We visited a south Staffordshire village which sits as a gateway to the countryside and is described by those who live and work there as a wonderful community
This village has a tight-knit community feeling, full of warm and welcoming people and with nature all around it.
The South Staffordshire countryside is an underrated gem, full of hills, trees, sweeping roads and great views.
It is also an area full of small and quiet villages, full of communities who work together to keep the area as one that anyone visiting can feel welcome to and comfortable in.
One such village is Swindon, a small, but perfectly formed one located between Wombourne, Enville and Wall Heath and sitting on the edge of the South Staffordshire countryside, almost acting as a gateway to the area.
Swindon has remained a robust village with a strong neighbourhood spirit demonstrated in its community centre and cricket club, which play a vital role in the village, and has a history which goes back as far as the early 14th century, having been part of the parish of Wombourne under the ownership of the Englefield family.
It developed from a tiny hamlet into a thriving village in the 19th century with the development of the Baldwin iron works next to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and while the works have since been demolished, they are remembered in modern housing development Baldwin Way on its former site.
The South Staffordshire canal and railway which used to serve the works run almost parallel through the village and offer a variety of routes for walkers and cyclists.
