THE history of West Swindon is the history of a town embracing a high-tech future. Freshbrook and Toothill sprang from largely virgin land back in the 1980s.

The explosion of development was a timely response to a remarkable success story.

It was in the 1980s that the Railway Works, for more than a century the symbol of Swindon's heavy industrial prowess, finally closed.

However, it was also in the 1980s that more and more companies trading in high technology decided to make Swindon their home.

West Swindon, like North Swindon about two decades later, was created to provide more homes and infrastructure for an ever-increasing population.

One of the best-known features of West Swindon is its shopping centre with its Asda superstore. Out of town shopping centres are hardly unknown these days, but the one in West Swindon had the honour of being the town's first.

It is now home not only to shops but also to various local amenities and regular community events.

Shaw Ridge, meanwhile, boasts one of the region's major collections of leisure facilities.

It attracts visitors not just from West Swindon but also from throughout the town and also the wider area.

Its cinema features one of the town's best-known artwork, a statue of iconic Swindonian film star Diana Dors.

2:29pm Tuesday 29th April 2008

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