SWINDON AND IT'S SURROUNDS - WITH AMY WINEHOUSE

Added: Oct 12, 2008

Duration: 9:55

SWINDON - is a town, in the county of Wiltshire in the South West of England, between Bristol and London . It is in the Borough of Swindon, which has been a unitary authority independent of Wiltshire since 1997. In 2001, the population of The Borough of Swindon was around 184,000. The original Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune. Swindon was a small market town, mainly for barter trade, until the mid-1800s. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, now known as Old Town. The industrial revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindon's growth. It started with the construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810 and the North Wilts canal in 1819. The canals brought trade to the area, and Swindon's population started to grow. In 1840, Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose Swindon as the site for the railway works he planned for the Great Western Railway. Eastwards towards London the line was gently graded, while westwards there was a steep descent towards Bath. Swindon was the junction for the proposed line to Gloucester. The town's railway works were completed in 1842. The GWR built a small railway 'village' to house some of its workers. People still live in the those houses. During the second half of the 19th century Swindon New Town grew around the main line between London and Bristol. The Old Town, the original market town, merged with its newer neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single Swindon. In February 2008 The Times named Swindon as one of "The 20 best places to buy a property in Britain", with the average household income in Swindon being among thehighest in the U.K. The town has a total area of approximately 40 km² (25.33 mi²). Swindon has a temperate climate, with roughly equal length winters and summers. The landscape is dominated by the chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east. Swindon is represented in the national parliament by two MPs. The population comprises: 0-15 years old = 20.96%, 16-74 years old = 72.80%. The remaining 6.24% = 75 years old or over. Approximately 300,000 people live within 20 minutes of Swindon town centre. The ethnic make-up of the town is 95.2% white, 1.3% Indian, and 3.5% other. 92.4% were born in the UK, 2.7% in the EU, and 4.9% elsewhere. It is forecast that there will be a 70,000 (38.9%) increase in Swindon's population by 2026; , to 250,000. A 2007 report concluded that the town was the second safest place to live in the U.K. Swindon lies at the junction of two Roman roads. The town has developed over the centuries, with the assistance of the GWR and the canals, into a transport hub. It has two junctions (15 and 16) onto the M4 motorway and is on the ex-GWR main line to London............ AMY WINEHOUSE (no known connection to Swindon), sings "CUPID" (Recorded by Amy in 2007 ?) and "STRONGER THAN ME" (Frank album released October 2003). Amy Jade Winehouse (born 14th September 1983) is an English singer-songwriter, known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including soul, jazz, rock & roll and R&B. Winehouse is best known for her soulful, powerful contralto vocals. Winehouse's 2003 debut album Frank did well, both commercially and critically, in her native Britain. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album Back to Black led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British singer to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. On 14 February 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She has won the Ivor Novello Award three times, one in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", one in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and one in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game", among other prestigious distinctions. Winehouse has received media attention apart from her singing. Her distinctive style, most notably her signature beehive hairstyle, has spawned imitators[citation needed] and been the muse for fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld. The singer's problems with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as self-destructive behaviour, have become regular tabloid news since 2007. She and her husband have been plagued by legal troubles that have led to the cancellation of several tour dates. In June 2008, Winehouse's publicist reported that she had developed early signs of what could lead to emphysema, while her father relayed reports of an irregular heartbeat, stating these conditions were brought on by smoking cigarettes and crack cocaine.

Channel: Music

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