Steve B

A very well-structured series, but one small quibble, having seen the episode on Swindon. Much as I admire the Railway Village and the communal facilities built for the railway workers, some of the best features are in 'Old Town' which was barely a collection of buildings before the Wilts & Berks Canal was built. The earliest map issued during 1793 when the canal was first mooted doesn't even have the name 'Swindon' on it. The canal literally put Swindon on the map! Old Town is high up the hill above the canal's summit level which passed through what became New Town. Admittedly, the programme did mention that the canal played its part in the railway town's development, but if the canal hadn't been there to provide transport for materials and even a water supply, perhaps the Great Western Railway wouldn't have taken the route it did, closely parallelling the canal.