At this address:
    The Barracks Lodging House       [Source: "The Swindon Book" - by Mark Child, page 28.]
    Wesley Chapel       [Source: Photo 0010]
    Railway Museum       [Source: Text with photograph at Flickr.com]
    Community Crossroads       [Source: Photo 0007]
    The Platform       [Source: Photo 0018]



This building is in Faringdon Road, Swindon, although originally the address was Emlyn Square.  It was initially designed as a lodging house for workers of the Great Western Railway, called the Barracks, and contained one hundred small bedrooms plus communal rooms.  It struggled to prosper and remained largly unused.  It was converted into a Wesleyan Chapel in 1868, eventually opening in 1869.  The church closed in 1959 and in 1962 became the Swindon Railway Museum - a place all school-children in Swindon in the 1960s and 1970s will remember going to on school outings - until this too closed in 2000.  [Source of facts:  'The Swindon Book' by Mark Child.]

The last two photographs on this page are of the 'Lode Star' engine being delivered to the museum back in March 1963.  The young lad in the photograph is Duncan.  Can you imagine nowadays a toddler being allowed this close while something this big is being moved?

The Railway Museum moved to larger premises - STEAM - and this building became a community centre called the Community Crossroads, and later still became The Platform, a centre for youth.  Various sized rooms can be hired for events.

The building is Grade II listed - more information can be found at:  Historic England.