“JUST how drastically will home life change in the last decade before the 21st Century?”

This question was asked nearly 29 years ago in an Adver supplement called Into the 1990s.

For Swindon, part of the future seemed to include a large new shopping centre at the Fleet Street end of Regent Street, called Wiltshire Gardens.

Our main image is one of the artist’s impressions.

Far more exciting developments involved technology, and as proof we imagined a tour of a home owned by a family called the Trendies in 1999.

“The first thing you’ll notice,” we said, “is that you don’t need a key to get in. A plastic card does the job.

“Mr Trendie works the new hours favoured by many young men - one week on, one week off, 12-hour days.

“He’s happy to trade the longer hours for uninterrupted blocks of leisure time.

“The home has become increasingly important in the 1990s, and the Trendies have been determined to have every modern convenience.

“For instance, the living room sofa has an adjustable back and air-pocketed seats which cater for your own personal shape.

“The wall-mounted television is linked to a digital tape unit with one set of speakers serving both. A single hand-held control unit operates the TV, digital tape and video. Another switches the lights on and off and controls the central heating.

“Banking and shopping can also be done from the TV screen, but the Trendies prefer using the new-style telephones. Individual voice-prints enable them to transfer money, pay bills or order a new chequebook with complete security.

“The phone comes with a video screen, so they can see the other caller, or use it to display catalogues for shopping or choosing a holiday.”

Other likely innovations of the 1990s, we added, included fully automatic lawnmowers, home fax machines and bedroom furniture units combining an alarm clock, radio, television and automatic tea-maker.

Other sections of the supplement were devoted to subjects as diverse as fashion, the economy and population growth.

We envisaged the population growing by 40,000 over the next decade, taking it to 40,000.

This was roughly accurate, as were our predictions that more manufacturers and high-technology firms would be attracted to the town and that there would be enormous housing growth in North Swindon.