Swindon
Tonight finds me holed up high above the ground in the Holiday Inn Express, in Swindon town centre. Originally I planned to commute to and from the client site each day, but given the hour and a half commute each way, the cost of the rail tickets, and the cost of the hotel room in comparison, it sort of made sense.
After work this evening I wandered into the town, and walked through the shopping centre in search of something to eat. When I'm away on my own, I hardly ever eat outI would much rather get a salad or something from a supermarket, and take it back to my hotel. Sitting on your own in a pizza hut, or wagamama is a very lonely experience.
We used to visit Swindon when I was youngand my memories of it were goodwide pedestrianised streets, lined with big name shops. Returning after perhaps 25 years was genuinely shocking. Litter everywhere, drunks outside many of the pubs, beggars wandering the outer reaches I passed a shirtless guy screaming obscenities into a cellphone, and thought “you can't judge a place by one person”and was then confronted by two gangs doing their best to look as intimidating as possibleand another screaming drunk.
I don't remember any of this, and just wondered if it's the same as any big town late in the afternoonbut then I wandered into WHSmithsa huge stationary retailerand discovered threadbare carpets, and broken light fittings everywhere.
While wandering back to the hotel, I started noticing the old buildings, with family business names carved into their coping stoneslong gone, and available for rent.
I remember Swindon as a busy, bussling, clean town. I wonder if this is the fate all towns face as they metamorphose from one generation to another? It might be interesting to come back in another 10 years, and see if it has changed any further.