OUR main photograph shows pioneering British TV star Brian Johnston and a group of girls from Swindon.

It was brought to us by reader Jill Ricketts after she spotted a recent snippet in our On This Day section from 1960.

In November of that year we had written: “Joanne Symon, producer of the television programme All Your Own, was so impressed when she visited the Salvation Army Hall, Chapel Street, Gorse Hill, Swindon to audition the Timbrel Group, that she told them they would be on the programme in the new year.”

Mrs Ricketts – she was Jill Bond at the time – led the group alongside friend and fellow Salvation Army member Jennifer Allen. They had formed it in May of 1957.

Timbrels are similar to tambourines, and the Gorse Hill (Swindon) Salvation Army Timbrel Group accompanied many local band performances.

The two leaders, aged 21, went to London for the live broadcast on Sunday, January 22, 1961.

“We were very excited,” she said. “It was at Broadcasting House.”

The party from Swindon were up at about 5am for the journey to London. Rehearsals were held throughout the morning and early afternoon, ready for the show to begin at 5.30pm.

Presenter Brian Johnston, who died aged 81 in 1994, is mostly remembered as a beloved BBC cricket commentator. He also presented a popular radio programme, Down Your Way.

Mrs Ricketts remembers him as a friendly and kind man who was happy to sign autographs. He signed the photo she shared with Rewind and also a copy of the script.

The Swindon group shared a bill with piper and accordionist Eddie Hutcheson, three young competitive cyclists, a watch and clock maker and an angler called Christine Wintersdorf.

Mrs Rickets is a retired secretary. She and husband Derek, a retired electronics worker, live in North Swindon and have a daughter, granddaughter and great-grandson.

Both worship at the Salvation Army’s Old Town citadel.

Jennifer Allen, the other timbrel group leader, died of leukaemia in her mid-twenties.

The group continued to perform for several years after the broadcast.