When I first became aware of the Dawes Galaxy brand in the 1980s it was
a) Perceived as being a quality bike..possibly the best "off the peg" tourer you were likely to see in a bikeshop or amongst your friends bikes
b) Seen as "the other alternative" to a skinny tyred 531c road bike and capable of
cycle camping, b+b/yha touring, day touring, commuting, mild offroad/tracks etc and
group road rides. A real "general purpose" bike.
I bought my Galaxy for the reasons above but over time bought better bikes for these roles - MTB style tourer (conversion) for cycle camping, relaxed geometry road bike for day tours and a dedicated commuter/hybrid bike (hub gears,dynamo, etc) for all-year all-weather commuting. See the collage showing my early 90s Galaxy and my three replacement bikes...
The final blow to the Galaxy's "General Purpose role is gravel bikes of course..which as others have noted, are aimed very clearly at the Galaxy's original "do it all" market segment.
That said I now have my old Galaxy back from "Uni duty" with my son. I'm fixing the minor damage (eg spokes) and rennovating it for me again. Its a nice bike and I am not ready to part with it yet