This aerial shot of Swindon taken 50 years ago shows the first stage in development at Cheney Manor Industrial Estate.

Opened in 1954, the estate was built near the site of the former Rodbourne Brick Works just inside the Swindon Borough boundary.

The parish of Rodbourne Cheney included a village originally called Hreod Burna and Moredon, Haydon and Haydon Wick hamlets.

When the Domesday Book was written in 1086 the name had become Redbourne, a corruption of ‘reedy-bourne.’

Finally a 13th century lord of the manor, Ralf Chanu, added his name to complete the modern appellation Rodbourne Cheney.

Early Ordnance Survey maps show just a handful of houses along what was once known as Telford Road, renamed Cheney Manor Road (1) in 1929 when Rodbourne Cheney became part of Swindon Borough.

In 1900 Bessemer Road (2), named after Victorian steel maker Sir Henry Bessemer, who invented a process for converting iron into steel, contained just 10 properties.

The industrial commemorative theme continues with Churchward Avenue (3), built in 1936 and named after George Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer at the GWR from 1902-1921.

Collett Avenue (4), built in 1938, was named after his successor, Charles Collett.

One of the early occupants at the 1950s Cheney Manor Industrial Estate was Plessey. The radio component maker’s first Swindon address was a factory in Kembrey Street where they relocated to during the Second World War, employing a largely female workforce.

Other member companies of the Plessey Group moved to Swindon during the 50s and 60s.

By 1965 the estate at Cheney Manor contained various small engineering and casting factories, clothing firms, a GPO engineering depot and various warehouses.

KEY
1. Formerly Telford Road, this thoroughfare was renamed Cheney Manor Road in 1929.
2. Bessemer Road, which was named after the Victoria steel maker Sir Henry Bessemer.
3. Churchward Avenue, named after George Jackson Churchwas of the GWR.
4. Collett Avenue, named after Charles Collett of the GWR.