Swindon is a major town in the British county of Wiltshire, it sits in the North East corner of the county and has a population of 155,500 making it the largest town in the region. Wiltshire itself is in the South West of the UK and is steeped in history as it contains many ancient sites including Avebury Stone Circle, West Kennet Long Barrow and of course, the world famous heritage site Stonehenge.
There are a number of key local landmarks, however probably the most famous is the “magic roundabout” it was officially called County Islands (strangely, as island is a slang northern term for a roundabout) however in 1990 it was officially renamed the magic roundabout to match its local nickname.
Swindon is approximately halfway between Bristol to the West and Reading to it’s East, so was historically a region where travellers between the two would stop off, in fact one local village is called Halfway, due to being exactly half way between the two.
The area known as Old Town was the original market town until the industrial revolution , at this point in history the region experienced a large and rapid expansion, initially this was due to the canals passing through the region and creating viable transport and trade links, however, the later establishment of the Great Western Railway in Swindon during 1840 meant it became a truly thriving industrial town. Surrounding towns which also benefited from this growth include Marlborough, Cirencester, Malmesbury Calne and Devizes.
For many years the major employers in Swindon were the BMW and Honda factories, hence the close association of transpotation with Swindon, it also has a wide range of supporting industries in the region, these include the likes of metal works and tyre manufacturers.