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Swindon's Regeneration : The People Under The Hard Hats

Wring Group site manager Steve surveys the scene on the last day of demolition work on the former Swindon College Regent Circus site.

Planners, designers, architects, consultants, councillors, engineers and more. The list of people who are involved in urban regeneration can easily stretch to Christmas-list proportions.

But what about the contractors themselves? They're the people who go onto cold, windswept sites at all hours, on the front-line for criticism from anyone, site neighbours, motorists, passersby, it's a job few people would envy.

The one person who's been responsible for the old Swindon College demolition from beginning to today's end is Site Manager Steve from Wring Group. On the nearly thirty site visits fellow photographer Ed Howell and I have made, from the security of the site to the careful asbestos removal, to the weather hampering the work to equipment problems, we've seen a hell of a lot.

Just a few days after major demolitions works began in May, the view from Edmund Street.

So in the long story of Swindon's town centre regeneration, those people like Steve should be recognised for their dedication and professionalism.

Swindon's Regeneration : The Empty College And The Lost Artist of Swindon College

Here's the booty I salvaged from a small empty office in the old Swindon College demolition back in May. Previously hanging on the wall, it was propped up behind the door against the wall, either from falling off, or maybe someone else had spotted it and was preparing to take it to another home?  

My question is, who painted it and who was it who liked it enough to have it framed and displayed on the wall?

"You're a big man, but you're in bad shape. With me it's a full time job. Now behave yourself."

The roof of the Debenhams carpark would have to do, rather than one in Gateshead (no-one was thrown off of it though!).

For the Advertising Unit we're currently working on, one of the ideas for the campaign was 'spotlight flash' for subjects.

Philip-Lorca diCorcia photographed with a similar technique on the streets of New York in his 'Streetwork' series. Using a remote flashgun, with a piece of A3 paper from a sketchbook sellotaped into a cone shape and tied on with a rubber band and a sensor fitted to the camera and flash, it seemed to work! 

The camera was on a tripod, I scraped a mark on the floor with a stone, Ed checked the composition was right, then with a timer he'd dash from the camera to the 3 foot wall immediately to the right of the frame, jump up and direct the flash down onto me. We spent about 15 minutes getting the exposure right, as it was overcast and dusk at the time we shot.

I can't help thinking of Get Carter when I see these pictures (not that I look or sound anything like Michael Caine!), but this lighting could make anyone or anything look threatening.

Most of the 1971 Get Carter film takes place in streets at night using available lighting, giving long shadows and unflattering lighting.

What do you think?

The Ghosts of Wichelstowe

The shop-window of Swindon's Wichelstowe development, the canal-side houses in East Wichel.

Living in what, during the eighties and nineties, was the 'fastest growing town in Europe', it's sometimes easy to become use to new housing estates becoming part of the scenery. One development in Swindon is different enough to stand out and makes for fascinating photographs.

The lights on the unopened Southern Relief Road blaze through the night, giving an unsettling, eerie feeling.

Wichelstowe sits between the southern parts of Swindon (Old Town and Croft) and immediately north of the M4 between Junction 16 and 15. Known as the Front Garden and officially as the Southern Development Area, it's a collection of three areas, East Wichel, Middle Wichel and West Wichel. High quality housing design elements compliment the many green spaces and the extensive new canal network.

Work at Wichelstowe has slowed with the recession and recovery, but the road and canal infrastructure has either been completed or they are far advanced. As a consequence, the roads serving Middle and West Wichel run through farmer's fields, complete with traffic lights, pavements, road markings, bus lanes and signs to estates that do not exist yet! Some street furniture has been fitted, but remains in it's wrapping!

Having missed photographing the North Swindon development over the last phase of town expansion I'm going to make every effort to capture Wichelstowe.

For more pictures from this project, click the link on the right to be taken to Flickr, or click here.

Links

Wichelstowe Development Site http://www.wichelstowe.co.uk/template01.asp?pageid=32

The Cultural Landscape of the City

At a time of recession and weak recovery, how do you kick-start investment in a town that used to be the 'fastest-growing town in Europe'?

For the first project in the Foundation Degree course, I documented the work commissioned by Forward Swindon, the regeneration company owned by Swindon Borough Council. With many major private-sector led town centre regeneration projects put on-hold, a decision was taken to improve the 'public realm': streets, public spaces and thoroughfares in the main shopping areas.

This work was to give confidence to businesses, investors and the public that investment in the town was still happening and Swindon was committed to regeneration.

Working alongside Forward Swindon and the lead contractor on the work, Skanska, I documented the work on Regent Street and Canal Walk.

For more pictures from this project, click the link on the right to be taken to Flickr, or click here.

Links
Canal Walk project : http://www.forwardswindon.co.uk/for-development/projects/canal-walk

Regent Street project : http://www.forwardswindon.co.uk/for-development/projects/regent-street

Green Walls project : http://www.forwardswindon.co.uk/for-development/projects/green-wall

Stacked Wall Fountain : http://www.forwardswindon.co.uk/for-development/projects/stacked-wall