THIS week in 1978, the old Swindon police headquarters housed a treasure that had last seen the light of day 17 centuries earlier.

Nobody knows why somebody – or several somebodies – had decided to bury 54,951 coins at the Roman settlement of Cunetio, close to what is now Mildenhall near Marlborough. None were dated later than the 270s.

Theories range from a cautious person hiding their savings to thieves burying the proceeds of crime. Placed in a lead container and a large earthenware pot, they were buried about a foot beneath the surface.

There they remained until they were discovered by metal detector enthusiasts Peter Humphries and John Booth, who were prospecting a tenant farmer’s field on land owned by the Crown.

When news of the find emerged, the coins were placed under lock and key pending a decision on their future, and archaeologists were called to the site. Some of those experts criticised the treasure hunters for not leaving the hoard undisturbed after discovering it, but were given short shrift by Mr Humphries.

“If it wasn’t for blokes like us,” he said, “half of this sort of thing would never be found.”

According to a report in a national broadsheet more than 20 years later, the two eventually shared £120,000 from the Crown under Treasure Trove law. At the time, a three-bedroomed semi-detached house in Swindon could be had for £15,000.

These days such a treasure would be under strict guard while held at a police station, but the Adver was allowed liberties that would have modern archaeologists reaching for the smelling salts.

We drafted in police clerical assistants Christine Walker and Jenny Wadmore to pour the hoard through their fingers in the style of Scrooge McDuck.

The Cunetio Hoard, as it came to be known, remains the largest of its kind found in Britain. The coins are at the British Museum and the pot is at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes.

Treasure aside, Grease was the word that week. Anybody who doubted it just had to look at the huge queue outside what is now the Savoy pub.

We said: “Greased lightning struck Swindon as hundreds of film fans queued outside the ABC cinema.

“Many of them sported Fifties-style leather jackets and slicked-back greasy hair as they waited to see their hero, John Travolta.

“Grease attracted a 600-strong full house, even though the film has already been shown in nearby cinemas at Devizes and Chippenham.

“The queue was more than 50 yards long – but everyone managed to squeeze in for a slice of 50s nostalgia. Some teenagers queued for nearly three hours to be sure of a seat.”

They included 15-year-old Diane Pike of Colebrook Road in Stratton St Margaret, who was about to see the musical for the second time.

“I saw it on holiday and thought it was great,” she said. “John Travolta is gorgeous. I’ve got the soundtrack tape and everything. He’s the best looking actor since Elvis.”

Another Travolta fan, 16-year-old Karen Benwell from Eastmere, brought along boyfriend Tony Frewin, who was philosophical about Karen’s adulation for the actor.

“I don’t mind,” he said. “I’m here to see Olivia Newton-John.”

At the other end of the celebrity age scale, a major British figure of the day was in Swindon to talk to the local Ladies’ Circle.

Margaret Powell is little remembered in 2015, but her memoirs of life as a domestic servant helped to inspire smash hit 1970s TV drama Upstairs Downstairs. More recently, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes said of her: “Margaret Powell was the first person outside my family to introduce me to that world.”

A decade before we interviewed her in 1978, Margaret Powell had been working as a charlady. Her husband, Albert, was a milkman. Then Margaret published Below Stairs, the first of a series of memoirs, and became an overnight sensation her sixties.

The author, who died in 1984, told our reporter: “I’m never going to earn real wealth. Authors never do, unless they’re a Len Deighton. But I’m not going to pretend the money I earn hasn’t made a difference.

“We’ve been in our semi-detached house for seven years and it’s the first we’ve had with a bathroom.”

Many of her books remain in print.

A global news story had a major impact on Swindon’s Catholic community, and especially the 2,000 or so who were Polish or had Polish heritage.

A devout and modest cardinal called Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope, becoming the first non-Italian Bishop of Rome in 450 years.

He chose the name John Paul the Second in honour of his predecessor, the first John Paul, who had died just 33 days after taking office.

The spiritual leader of Swindon’s Polish community, Father Rachota, hailed the new Pope as a great man who would be good for young people.

He added: “He was brought up in a poor working class family and had a very hard life. “He is very open minded and well-educated.”