Tell me all about Swindon...
Discussion
Evenin' all,
I've just accepted a job offer which means a move to the Swindon area is coming up - Stratton St. Margaret will put me on the doorstep of my new employer.
I live near Reading at the mo, and the sum total of my visits to Swindon involve attending a couple of interviews recently, generally I drive on past on thew way to somewhere else, so I know diddly squat about the place.
So, it would be good to know what's good and what's not so good about the town, where's a good place to find a room to rent (preferably minimising my commute distance), good and bad areas etc. Generally all the stuff a local knows that nobody else tells you would be helpful.
And if a PHer has a room to rent in that neck of the woods gimme a shout!
I've just accepted a job offer which means a move to the Swindon area is coming up - Stratton St. Margaret will put me on the doorstep of my new employer.
I live near Reading at the mo, and the sum total of my visits to Swindon involve attending a couple of interviews recently, generally I drive on past on thew way to somewhere else, so I know diddly squat about the place.
So, it would be good to know what's good and what's not so good about the town, where's a good place to find a room to rent (preferably minimising my commute distance), good and bad areas etc. Generally all the stuff a local knows that nobody else tells you would be helpful.
And if a PHer has a room to rent in that neck of the woods gimme a shout!
the non-disclosure terms in my contract forbid me from divulging such information... 
D_I_A_B_L_O said:
... and it has a magic roundabout, ...
I found it by mistake when I was having a nosey around the place post interview.Is it correct for non-locals to don the blinkers and adopt the 'foot to the floor and aim directly at the exit you want' technique to cross the obstruction as fast as possible and minimise exposure?... It served me well that particular afternoon!!
For housing, Priory Vale on the north western side is where they're building shed loads of new houses (and digging up the 419 for the Blunsden bypass
). It leads right onto the A419, making access to a particular Japanese car plant very easy. It's a massive housing estate, with all sorts of properties from flats to detached, and lots up for rent too. It backs onto nice countryside, but you have the benefits of the Orbital shopping park on your doorstep with the usual suspects (Borders/Boots/JJB/Walmart/Comet/Homebase etc). If you wanted to live in town, then the area's of Old Town and York Road are the better ones to go for. I rented a room in a house on York road for 4yrs, before buying just around the corner, and it was more than good enough - a leisurely 10min walk into the town centre (New Town) and 15mins up to Old Town.
The Magic Roundabout is great when you get used to it, and my 4-mile commute to the west side of Swindon was never more than 15mins at rush hour. The council operates a zonal residents parking permit system in most town centre area's and have probably limited it to 2 per house by now, so watch out if you are viewing any properties and try to find the 1 or 2hr bays as the parking nazi's do patrol rigorously. The big 4 estate agents are Charles Harding, Andrews, Philip Andrews and Haart, and most have offices on Commercial road. There are a couple of big lettings agencies, Swindon Lettings, NFJ, Joy Sherwood Property, however it may be worth asking your new employer if they have any that they already deal with.
Wood Street (Old Town) is where to go for a few beers, and there's a good variety of restaurants up there (Indian (Picklejohns in particular), Mexican, Italian...) There are a few good pubs just down from there that do good beers, the Railway being one, and another, the Victoria Inn, does live music on a regular basis. There are clubs and late bars in New Town, most are at the bottom end of the pedestrianised area. For kebabs, there's always Sammy's on Cricklade Road, and right in the town centre near PoNaNa's and behind Swindon Rendezvous chinese, there's a hole in the wall (for want of a better description!!) called Best Burrito's, that is always a winner at kicking out time.
The town centre is pretty much like Reading in my opinion, full of pikey's and chav's, (sorry Pikey) and there are a couple of no-go area's, like Penhill and Park, for example. The shopping there isn't great, typical high street fare, but there's always the Outlet centre in Rodbourne, and Old Town has a few more niche shops.
As I'm sure you're already aware, there are lots of great pubs outside of Swindon that do top beers and grub, so you don't have to put up with mediocrity if you can be bothered to spend 15-30 mins driving or find a taxi!
I moved out to Wales 2yrs ago now, so I'm not as familiar with the town as I was, but my office is still there and I know enough residents... so if you have any other questions, just ask.
Rich
Oh yeah, as this is PH... note they are pretty hot on speeding in Swindon, and there are a number of scamera hotspots about, (the M4, A419, Thamesdown drive...) so keep alert...
). It leads right onto the A419, making access to a particular Japanese car plant very easy. It's a massive housing estate, with all sorts of properties from flats to detached, and lots up for rent too. It backs onto nice countryside, but you have the benefits of the Orbital shopping park on your doorstep with the usual suspects (Borders/Boots/JJB/Walmart/Comet/Homebase etc). If you wanted to live in town, then the area's of Old Town and York Road are the better ones to go for. I rented a room in a house on York road for 4yrs, before buying just around the corner, and it was more than good enough - a leisurely 10min walk into the town centre (New Town) and 15mins up to Old Town.The Magic Roundabout is great when you get used to it, and my 4-mile commute to the west side of Swindon was never more than 15mins at rush hour. The council operates a zonal residents parking permit system in most town centre area's and have probably limited it to 2 per house by now, so watch out if you are viewing any properties and try to find the 1 or 2hr bays as the parking nazi's do patrol rigorously. The big 4 estate agents are Charles Harding, Andrews, Philip Andrews and Haart, and most have offices on Commercial road. There are a couple of big lettings agencies, Swindon Lettings, NFJ, Joy Sherwood Property, however it may be worth asking your new employer if they have any that they already deal with.
Wood Street (Old Town) is where to go for a few beers, and there's a good variety of restaurants up there (Indian (Picklejohns in particular), Mexican, Italian...) There are a few good pubs just down from there that do good beers, the Railway being one, and another, the Victoria Inn, does live music on a regular basis. There are clubs and late bars in New Town, most are at the bottom end of the pedestrianised area. For kebabs, there's always Sammy's on Cricklade Road, and right in the town centre near PoNaNa's and behind Swindon Rendezvous chinese, there's a hole in the wall (for want of a better description!!) called Best Burrito's, that is always a winner at kicking out time.
The town centre is pretty much like Reading in my opinion, full of pikey's and chav's, (sorry Pikey
) and there are a couple of no-go area's, like Penhill and Park, for example. The shopping there isn't great, typical high street fare, but there's always the Outlet centre in Rodbourne, and Old Town has a few more niche shops.As I'm sure you're already aware, there are lots of great pubs outside of Swindon that do top beers and grub, so you don't have to put up with mediocrity if you can be bothered to spend 15-30 mins driving or find a taxi!
I moved out to Wales 2yrs ago now, so I'm not as familiar with the town as I was, but my office is still there and I know enough residents... so if you have any other questions, just ask.
Rich
Oh yeah, as this is PH... note they are pretty hot on speeding in Swindon, and there are a number of scamera hotspots about, (the M4, A419, Thamesdown drive...) so keep alert...
redbarron84 said:
Have to add to this......in my honest opinion, some of the drivers in and around Swindon are some of the worst i've seen. Don't even start me on the driving standards on the roundabout at junction 16 of the m4!
It would be ok if everyone kept to the correct 'lane' for the roundabout exit as they negotiated the junction....problem is - they dont! For housing avoid any area that starts with P. I can't think of a good one.
There are lots of decent villages around if you don't mind a bit of travelling first thing but look at your journey closely - avoid the A419 like the plague and both motorway junctions. I come up the Devizes road and that isn't too bad but may not be a great idea to get to Honda.
Highworth is close and villages into Berkshire.
There are lots of decent villages around if you don't mind a bit of travelling first thing but look at your journey closely - avoid the A419 like the plague and both motorway junctions. I come up the Devizes road and that isn't too bad but may not be a great idea to get to Honda.
Highworth is close and villages into Berkshire.
black1 said:
stratton is ok but stay clear of west swindon toothill is the worst place on earth
anywhere near j16 is s
te hole
I'm sorry... Do you know ANYTHING about Swindon? I live in West Swindon, but in Westlea, and it's one of the BEST areas in Swindon. Don't tar all of West Swindon with the same brush.anywhere near j16 is s
te holeI'll wait to see if Mr E or Bint come in here too, as they also live in West Swindon, and even nearer to J16 than I do, but live in another excellent area of Swindon.
PulseTurbo said:
black1 said:
stratton is ok but stay clear of west swindon toothill is the worst place on earth
anywhere near j16 is ste hole
I'm sorry... Do you know ANYTHING about Swindon? I live in West Swindon, but in Westlea, and it's one of the BEST areas in Swindon. Don't tar all of West Swindon with the same brush.anywhere near j16 is s
te holeI'll wait to see if Mr E or Bint come in here too, as they also live in West Swindon, and even nearer to J16 than I do, but live in another excellent area of Swindon.
t hole and we frequently see the police chopper hovering that way). Currently live in Grange Park in an area close to Lydiard Park, it used to be part of the estate in fact. Which means lots of green space around the houses, big oak trees and you don't feel claustrophobic like many of the new builds up north way. Cycle paths abound and reasonable pubs within walking distance plus close enough to M4 to be convenient but not disturb us.I came down to Swindon from Cambridge, so a bit of a culture shock, but you know what, it's not all that bad. There's more to do here for a start (Cambs Uni controls everything) and it's a great base to visit pretty much everywhere as access is so good.
As said, avoid anything beginning with P (except Peatmoor - some bloody big houses and also again space around them and good woodland/lake walks) and you'll be fine. Old town is the nicest area, but small houses (that we could afford), expensive and lack of parking meant we looked on the outskirts.
Pubs are best in Old town, plenty of places to eat that are good and from the looks of the new centre re-build that's going on, things will be getting better.
I've been to alot worse places in the UK.
PulseTurbo said:
black1 said:
stratton is ok but stay clear of west swindon toothill is the worst place on earth
anywhere near j16 is ste hole
I'm sorry... Do you know ANYTHING about Swindon? I live in West Swindon, but in Westlea, and it's one of the BEST areas in Swindon. Don't tar all of West Swindon with the same brush.anywhere near j16 is s
te holeI'll wait to see if Mr E or Bint come in here too, as they also live in West Swindon, and even nearer to J16 than I do, but live in another excellent area of Swindon.
its full of drug dealers !!
i have been there when they are dealing!!
black1 said:
PulseTurbo said:
black1 said:
stratton is ok but stay clear of west swindon toothill is the worst place on earth
anywhere near j16 is ste hole
I'm sorry... Do you know ANYTHING about Swindon? I live in West Swindon, but in Westlea, and it's one of the BEST areas in Swindon. Don't tar all of West Swindon with the same brush.anywhere near j16 is s
te holeI'll wait to see if Mr E or Bint come in here too, as they also live in West Swindon, and even nearer to J16 than I do, but live in another excellent area of Swindon.
its full of drug dealers !!
i have been there when they are dealing!!
Cheers for your comments all!
My plan is to rent a room somewhere for the first six months or so and see how things go, learn my way around town etc. then set about establishing something more permanent later on. Finding somewhere around to the north or east of the town initially makes sense to minimise commuting time and effort - I'll look around Stratton or there were a few villages a bit further out which looked OK, Stanton Fitzwarren is one I remember.
Sounds like Old Town has a bit of culture with pubs etc. and New Town could be any modern town centre.
My plan is to rent a room somewhere for the first six months or so and see how things go, learn my way around town etc. then set about establishing something more permanent later on. Finding somewhere around to the north or east of the town initially makes sense to minimise commuting time and effort - I'll look around Stratton or there were a few villages a bit further out which looked OK, Stanton Fitzwarren is one I remember.
Sounds like Old Town has a bit of culture with pubs etc. and New Town could be any modern town centre.
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