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20 Aug 2013

It’s good to talk… five things we learned in Swindon

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Web Reporter Jennifer Rigby pops up in Swindon to find out if life in the Wiltshire town is more than trains and roundabouts.

Channel 4 News Presenter Cathy Newman pops up in Swindon.

(Pictured: Channel 4 News Presenter Cathy Newman pops up in Swindon)

1) The magic roundabout is not all there is to Swindon (in fact we didn’t even visit it – #c4newspopup is moving beyond visual cliche, Swindon-ites will be pleased to know). It also has one of the largest modern art collections in the country – one which many residents are unhappy is not on show.

@m4rko asked #c4newspopup to put his question to council leader David Renard about why the collection was hidden away. So we did – and here’s what Cllr Renard had to say.

“Parts of it are on display, we’d like to display more of it in the future, and we’re looking at ways we can do that,” he said. Satisfied, @m4rko?

2) Some people in Swindon are very brave, and very helpful – watch this man get a temporary (sort of) tattoo of the #c4newspopup logo here if you don’t believe us. Linked to this – we also learned that tattooing on a melon is difficult. Don’t ask.

3) The talking cure? People in Swindon are 57 per cent more likely to be in therapy than in other places in the UK – as one Channel 4 News fan tweeted in to us. Intriguing, we thought – so we sent Paraic O’Brien to find out what was behind the numbers: a sadder-than-average population, or an enlightened health service looking for new ways to treat depression and other conditions?

4) Has the death of the high street been over-exaggerated? Swindon’s main shopping streets were bustling this morning and there’s good news about new schemes opening up soon. But just down the road, there’s the familiar sight of pawnbrokers, charity shops and empty fronts, as our Business Correspondent Siobhan Kennedy discovered.

Siobhan Kennedy on Business - Can the British high street reinvent itself?

5) While some people are less than keen on their town, in general there’s a healthy civic pride in Swindon, based on the numbers who tweeted us about the green spaces, regeneration and even a new HMV apparently opening in the town.

We tried to get to some of the locations you told us to visit – check out our interactive map here to see where we went – but we’re sorry we missed seeing @BosPeeps at Voluntary Action Swindon, where Gurkhas were learning how to get online at 1pm today. Maybe next time we’re in town?

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