“IT’S a work in progress,” explains Darryl Moon, flicking through a pile of picture sleeve singles and albums, primarily from the Seventies and Eighties which he has extracted from a large plastic box at the Local Studies Department on the top floor of Swindon Central Library.

Many of the names that grace the 45s and 33-and-a-thirds on these relics of pop-in-the-past lane – some of which have now become collectable for a growing army of vinyl junkies – will be familiar to purveyors of Swindon Music: XTC, The Moody Blues, Stadium Dogs.

Others are not so well known and decidedly less rock’n’roll… The Blunsdonairs, Mick Ryan and John Burge, The Swindon Male Voice Choir, Swindon Concert Brass and – get this – The Baptist Tabernacle.

Like a lot of music-savvy folk today, Darryl is building a collection of vinyl. This one, however, is not for his own personal gratification. Instead it is being created on behalf of the People of Swindon.

The idea is that over the decades Swindonians will be able to have a look at these shiny black artefacts and, if it takes their fancy, give some a spin. Darryl, 39, said: “At Local Studies we collect any and all material published relating to the Borough of Swindon – books, reports, maps, photographs, newspapers, etc.

“But over the last few years I have been improving our collection of multimedia items.” These, he goes on, include DVDs and VHS cassettes relating to Swindon’s history, arts and heritage – and also CDs, LPs, tapes and seven and 12 inch singles that reflect the town’s music scene.

Slowly, bit by bit, he is fashioning an archive that aims to highlight local music through the ages, from the earliest recordings made here – or at least, the earliest ones he can get hold of – to more recent examples such as Bringing The Hope, a 2012 long player by the town’s resident skanksters, The Erin Bardwell Collective. Laying out a collage of singles and albums on the library carpet so I can take some pictures of them, he goes on: “This is a permanent collection that will be added to and built up over the years.

“Had this been somewhere like London or Manchester then only the better-known recording artists would probably have been collected and archived.”

While the Swindon scene never reached such giddy heights it has produced some fine, sometimes quirky and undoubtedly talented bands and musicians from the jazz era of the Forties to the punk and post-punk scene of the late Seventies and Eighties... and lots more before, in between and beyond including music still being recorded today.

“The archive is all about Swindon music – not just the obvious such as XTC but grassroots stuff from demos by unsigned bands, singles and compilation albums released on local labels to school choirs and orchestras, brass bands and – like the Baptist Tabernacle LP – even recordings made in church.”

The archive, it can be argued, began in the early Nineties when Darryl, then a student, found himself at a live music dive, that some of us may still recall, The Monkey Club in Rodbourne Road.

“Someone there had a box of vinyl records which were they were throwing out. Vinyl was a dead duck back then. No one wanted it. But I thought, hold on…”

Rummaging through its largely drossy contents Darryl pulled out a little gem, an intriguing LP called The Vinyl Edge – a 1990 compilation of Swindon bands The Vindaloo Brothers, Wayward, Himn, New Decade, Fat Chancellors, Second Sight, Revolation, Miles/Jones, The Perfect Nation, The Storm and 032.

He swiftly nabbed it and more than 20 years later it became one of the first contributions to the Local Studies vinyl and CD archive.

There were already some disparate local music related bits and pieces hanging around the library when Darryl decided to pull them together to form what he intends to be a cohesive, ever-evolving collection.

“So far we’ve got about 30 bits of vinyl and 50 CDs,” he said. Examining some of the former as we artfully arrange them on the floor he remarks “Really like that one...”

It’s XTC’s 1982 single No Thugs In Our House with die-cut sleeve that opens into a theatre that you can populate with playful cardboard figurines.

One obvious omission from the admittedly fledgling archive, at least to my eyes, is Songs From Pigland, the 1981 album of Swindon bands recorded at Brian and Brendan Hamley’s Manchester Road studios. So if anyone’s out there with one to spare and wants to give it a good home... The collection’s first CD – which Darryl felt was particularly appropriate – was 1996’s Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-92, acquired with funds from the Local Studies stock budget.

“That was a must,” he said. Alas, Darryl can’t wantonly blow the budget scouring eBay for heaps of Swindon related records and CDs, so the vast bulk of the archive is reliant on donations.

Its CDs range from a 2012 compilation of the Swindon Shuffle fest and The Hammerman, which celebrates the life of GWR worker-cum poet/author Alfred Williams, to Mr Love and Justice’s Home Ground with its eye-catching Wish Hounds cover, smooth pop by Swindon-born Moody Blues singer/guitarist/song-writer Justin Hayward and an urban mix marking the 30th anniversary (1973-2003) of the Brunel Rooms. Darryl’s eyes light up when he catches sight of “one of my favourite albums of all-time,” Sacred City by Shriekback, the cranky, funky trio fronted by Barry Andrews, ex of XTC.

Why Do You Do by Soeaz, an experimental Swindon/Bristol collaboration that I confess I’ve never heard of, is another much-loved disc Gathering up the CDs to stick back on the shelves Darryl adds: “We’re slowly chipping away, seeing what’s out there, seeing what we can get, what people can donate.

“With their help, the archive will grow and grow over the years.”

<li> LOCAL Studies at Swindon Central Library in Regent Circus is open from Monday to Wednesday, 10am-4pm, and Saturday from 10am-1.30pm.
Darryl said: “During these times anyone can come in and ask to see what we have. 
“We would always be happy to show them the collection. That’s what it’s for.”
Can they play the discs? 
“We do have a dodgy Panasonic midi-system with a turntable included. I hope to improve that setup sometime this year.” 
However, anyone wanting to spin some local vinyl or a CD or two should make the request in advance.
Meanwhile anyone wishing to make a donation to the Local Studies collection can ring them on 01793-463238 or email localstudies@swindon.gov.uk