The much-loved - often feared - local landmark has just been named the UK Roundabout of the Year.
Swindon's Magic Roundabout - five mini roundabouts encircling a central island - attracts tourists from around the globe
Swindon's Magic Roundabout, five mini roundabouts encircling a central island, has just been announced winner of the coveted UK Roundabout of the Year award, honouring the "white knuckle ride" of infrastructure. Despite its mind-bending structure, former taxi driver Barry Cook, 49, from Swindon, said he had driven across it every week for 35 years and had "rarely" seen a crash on it.
Mr Beresford, who is also self-proclaimed 'Lord of the Rings', said he had visited the landmark many times, had taken film crews from around the world across it and had even sold merchandise featuring it."It's the white-knuckle ride of all roundabouts, those islands packed with testosterone," he added.
Mary Woodman, 60, from Swindon, told the BBC how she had been involved in an crash on the roundabout in 1983 when a car failed to give way and collided with her."The firemen came to our aid and they said at the time that they amused themselves on a daily basis just watching the confusion and many accidents but never had they had a car hit the station," she said.
But the local authority originally named it something quite different, and so it started life as County Islands.
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