Gorse Hill is a historic business and residential community which has become one of the most diverse and vibrant parts of Swindon.

The estate, on the northern fringe of the town centre, boasts a wide range of firms and social facilities which serve people of many different backgrounds who live in and around the area.

Gorse Hill, originally in the parish of Stratton St Margaret, expanded between the 1870s and 1890s to meet the needs of staff at Swindon’s railway works.

Today it remains a bustling neighbourhood, boasting homes, a shopping hub, several churches, a community centre, two schools, play areas and pubs.

Cricklade Road is the focus for businesses, with a continually evolving mix of established and newer enterprises, including a supermarket, a florist, a workware store, a hairdresser, an optician and a barber.

Ramesh Madhani, who has run the MBros discount superstore with his brother Yogesh for 21 years, said: “There’s a big mix of services you can get in Gorse Hill.

“It’s good for everyone because it gives people a wider range of choice and attracts more people into Gorse Hill. And there is free car parking in Gorse Hill which is still an important thing to have.”

Mr Madhani is also hoping a business will soon take the former Somerfield store in Cricklade Road.

Gorse Hill has many charity initiatives – and down the road are three projects set up by Store House Christian Fellowship, a local independent Pentecostal church.

They are the Store House charity shop, a discount furniture shop known as the Store House Furniture Project, and a new Christian prayer and a listening centre called the Turning Point.

Pastor Dick Denyer, the charity’s director, said: “Our vision is to get the church out of the building and on to the high street so we can be available as Christian people to help the community.”

Another hub of Gorse Hill is Chapel Street, which is home to Gorse Hill Community Centre, the Salvation Army – recently damaged by fire – and the Swiss Chalet pub.

Community centre manager, Brian Best, 74, who has lived in nearby Tydeman Street for about 20 years, said: “We feel Gorse Hill is still one of the old places where people help each other.

“You go across to the new part of Swindon and someone on your left doesn’t know someone on your right.

“We consider ourselves very similar to Rodbourne – we’re that sort of ‘village’ type area. I think there’s a good community spirit.”

Gorse Hill has plenty on offer for young people, including the refurbished St Mark’s Recreation Ground, off Whitehouse Road, and the infant and junior schools in Avening Street, which will merge as a primary school in September.

The estate also boasts several sheltered housing schemes, including Swindon Council’s Mervyn Webb Place, which occupies the former Gorse Hill police station in Peel Walk.

Resident Joy Cameron, 68, who grew up in Gorse Hill and was married at St Barnabas Church, said: “I just like living here, it’s very friendly. There are lots of people who’ve lived here a long time and they always chat to you.

“The shops aren’t bad – not as good as they used to be, but still okay.”

She said Gorse Hill suffered from a lack of car parking and needed other types of shops, such as a butcher.

Coun Ray Ballman (Lab, Gorse Hill and Pinehurst), who is also Swindon’s deputy mayor, said: “It’s quite a nice safe area, quite a pleasant area with welcoming people. People complain about some things but we don’t get anything major.”