Outlet celebrates railway heritage 

A GWR 175 Memory Board to mark the railway’s 175th anniversary

 

People in Swindon are being invited to share their memories of what it was like to work and travel on the Great Western Railway to mark the railway’s 175th anniversary.

 

Swindon Designer Outlet has launched a special GWR 175 Memory Board for local residents to post their own stories, photos and memorabilia to give an insight into the lives of the men and women who built, operated and travelled on the steam trains.

 

175 years of memories: Ron Johnson (l) former GWR Worker and Nick Williams (r) Swindon Designer Outlet at the memory board

 

Former GWR railway worker Ron Johnson visited the outlet to unveil the new memories board and post the first photographs onto the board.

 

“The story of the Great Western Railway is very important to the development of Swindon and is one of the reasons it is such a prosperous town today,2 comented Ron Johnson. 

 

“It’s great that the outlet is promoting the history of the site and allowing visitors to see what it was like when this was a railway works where many of the best steam locomotives in the world were built.

 

“Many of the railway works original features were retained when the building was converted to a shopping centre in the late 1990s, such as the tall brick walls, arched openings, iron columns and cranes as well as several pieces of relic machinery.”

 

Tina Cumpstey, centre manager at Swindon Designer Outlet, said: “The 175 year anniversary is a great opportunity for people to share their memories and allow visitors to find out more about the history of the railway and the building.”

 

The memory board will be displayed at the end of the train in the outlet’s foodcourt and people can submit their memories at the customer information desk.