POSTCARD from Swindon is a project showcasing the town through the eyes of the people who know it, love it and live in it.

Hoardings in the town centre on Regent Street and Temple Street are displaying six huge postcards depicting the timelines of Swindon’s development and the lives of its people.

The art project was co-ordinated by Salisbury-based artist Laurence Dube Rushby, 45, who moved to the UK from her native France when she married husband Andrew.

“I did a similar hoardings history project in Windsor, so I offered the project to Swindon Museum and Art Gallery,” she said.

Postcard to Swindon began in February this year with the artist meeting around 243 people through a series of drop-ins, walks and catching up with local groups and historians.

Laurence started by drawing a circle on a map of Swindon, with the proposed new museum and art gallery site, in the Wyvern car park, at the centre.

“It was like a looking glass, looking inside the one-mile radius, fortunately on the edges are the Steam Railway Museum and the current art gallery and museum.’’

The political background of Swindon was told to the artist by local historian Jon Ratcliffe on a guided tour within the history mile.

One of the best sources for Laurence’s project was naturally the former workers from the Great Western Railway, who were keen to share their stories.

She also stopped people in the street at random, handing out actual postcards, with a detachable blank area, for Swindonians to tell their tales. The results were collected from drop boxes in the central library and the museum.

“Helpful clubs, such as a group of historians, who meet once a month in the Central Library, found photos for me, and the Eastcott Community Organisation invited me to a cream tea. I recorded their precious memories, which people can hear by scanning the QR codes on the hoardings or by visiting the museum website,’’ she said.

The artist had a terrific response to the ‘precious memory luggage tags’ which she then scanned, so even the handwriting itself became part of the postcard.

The Harbour Project based in Broad Street is a help centre for asylum seekers, and as there are many ethnic groups in the town, Laurence wanted their contribution to the postcard.

“They are now part of Swindon’s history and I wanted them to share their experiences. It was good because it gave them a sense of belonging, a sense that they too had become part of the fabric of the town. That’s what makes this project beautiful,’’ she said.

The six postcards cover the timeline from ancient times in Swindon, to the coming of the railways, how the town grew, how Swindon survived the war years, the process of converting itself after the closing of the rail works, the coming of Honda, the vibrancy it regained with the hi-tech firms moving in, and most of all the cosmopolitan ebb and flow of community.

“It’s the country market ladies still selling their eggs and cakes in the town centre, it’s the small businesses, all the little things that really make Swindon special,’’ said Laurence.

The project cost £6,618 and was funded by the Arts Council England. See swindonmuseumandartgallery.org.uk