IT was this week in 1967 that the Swindon Advertiser carried what may have been its most stereotypically 1960s advert ever.

“The Swinging London Scene is coming to Swindon,” said the advert for The Attic Boutique, which was due to open above Marilyn Fashions at 31/33 The Parade. “A message for all the swinging chicks, hippy birds and groovy girls – We’ve got the latest way out gear stuffed away in old wardrobes up in the attic.

“Come and rummage through while we play you the latest pop records – it’s Gaslight and Gorgeous groovy gear straight from London Town. “Opening very soon. Watch for news in this paper.” The advert was signed: “Words by Annie, Paintwork by Fred.”

If either are reading this, we hope they’ll get in touch, even if it’s only to tell us what “Gaslight and Gorgeous” meant. By 1967 the 1950s crooner Frankie Vaughan was more of a light entertainment stalwart than a heartthrob.

The singer had been a member of a boys’ club as a child, and was a great believer in them. He was a major donor to the National Association of Boys Clubs and a roving ambassador for the organisation during National Boys’ Club Week.

That was what brought him to Walcot Boys’ Club and Park Boys’ Club late in the week. He also performed a cabaret show at The Moonrakers in Cricklade Road, supported by local acts The Billy Morgan Band and The Roosters. It was there that he was reunited with old Army friend Ken Gostling, from Covingham.

Earlier in the day the star shared some of his views about modern youth culture with an Adver reporter: “I think the hippie movement is dying a natural death, thank goodness. It was dangerous while it lasted because of its attitude towards drug-taking.” Frankie Vaughan died in 1999, aged 71. Also in town were Merseybeat veterans The Searchers, whose hits from earlier in the decade included Needles And Pins, Sweets For My Sweet and When You Walk In The Room. Their hit-making days were in the past, but even in 1967 the band were fondly remembered enough to fill many a provincial venue. For their Swindon appearance they were joined by two unconventional support acts.

We said: “Two Salvation Army pop groups – The Essay Five from the Swindon Citadel Corps and The Ambassadors from the Gorse Hill Corps – joined forces with the internationally famed Searchers to turn the Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, into an exciting mixture of pop and prayer last night. “Arranged by the leader of the Swindon Old Town Citadel Corps, Lieut Rupert Hanson, the show was in aid of the Great Centenary Appeal, from which it is hoped that £1m will be raised by December for a complete cross-section of this country’s social needs.”

Our reporter praised the local bands and suggested The Searchers might be a little too professional for modern pop sensibilities. He added: “With the Salvation Army flag at full mast on the stage and an impressive display of ‘For God’s Sake Care’ posters arrayed along the walls, the show was entitled Gospel with a Beat – although from where I was sitting it seemed to be all beat and not a bit of gospel.” Another insight into youth culture came courtesy of a scooter club called The Inn Crowd, which met at a house in Beechcroft Road, Stratton St Margaret.

“The club,” we said, “began with a group of scooter riders who wanted a more attractive social centre than the college car park. They have spent the last six months raising money and looking for a permanent clubhouse. “Assisted by Swindon’s further education officer, Mr B Clarke, they found the Beechcroft Road property.

The present lessee is Penhill Evening Centre, of which The Inn Crowd is now a part.” The teenagers stripped and refurbished the shabby, empty house, and met there four times a week. We added: “When members leave the house, they make as little noise with their scooters as possible. So far there have been no complaints from residents.”

Moving from the present to the distant past, archaeologists were at work on a patch of land near the Covingham Park Estate, which had been built three years earlier. Their mission was to unearth evidence of Roman civilisation there before the land disappeared between the forthcoming M4 and its feeder roads. Their finds included roads from the first, third and fourth centuries, complete with dropped coins, pottery and other artifacts. Here was yet more evidence that the site of Swindon had once been at the junction of Roman roads linking the Cirencester with Silchester in Hampshire and the Marlborough area.

The excavation also uncovered the outlines of a second century building. Confusingly, one of the finds, a coin from the reign of 17th century monarch William III, was found at the same depth as one bearing the image of the Emperor Vespasian, who ruled from 69 to 79. This suggested the investigators of 1967 might not have been the first to set about the site with trowels.