In 1860 Swindon was now a major strategic railway centre and Britain was very worried about an invasion by Napoleon III the French Emperor.

This country was gripped by fear and very quickly coastal fortifications were strengthened with some new ones being built.

All of them were fitted with with superior new style guns. Nothe Fort, at Weymouth, was one of these forts.

This crisis had been sparked by the French Navy ordering three new super battleships La, Glorie, Invincible and Normandie.

The Royal Navy did not stand by and soon commissioned HMS Warrior – an Ironclad – a superior ship to the new French battleships, it could easily have defeated all three if a war had been declared.

HMS Warrior is still afloat at Portsmouth and well worth a visit.

What has all this this got to do with Swindon?

In an invasion the GWR works was a military objective. The GWR knew this and immediately 150 employees formed themselves into the XI Wiltshire Volunteer Rifle Corps.

William Gooch, Daniel’s brother, was appointed senior captain and other senior staff to appropriate ranks.

They would regularly carry out drill and parades outside the Mechanics Institute and in 1861 a decision was made to construct a Drill Hall and Armoury. Incidentally, from 1861 more house building in and around “New Town” took place.

This had been given a boost by the opening of the GWR Rolling Mills that opened in 1861 and brought an influx of Welsh iron workers into Swindon to operate them.

By the mid 1860s the GWR decided that it would no longer build housing for its workforce but rely on private developers to build houses or provide housing for rent.

The GWR was still committed to building workshops and other facilities for its workers.

However, money was tight, as the GWR was in financial crisis and it decided to only spend money on expansion of the works and essential new machinery.

In truth it was very badly over extended in borrowing terms.

Daniel Gooch returned as chairman of the board and immediately put in a cost saving regime.

In 1871 Prussia invaded France and defeated it in a war that lasted nearly a year.

An enterprising man Thomas Cook, took people on tour to watch the shelling of Paris, leading on to the founding of the famous Thomas Cook tours.

In Swindon, now that France was humiliated, eyes turned on to the future use of the Drill Hall and Armoury in 1871-2, it was converted into the GWR accident hospital, since the mid 1970s it has been the local Community Centre.