THE latest chapter in the long history of the old Railway Works Pattern Store has come courtesy of the Diocese of Bristol.

It has bought the building and plans to use it as a church, although the diocese is keen to stress that it will be used for a range of wider community events, too.

In spite of the reassurance, some people are concerned about the plan.

I personally believe we should take a pragmatic approach whenever a new plan is announced for one of Swindon’s old buildings - or anything coming under the banner of heritage, for that matter.

We should compare and contrast what is planned with what has happened to certain other old buildings and objects in this neck of the woods.

For example, does the Diocese of Bristol’s plan entail leaving the Pattern Store locked up and unused for 30 years or more?

Can we look forward to the sad degeneration of the structure as it stands neglected and gradually falls victim to the ravages of seasons almost beyond number?

If the diocese has its way, will there eventually come a day when the Pattern Store resembles nothing so much as a haunted house from a horror film? Will the plaster be allowed to crumble from the walls? Will the ceilings be allowed to rot and drop in chunks? Will the roof be allowed to leak for so long that just about every beam rots and those who set foot in the building invite death?

Will the building become the haunt of those despairing unfortunates society has forgotten, and who must take shelter whenever they can snatch it, no matter how dangerous and wretched?

Will the building eventually begin to appear in YouTube videos made by those brave or perhaps reckless urban explorers who make it their business to chronicle dereliction and abandonment?

Will some of the people who see the depressing footage remember the place in its heyday?

If the weather doesn’t wreck the building while assorted powers-that-be argue over its fate or simply forget about the place entirely, will it be gutted by fire? Will it be so badly damaged that the exterior walls are the only parts of the building left?

Will the roof be destroyed and the interior left open to the elements for so long that a small forest springs up?

Alternatively, should the diocesan plan not involve allowing the building to be wrecked by the elements, become a fire risk or otherwise end up as a sorrowful ghost of its former self and a threat to life and limb, does it involve wrecking the place in some other way?

A monstrous addition which looks about as in keeping with the aesthetic of the building as an elephant’s trunk on a duck, say? Or the wholesale demolition of all but a few stones?

Does the plan involve converting the building into housing which will be affordable only by a fortunate few and, as far as local infrastructure goes, be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?

Does the plan presented by the diocese involve any historic artifacts being destroyed or damaged, or any risk of that happening? Should there be some calamity and certain historic artifacts survive the destruction, what will happen to them?

Will the entirety of whatever remains be carefully conserved and found appreciative new homes, or will some of it be treated with all the respect one might afford to a skipload of knackered fridges and sent to a dump?

As far as I can tell, the answer to all of these questions as they relate to the Diocese of Bristol and the Pattern Store is firmly in the negative.

On that basis, I suggest we count our blessings.