REMEMBER WHEN: The day the water tower came tumbling down in Swindon

TWO people were badly hurt in an explosion on the Swindon-Highworth road this week in 1970. The blast was planned but the injuries were anything but.

We wrote: “Two Swindon Corporation employees were injured this afternoon by hurtling debris when 200 pounds of gelignite failed to demolish a 60ft water tower near Highworth.

“They were standing about 200 yards away from the tower with a group of newsmen and Corporation officials when the tower was shaken by the explosion.

“Huge pieces of brick whistled through the air and fell among the groups of watchers. The main road to Highworth, where cars were parked on verges, was littered with debris.

“Mr Robert Selby, a Corporation technician, fell to the ground clutching his left leg through his rubber boot. He said it was badly injured and he was in pain.

“Another Corporation employee, believed to be Mr Ken Topwith, held a blood-soaked handkerchief to the side of his face.

“Both men received immediate attention and were taken to hospital by ambulance.”

The tower, we added, had been put up some 70 years earlier but fell into disuse in the 1960s after the water supply was reorganised. Its tank had a capacity of 40,000 gallons.

A second planned explosion shortly afterwards also failed to level the structure, leaving demolition crews no option but to use cutting torches on the tank and finally blow up the remaining stubborn wall.

As if that were not enough potential disaster for one week, some allotments in Cheney Manor had a light dusting of cyanide, courtesy of the nearby Plessey electronics plant.

“Gardeners near the Plessey factory at Swindon have been assured that any risk of cyanide leaks are over,” we said.

Local chief public health inspector Mr RA Law told the council’s health and welfare committee that a device had been placed on the roof of the factory to ensure that no more of the deadly substance would escape.

Compensation – the market value of the affected vegetables – had been paid to the gardeners, but two had asked for more money.

This request drew the ire of Councillor Leslie Cockhead, who said if he were Plessey he would tell the two to get lost.

Also being briskly told to get on with it and stop complaining were householders slithering on snowy and icy pavements.

“People who live in side streets,” we said, “especially on the shady side, have probably been muttering under their breath about ‘people who don’t clear ice and snow from pavements.’ “But the only people who have any responsibility to clear winter pavements are the householders themselves.

“Swindon Corporation has no legal responsibility to clear the pavements, and if they did, the bill to the rates would be tremendous.

“Even so, a spokesman for the Civic Offices said, they have tried to grit and salt as many pavements as possible, especially in the hilly areas of the town, at bus stops and near shops.”

There was cheery economic news from Stratton St Margaret, which was still home to engineering giant Vickers.

The mayor and mayoress of Swindon had the chance to survey the town from above during an official visit.

We said: “Alderman and Mrs RA Jones flew in the company’s Piper Navajo aircraft piloted by Wing Commander C Murray, and paid particular attention to the condition of the pitch at the County Ground.”

Back on the ground, they inspected one of the firm’s latest products, a blood sample analyser capable of handling 300 samples simultaneously.

Vickers was also in the news for building the rather spectacular British Pavilion at the second Asian Trade Fair in Tehran. We also printed a photo of one of its 60-ton all-wheel-drive crane carriers, some of which remain in use today.

We added that Vickers had built a huge dome on the roof of a Parisian department store, lit by 15,000 bulbs.

In arts news, we interviewed Graham Whettam. His name may not be familiar, but anybody who knows it need not fear being asked: “Name a classical composer born in Swindon.”

Like many classical composers of the 20th Century he struggled for recognition, but he retains enough of a fan base for rare recordings of his works to be available from Amazon. For those who prefer to try before they buy, there are a few pieces on YouTube.

When Whettam died in 2007, aged 79, an obituary in a national broadsheet noted: “His music is invariably dramatic, and it reveals an individual voice that encompasses both stark grittiness and gentle lyricism.

“The craftsmanship is impeccable, the language eclectic, yet individual, the commitment uncompromising.”

When we spoke to the composer in 1970, his fourth symphony – regarded by critics as a masterpiece – was about to be broadcast by the BBC for the first time.

The piece had generated controversy thanks to Whettam dedicating it to peace campaigner and philosopher Sir Bertrand Russell “...and all other people who suffer imprisonment or other injustice for the expression of their beliefs, or the convenience of politicians and bureaucracies.”

Masterpiece or not, the dedication was enough to have the first planned performance of the symphony – in Liverpool in 1964 – cancelled by concert hall bosses.

The composer told us: “I think they thought we were going to walk in with flags and banners and atom bombs and things.”

On this day:

1948: Archdeacon of Nigeria for two years, Rev G R Fooks, MA, was inducted into the living of Stratton St Margaret. The Bishop of Bristol Dr F A Cockin conducted the service.

1958: More than 100 people attended a Valentine’s Dance at Highworth organised by the St Michael’s Youth Fellowship. The hall was decorated with hearts and guests danced to the Astoria Dance Band.

1978: Dragster driver Andrew Churchward was racing against time as he hoped to race at the Wroughton Rally in July and his sponsor Bradley Engineers was working overtime to build his £7,000 machine. Andrew, 23, of Broad Town, hoped it would be his first independent race.

2014: A new clinic dedicated to treating children outside of GP surgery hours was being trialled at the Carfax NHS Medical Centre in the town centre. The service was staffed by nurses experienced in dealing with children. It was aimed at youngsters, toddlers and infants suffering from common colds, aches or pains but not life-threatening conditions.

IN OTHER NEWS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1970 “FIFTEEN boys from Swindon are claiming a world record for non-stop football. They finished their marathon five-a-side game shortly before seven o’clock on Saturday morning after 20 hours of football and 3,245 goals. Mr D Bell of Walcot Boys’ Club, Buckhurst Crescent, was with the boys through the night. He said he was sure they had set a record. ‘There have been other five-a-side marathons but with six teams or more,’ he explained. The boys, all under 15, played in three teams on a rota system – two teams playing and one team resting.”

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1970 “ABOUT 300 men walked out of Deloro Stellite’s Stratton St Margaret factory this morning after a meeting decided to strike over a pay claim. The men, who make up almost the entire workforce at the factory, are all members of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers. The strike is over a claim by the men for an extra 2s 6d [12 1/2p] and is unofficial. As the men left the factory this morning there were no pickets at the gates.”

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 “A FAMILIAR face has disappeared from Wootton Bassett High Street – but the loss is only temporary, and its return will bring a bright new look to Wootton Bassett Parish Church. The clock’s mechanism was completely restored by local craftsmen in 1957. It had been cleaned in 1952 and in that year the face was renovated by Mr Ted Willis who now lives in Lime Kiln Estate. He worked on scaffolding to apply gold leaf presented to the church by a Southampton shipping firm.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1970 “SWINDON’S MP, Mr Christopher Ward, has warned that the needs of Swindon’s established old people must not be neglected in the town’s expansion drive. In a letter to Councillor John Toomer, housing committee chairman and leader of the Conservatives on the borough council, Mr Ward said he was pleased that the housing committee appreciated the problem of housing the elderly – probably the most urgent housing need the town has to solve over the next few years.”

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1970 “AN RSPCA inspector who said he destroyed 1,500 Wiltshire dogs a year, often because their owners had nowhere for them at holiday times, supported the opening of a boarding kennel at Wanborough at a planning inquiry in Swindon yesterday. Held in Highworth Rural Council Offices before a ministry inspector, Maj Gen Anthony Dobson, the inquiry was into an appeal by Maj G Ritchie against the council’s refusal of planning permission for him to start a boarding kennel at Southview Farm, Horpit, near Wanborough. The RSPCA inspector, Mr Gerald Callaby, said there was an urgent need for kennels in the area.”