Book charting history of Swindon wins national award

The book, entitled A Swindon Time Capsule: Working Class Life 1899-1984, takes the reader through the life and history of an ordinary Swindon family throughout the 20th Century.

It was written by local historian Graham Carter and was the result of a collaborative Heritage Lottery Fund project by Swindon Heritage magazine and the Council’s Local Studies team at Central Library. It explores a vast collection of local history material donated to Local Studies by former Swindonian Mike Attwell and his family.

And the book, which was published last year, has scooped the 2018 Alan Ball Award – the national award for local history publications.

Swindon Borough Council’s Local Studies Librarian, Darryl Moody, said: “It’s wonderful to hear that the book has been recognised with this national award.

“An awful lot of work went into this project and we’re thrilled that both this book and the Dixon Attwell Collection have been added to Swindon’s Local Studies collection, for everyone to explore, now and in the future.”

Many topics are touched on throughout the book, including the Great Western Railway and British Rail, Swindon Town Football Club, the First and Second World Wars and much more.

The Alan Ball Local History Awards were established by the Library Services Trust in 1985 to encourage local history publishing by public libraries and local authorities. The awards were named after Alan W. Ball, a former Chief Librarian of the London Borough of Harrow, and author of many local history publications.

The book, and the Dixon Atwell collection itself, is available to view in Local Studies and the book can be bought at the Library Shop at Central Library for only £10.

To find out more information, please email localstudies@swindon.gov.uk or visit Swindon Central Library.