“TERESA Ford’s father is not sure whether she is brave or ‘a nutter.’ And his doubts are not really very surprising.”

So began an Adver report this week in 1971, about an Upper Stratton teacher who was entitled to a place among sporting pioneers.

We added: “After all, what girl in her right mind, you may ask, would leap from aeroplanes to hurtle thousands of feet towards the ground at speeds up to 120mph?

“What girl would get herself dragged the length of a runway – and skin an arm – by a parachute which re-inflated in a gust of wind, then come back for more?”

Nowadays the sport of skydiving is a quite popular pastime and a popular way of raising money for charity, but things were different 45 years ago.

Civilians who jumped from aircraft were overwhelmingly male and often ex-military. Female jumpers were few and far between – although some had already earned places in parachuting history.

The most notable was an American known as Tiny Broadwick, who pioneered freefall jumping more than 50 years earlier after being forced to cut herself free from an aircraft’s tail when a line became tangled. Teresa Ford, who turned 22 in January of 1971 was nicknamed Teeny, we revealed, but we didn’t say whether this was a nod to Broadwick.

We added: “This slip of a girl, weighing little more than seven stones without her kit, does not fit one’s mental picture of a skydiver. She’s pretty, perhaps something of a tomboy, and as chirpy as a sparrow.

“Before she made her first jump, nearly two years ago, her father predicted she would quickly drop the sport.

“Teresa has proved him wrong 150 times over; and now she has jumped with the best, including the famous Red Devils team.”

Perhaps Rewind readers can tell us more about Teresa and her exploits.

Somebody on a rather less glamorous venture into the unknown was Christopher Ward, who had served as Swindon’s MP for a total of seven months until June of 1970.

Mr Ward, a Conservative, had won a by-election following the resignation of Labour incumbent Francis Noel-Baker, only to be defeated by Labour’s David Stoddart at the next General Election.

This week in 1971 we announced: “Swindon’s former MP, Mr Christopher Ward, has resigned as the town’s prospective Conservative Parliamentary candidate.

“He is to seek one of the new seats made available by boundary redistribution.”

In a letter to his local Conservative Association, Mr Ward said: “I very much enjoyed representing Swindon in Parliament, and I shall always value the very many close friends I have made in the town.”

Unfortunately for Mr Ward, the nearest he came to a Parliamentary seat again was in 1979 when he contested Eton and Slough, only to be narrowly beaten by Labour when the Tory vote was split by the presence of an independent Conservative candidate.

David Stoddart was also in the news in the first full week of January, 1971.

We reported: “Swindon’s MP, Mr David Stoddart, met demonstrating old age pensioners in The Parade, Swindon, today.

“Carrying banners asking ‘Could you have a happy Christmas on a £5 pension?’ eight pensioners stood in the rain, collecting signatures..

“They hope to present their petition, asking for an increase in pensions, to Sir Keith Joseph, Minister of Health.

“The petition has already been signed by more than 7,000 people in Swindon.”

The state pension at the time was £5 for a single person and £8 for a married couple.

Although a Conservative Government was in power at the time, the MP insisted he would have signed the petition whichever party was in charge In February of 1971 Britain was due to switch to decimal currency, the biggest change of its kind in well over a millennium.

Coins in denominations of five, 10 and 50 New Pence had already been eased into use and were worth one, two and 10 shillings in old money.

It wasn’t until January of 1971, though, that the new copper coins were issued ready for February 15, which had been designated D-Day.

The halfpennies would be legal tender only until 1984.

We printed photos showing rolls of the shiny, exotic-looking two pence, penny and halfpenny coins sent to the Regent Street branch of Barclay‘s Bank.

There was also a photo of a cashier there, Mrs Vera McCarthy, receiving instructions from Mr David Tuffley, the branch’s decimal training officers.