“THE sleepiest market town in all of England”, was how Edward Hutton described Chippenham in his book, Highways and Byways in Wiltshire.

And antiquarian John Aubrey said the people did nothing but “milk cows and make cheese”, making them “melancholy and malicious”.

But all that was to change with the arrival, in 1839 to 1840, of the Great Western Railway, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

His Doric-style viaduct, next to the pub bearing his name, was completed about four years later, and is due to be cleaned and restored ahead of electrification.

Back in 1831, a decade before the line’s completion, MP Joseph Neeld held a public meeting in New Hall – later given his name – to discuss what advantages the projected railway would bring.

Historian and author Mike Stone said: “It was like a white knuckle ride on a third-class wagon, at speeds that before were unknown; it would have been quite exhilarating.”

In 1825, there were just 27 miles of track laid in England; but by the time it reached Chippenham this had risen to 970 miles, with about 40ft of earth having to be dug out by hand to lay the line.

So began a thriving industry which brought Rowland Brotherhood’s engineering works into the town.

The works, where Hathaway retail park now lies, made 1,500 flatbed broad gauge wagons for the Great Western Railway.

An iron bridge at Balmoral was also designed by Brunel and built by Brotherhood, who was asked to give a quote for constructing the Suez Canal. Thankfully, he was not chosen for the job, which cost £34 million more than he had anticipated.

His factory was taken over by the Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company, known as the universal provider during the Second World War.

This undoubtedly made it a target for the Luftwaffe, but it escaped being hit by bombs, unlike Bath Road near Nestle and the site where Abbeyfield School now stands.

In 1979, the Westinghouse group was bought for £38 million by the Hawker Siddeley Group.

Mr Stone said: “If Brunel hadn’t brought the railway to Chippenham, none of that would have happened.”

He will give a free presentation on Brunel and Chipp-enham’s railway at Chipp- enham Museum on Thursday, April 10, at 7pm.

The talk is free and is being put on in conjunction with the Friends of the Museum.