade, Highworth, Marlborough, Stratton St. Margaret and Wroughton. There are also many slides on Swindon's other railway, the Midland & South Western Junction Railway. Selections from the collection have been shown on national television.
The wealth of photographic material available to the Society through its slide collection and the private collections of its members (now numbering over 80) has resulted in six books of old photographs of Swindon being published by Sutton Publishing of Stroud since 1988. Members are encouraged to pursue their own investigations into various aspects of local history and present the results to meetings. The Society has also been able to assist local business enterprises on occasion such as providing an early (1881) view of the windmill at Chiseldon, complete with sails, to enable this to be rebuilt as the centrepiece of the Windmill Hill Business Park near junction 16 of the M4 motorway.
To keep abreast of technology, the Society has also produced two videos on local history from slides. The royalties from our books and videos have helped to finance other projects such as the transfer of old cine film on to video tape - films of Swindon in the 1950's and 1960's that had been stored in the archives of the Borough of Thamesdown (now Borough of Swindon) for many years. In 1998 the Society helped to fund the purchase of a large collection of negatives and prints by local photographer, Albert Beaney, for Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. The Swindon Society collaborates closely with the Borough of Swindon in many other areas and have continued to develop this link with the advent of the new Museum of the Great Western Railway - STEAM. An important local history / guide book on the old Swindon parish church on the Lawns was republished by the Society and reprinted by the Borough of Thamesdown in 1991. This book, The Story of Holy Rood by Denis Bird is still available through Swindon Museum. A video telling the story of Swindon in the 20th Century Swindon Remembered and further book A Century of Swindon, (again published by Sutton Limited) were produced in late 2000. Member's meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month from September to May inclusive. Meetings are held in the Broad Green Centre, Salisbury Street Swindon, commencing at 7.30pm. Meetings take the form of a slide show and/or talk by visiting speakers or our own members (members entry fee 50p/visitors £3.00). An annual evening outing normally takes place in June. The current membership subscription for an individual member is £10.00 (£6.00 concessions) and £16.00 (joint membership) and members also receive a monthly newsletter.  Everything you need to know about Swindon |
The slide collection contains material on many subjects including the Great Western Railway Works at Swindon, now sadly no more, its locomotives and the social life of it's workers, the Swindon tramway system, the Wilts & Berks and North Wilts Canals, Swindon in both World Wars, etc. Areas of the town, including Old Town, Gorse Hill and Rodbourne, are extensively covered and are the subject of regular slide presentations.
The Swindon Society also presents several public slide shows around the town during the year on behalf of local charities and for fund raising purposes. Over £12,300 has been raised for local charities since 1990 by the Society's activities.