Monday, October 17

1950: The British Legion Gold Medal awarded for outstanding service is to be presented to Mr T B Jones of Stratton St Margaret branch. Mr Jones has been the mainstay of the Stratton branch for the last 20 years. He was also well respected on the sporting side especially in the miniature rifle section. He will be leaving for Buckinghamshire and will be greatly missed.

1960: About 90 members of Swindon Education Ancillary Staffs' Association attended its fifth annual diner in Swindon. The principal guest was the Mayor of Swindon Coun Miss E C M Millin. She was accompanied by Coun D Jones, Vice Chairman of the Swindon Education Committee. Olive Lone and her singers with Graham Carter on bass and Arthur Love on piano-accordion entertained.

1970: A pilot scheme which started at a Swindon school should produce a new breed of highly expert sixth form motorists. There were 18 sixth formers, most of them girls, taking part in the driving and roadcraft course at Commonweal School in Swindon's Old Town. They all study theory and the technical side until after Easter when they reach their 17th birthdays and are able to get behind the wheel.

Tuesday, October 18

1950: Mrs Doreen Gorsky, president of the Women's Liberation Federation and Hon Press Officer for the Association of Moral and Social Hygiene which contested the Swindon Division at the last election, leaves by air for Rome to attend the triennial congress of the International Abolitionist Federation. The federation was closely concerned with work done on the draft convention against the suppression of women and children and exploitation of prostitution.

1960: Car bodies produced by the Pressed Steel Company at Stratton St Margaret will be on show at the company stand at the Motor Show at Earls Court. Cars from the company's exhibit include the new Austin Healey Sprite and the Rover three litre bodies, which are productions from the Stratton St Margaret factory, that also does all the pressings for the Morris Oxford Deluxe.

1970: Loom boy met loom girl - it not only led to marriage but a working partnership for a Highworth firm, which added up to nearly 90 years service. George and Alice Jefferies have left Wiltshire Carpets Ltd. George had 51 years under his belt and Alice had 37 years. The couple live a few doors away from the factory gate in Brewery Street and their only son works for the firm. George started as a loom boy and rose to maintenance engineer while Alice left as a wool winder.

Wednesday, October 19

1950: Buses and cars stopped and crowds collected at the spectacle of women chained to railings in Swindon High Street. Other women, who were carrying banners bearing slogans, paraded up the street. The women in period costume, belonging to bodes affiliated to the Swindon Standing Conference of Women's Organisations, were re-enacting a pageant they had performed at the Swindon Arts Centre. It was also being filmed.

1950: Widows and dependants of ex servicemen and any other dependents' causes had been helped in various ways during the last year, Wroughton Women's Section of the British Legion were told. The annual general meeting was held in the Ellendune Hall and presided over by Mr C H Elms.

1960: Swindon's newest family, Mr and Mrs Mark Lake and their three children, were given an official welcome at their new home in Welcombe Avenue, Park North, when they moved in from London. The Mayor of Swindon Coun Miss E C Millin, Mr H V Bond, chairman of the Swindon Housing Committee, and representatives from other organisations in Swindon all welcomed the Lakes. Another guest was Mr Kirby 'Motorway' Laing who built Britain's M1. Mr Lake joined the Plessey plant as a capstan operator.

1960: Modern jazz enthusiasts flocked to the Deer's Leap, Penhill, Swindon to hear Bill Le Sage, hailed as one of the greatest of the modern jazz musicians. He was playing with the resident band the Club Sixty Quintet led by Paul Henry. People were gathering at the door long before the club opened. The club was packed to capacity. Another guest was the trumpeter Peter Inge.

1970: Father Mario Borrelli who is world famous for his work with Naples slum-dwellers said in Swindon that he would remain as a member of his church when he leaves the priesthood. He was speaking at a meeting in the Swindon Town Hall arranged by the British Branch of the Fund For the House of Urchins, the training centre he founded. He said he was leaving the priesthood to give more freedom in his work with the poor.

1970: Girls in Swindon can, for the first time, be immunised against German measles. Immunisation is now being offered to 13-year-old girls to reduce the chance of their having a handicapped baby later in life. German measles is dangerous for children with mothers contracting the disease during the early months of pregnancy. Wiltshire County Medical Officer of Health and Society Security, Dr CDL Lycett was writing to the parents.

Thursday, October 20

1950: The 400 anniversary of the foundation of the Marlborough Grammar School passed quietly because actual celebrations had taken place during the summer. But the occasion was marked by the publication of a special edition of the school magazine. It was in 1550 that the Mayor and Burgesses of Marlborough successfully petitioned Edward Vl for the right to convert the 13th century hospital of St John the Baptist in to a free school for the youth of the town.

1950: Mr J W Charter one of HM Inspectors of Fire Brigades, inspected personnel and equipment at the Swindon branch of the Wiltshire County Fire Brigade. After inspecting the parade of fireman which included members of the part time, retained and auxiliary fire services, Mr Charter watched a series of drills.

1960: Kentwood Eirwen of Upper Stratton can now hold her head high in the dog world for she has become a champion. Owned by Mr and Mrs J Cutler of Beechcroft Road, the Cardigan Corgi has won the Challenge certificate and award for the Best Cardigan Corgi at The Richmond Championship Dog Show at Olympia.

1960: Women's Day and the Standing Conference of Women's Organisations contributed to the Swindon Diamond Jubilee celebrations at Drove School. Nearly 400 women, from all over the town, crowded in to the school hall to watch a pageant, where 100 women portrayed events in the history of women during the past 60 years.

1970: Trains were taking over Swindon Town Hall with the Model Railway Clubs exhibition in full swing. The club has spent £100 staging this exhibition and the members are hoping that the profits will enable them to break even. The largest layout measured 16ft by 8ft.

1970: The Golden Age of film, the immediate post war years, were recalled at the 21st birthday meeting of the Swindon Public Library Film Unit at the Arts Centre. It was a family gathering with about 100 members and the President Tommy Rowe attending.The compere was Mr Eric Arman, vice chairman and member for 20 years, who told the story of the film unit.

Friday, October 21

1950: Major F J Frost of Springfield Road, Swindon, has received a letter from the Ministry of Health stating that the Minister is satisfied that on planning grounds there was no objection to the proposed use of land at Swindon designated for the Garden of Remembrance.

1950: Miss C l Fullarton, Matron of the Victoria Hospital, speaking at a meeting of the Swindon Inner Wheel said that as far as Swindon was concerned the National Health Scheme was a godsend. She referred to the tremendous improvements in ward amenities, nurses quarters and the children's unit. She appealed to members to recommend any suitable girl for the nursing profession.

1960: A Swindon man is seeking a market for a low priced simplified cine projection movement which he has invented. He says it will double the life of the film. Bryan Little, 24, of Groves Street, a qualified cinema projection engineer, now working as a storeman for a firm in Newport Street, is the inventor.

1960: A former Marlborough Grammar School boy is on the staff rota of Song Song, a tiny Malayan island and one of the most modern bombing ranges in the world. 26-year-old Corporal Ian Rankin is a wireless fitter whose mother lives near Pewsey. Cpl Rankin joined the RAF as a boy entrant. He did his rocked training in Australia.

1970: Villagers at Purton fear that a beauty spot is about to disappear. They have watched as the Weir Pond has become stagnant and choked so that even the ducks moved on. Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Rural Council with Purton Parish Council have a joint plan to clear the pool, Mr P H Thomas, a parish councillors has been investigating for the council.

1970: Square D Ltd at Cheney Manor, Swindon are planning a £200,000 factory expansion. Square D have awarded the contract to the Cheltenham Builders Messrs Tresman Ltd. They need the expansion because of their manufacturing of new metric equipment.

Saturday, October 22

1950: Chargeman, foreman and representatives of all department grades gathered in V Shop office of British Rail (WR) Boiler Dept to say goodbye to Chief Clerk Harry J Morse, who was retiring after 51 years of service. A caricature of Mr Morse depicting him as a bowling club devotee playing on a green, caused amusement. He was also given an electric clock, electric toaster and tobacco.

1950: Demobilised from the WRENS in 1949, Miss Vera Fenning, daughter of Mr and Mrs E C B Fenning of Hunt Street, Swindon, decided to seek her fortune in New Zealand. She secured a post with the New Zealand Government in Wellington, when she left England. She is now about to marry Major F De La Cour, a New Zealand Army officer, at Christchurch in New Zealand.

1960: The Morman Church - the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints - has arrived in Swindon. Two Elders, both in their 20s, have arrived from the USA to Britain and are actively campaigning in Penhill. The Elders are Louis Curtis and Mr Q l Cook both of Utah. Already they have formed a baseball tea of 30 youngsters and the missionaries hope to eventually build a Morman church in Swindon.

1960: The Plessey Company has made a £3,700,000 bid for Garrard Engineering and Manufacturing Company. Mr H V Slade, chairman of Garrards, said it was really a get together rather than a takeover. The Garrard board of directors have recommended acceptance but it is now up to the shareholders.

1970: It is an end of an era for Percy Chang. For the first time since 1922 the Ashbury to Swindon bus service will not run. The Queen of the Hills coach service carrying passengers between Swindon, Wanborough, Bishopstone and Ashbury has never missed a run. Percy Chaney, now 67, started the service in 1922 but says now it is just uneconomic to carry on. Percy travels 80 miles a day and is the oldest coach driver in Swindon.

1970: S Pearson and Son, parent company of Wiltshire Newspapers that includes the Evening Advertiser is poised to break all profit records in 1970. In revealing the first half year profits before tax of £5,731,000 Chairman Viscount Cowdray told shareholders that profits are expected to be even higher in the second six months.