30 Years On 

Famous Railway Works hooter sounds again as part of Swindon 175 celebrations

 

Last Sound of the Hooter marks 30 years since The Swindon Works Closed

26 March 2016

 

At precisely 4.30pm today the sound of Swindon was heard again, 30 years to the day that the famous Swindon Railway Works closed.

 

The special commemoration was witnessed by a large crowd at the Steam Museum, who braved the rain to hear a recreation of the Works Hooter, which last officially sounded on 26 March 1986.

 

 

The event was staged as part of this year's Swindon175 celebrations, which marks the 175 year anniversary of the founding of the GWR Works in Swindon in 1841.

 

See below for more details on events & video of the Hooter sounding this week.

 

Listen Up Swindon! The Hooter sounds again! 

22 March 2016 

 

Today, almost thirty years on since its famous sound echoed across Swindon, the sound of the Swindon Railway works hooter was heard once again.

Engineer, Colin Hatch (see pic. below) recreated the steam powered hooter using the original drawings and after being installed on the roof of STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway they were sounded at a special luncheon given for some former railway workers and special guests. 

 

 

 

The hooter blasted out across the town was powered by Colin’s traction engine and operated by John Walter now in his eighties, who last sounded it 30 years ago when the works closed.

Colin Hatch with his replica Swindon Railway Works Hooters

For over 100 years the original hooter, which is still in position above the Swindon Designer Outlet, was part of the Great Western Railway history and would blast out several times during the day, every morning calling the men and women to work, every lunchtime for workers going home for lunch and every afternoon to let the workers and their families know the day was over.

 

The hooter shaped the lives of Swindon people and sounded every day up until the final shift on 26th March 1986.

Special guests at the luncheon included Mark Hopwood, Managing Director of GWR and Sir Peter Hendy, Chairman of Network Rail.

Mark said “The Swindon Railway works were famous the world over and the locomotives that were built here played a major part in the success of the Great Western Railway.

 

"Today, the railway is undergoing major modernisation and new state of the art trains will come into service in 2017. Once fully deployed these new trains will build further on the success of the GWR with more services and quicker journeys.”

 

Listen again

 

The hooter will sound again on the 30th Anniversary of its last sounding this Saturday, 26 March 2016 at 4.30pm.

 

See the link below for more details on the Swindon175 celebration.

 

> Swindon175 - website
 

Hooter Set To Sound Again

09 March 2016

 

This Easter will mark 30 years since the world-famous Swindon Railway Works closed.

And as part of the Swindon175 celebrations this year, a pair of replica Swindon Railway Works' hooters have now been installed on the roof of STEAM Museum near the Swindon Designer Outlet.

 

The original - which can still be seen on the roof of the Outlet - blew for the last time at 4.30pm on 26 March 1986.

 

The replica is the work of Colin Hatch, a Swindon-born engineer who runs the renowned Hatch Heritage and Steam Engineers, based at Wanborough.

 

 

Special Hooter Events

The hooters will be sounded for the first time at a special VIP event on Tuesday 22 March and at a public event outside STEAM on Saturday 26 March at 4.30pm.

 

The hooters will also sound at the ice hockey at the Link Centre on the 26th March, with GWR donating three great prizes for the Chuck a Puck competition.

 

WATCH VIDEO:

Hooter Installation Timelapse

 

 

Drop-in activities

And if you're short of things to do with the kids during the Easter holidays, the Museum will also be holding special drop-in family activities where children will get to make their own noisy instruments.