I CAN be a sentimental old fool sometimes, and just lately I have been high on nostalgia. You may have noticed that Prince Andrew was treated to a tour of the University Technical College (UTC) in part of the old Railway Works last week – and so have I.

I hasten to add that my visit wasn’t on the same day as the royal visit, but I was kindly allowed a look around the very same site.

The prince has a special interest in UTCs, which have been set up to teach 14- to 19-year-olds engineering and other practical skills – the kind of thing, in fact, that the majority of workers in Swindon used to have, particularly in the heyday of the Railway Works.

I have my own reasons for being interested.

Nobody from the royal family ever worked for the GWR or British Railways in Swindon, but my family did – lots of them.

What’s more, my dad was employed in the Works fire station during my childhood – in one of the buildings that will now form part of the new college when it opens in September.

Every boy in the world loves fire engines and nowadays they all love Fireman Sam, but he hadn’t been invented when I was a kid.

It didn’t matter to us (me and my twin brother) because we didn’t need Sam. Not when we got to visit dad at work in the fire station.

Two things amazed me about the place – firstly that a factory could be important enough to warrant its own fire station, and secondly that I was allowed to play there.

As well as the fire engines, with their sirens and flashing lights, there was also an ambulance, and we were allowed to try on the uniforms and helmets.

One day we even got to climb the iconic Bristol Street water tower, which I was delighted to hear will be turned into a feature of the new college site.

In fact, there were really only two disappointments when I was a little kid: the fire station didn’t have a pole to slide down, and those days couldn’t last forever.

My father sadly died when I was only 15, and the Works died too, nine years later, and this magical playground was given over to small industrial units, and more or less forgotten.

That was until the UTC announced their intention to move in, bringing the story full circle in two important ways.

Not only is the site going back to education – the GWR’s own school was here from 1844 – but the students will be walking in the footsteps of all those Swindon engineers of the past.

Even better: the people behind the UTC, probably including Prince Andrew, seem to understand how all these strands link up, and how important the past is in building the future.

For a generation – and sadly it has been my generation – we have shamefully lost touch with our railway heritage in Swindon, but not only is the UTC going to remind us how great it was, but it might even lead to even more important rejuvenation down the road at the Mechanics’ Institute.

I would be lying if I said I am as excited about this as I was when pretending to drive the fire engine, but if the new college isn’t a reason for optimism, then I’m Fireman Sam.