But the hooter has provided much happier memories for Swindon people, including Eric R Mountford, author of Swindon GWR Reminiscences. He recalled how the final warning hooter caused men to speed up their walk to work on hearing it. Anyone who missed removing his check even by a few seconds had to wait for half an hour, after which the board would be re-opened, and a half hour check put on the hook to replace the time check. Besides losing half an hour's pay, a second re-occurrence of this would usually mean a message to report to the office later, and explain. It was a small but important part of the life of the town.
Today there is still one way to hear the hooter.
The hooter was the inspiration behind the song, and its unmistakable tones form the introduction to it. All rights reserved.