Monday January 2

1951: The Mayor of Swindon, Ald J Bond, told children at a party that Princess Elizabeth was highly impressed by Swindon boys and girls when she visited the town. More than 100 children were entertained at the party held at St Augustine's Church Hall, Rodbourne Road, Swindon. It was sponsored by employees of the British Electricity Authority.

1961: Thirty senior scouts set out on a mid-winter expedition arranged by the Wiltshire Boy Scouts Association. For six days they hike through Wiltshire and into Somerset carrying their own packs and cooking their own food, navigating by compass. Joining the scouts is David McCoombe, 25, a Wiltshire Newspapers representative from the Devizes office. The scouts set off from Dowling Street Scout Hall in Swindon where the Mayor of Swindon Coun Miss E C Millin handed them their sealed orders.

1971: The general manager of Roussel Laboratories in Swindon, Malcolm Symonds, received a musical cigarette box as a welcome to Swindon presented at a dinner in the Great Western Hotel, Swindon. The dinner dance was organised by the Packaging Department to mark Roussel's first year in Swindon.

Tuesday, January 3

1951: Mr W N Brown of Durham Street, Swindon has retired from the Railway Works after 48 years. He spent 38 years in G maintenance shop. He was born in 1885 and entered the works when he was 14 as an apprentice to the engineering trade. In his younger days he was a member of the Amateur Swimming Club, winning several trophies.

1961: Plans for the new Marlborough College Music School have yet to be agreed, but work has already started on the building. Now it is all tools down until plans are confirmed. The Plans Committee has objected to the siting, design and type of material it had proposed to use, it was revealed at the Marlborough Town Council meeting.

1971: They were 12 New Year babies born in Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon. The first to be born was Laura Jayne Adair at 6lb 3 oz to Mrs Gillian Adair of Lambourn. Others included Sara Jayne from mum Cynthia Anderson of Rodbourne, Richard Marek from mum Sofia Soboloiewska from Sandringham Road, Janet Elizabeth from mum Sheila Oaks.

Wednesday, January 4

1951: British Rail (Western Region) Staff Association held a New Year party for children between the ages of 11 and 15 at the Sports Ground, Shrivenham Road. Following games for which the MCs were Miss E Loveday and Mr R Holloway the children were entertained by Miss I Player, comedian and conjurer.

1951: Bananas sold in Swindon have a long journey to our tables, coming on ships from the West Coast of Africa, the Canary Islands and West Indies to Avonmouth. They are packed immediately into steam-heated railway trucks and brought to the wholesalers at the Swindon goods yard. They are then taken to Messrs Elder and Fyffes Ltd in Cricklade Road where they are sprayed with warm water and hung on hooks to ripen for four days, under the eagle eye of Mr House, 40, manager of the Swindon Branch, until they are ready to be sold in town stores.

1961: An after Christmas bouquet has been awarded to the often abused postal system by Mr J Maher, licencee of the White Hart Inn at Wroughton. Only three days after it was posted in the United States, a Christmas card addressed to the White Hart Inn, Wroughton, England, was received by Mr Maher.

1961: Wife of Dr V M Borrelli, Mrs J M Borrelli of Chedcliffe Lodge, Chiseldon, is to be visited at her home by Doreen Stephens, editor of BBC TV Women's programmes. Mrs Borrelli is a county magistrates, Women's Institute voluntary county organiser, former vice president of Chiseldon WI and an amateur singer, who has been chosen to take part in the second round of the BBC TV National Homemaker Competition.

1971: Swindon Town gained a place in the draw for the 4th round of the FA Cup because they were skilful and experienced enough to adapt themselves to the conditions of Loftus Road. All Queens Park Rangers were slipping and sliding into the realms of increasing frustration, while the Town allowed the tricky surface to temper but not destroy their plans to play good football, and the result was Town 2, QPR 1.

1971: Wiltshire buses that do not pay their way could be subsidised from the rates. A 10-man co-ordinating committee drawn from local authorities wants £30,000 spent in the coming financial year to keep buses running on uneconomical routes. If the authorities sanction this the Government will make a grant.

Thursday, January 5

1951: About one hundred people attended the supper and social held by Swindon St Paul's Church Fellowship. After supper members took part in charades produced by the Vicar Rev W E Lambeth, and then played games for which Mr S Porter was MC.

1951: Members of the Swindon Division of the Wiltshire Police gave a party to about 120 parents and children at Gorse Hill Community Centre. After tea the children were given gifts by Father Christmas. There was a film show under the supervision of M K Colborne. The Swindon police dance band played for a dance where the MC was Det Con Butler.

1961: Lack of a hostel or shelter to accommodate girls just passing through Swindon, some of them arriving penniless, is hindering the work of the Church of England Moral Welfare workers. Miss N A House said the kind of hostel needed was not the kind where working girls stay, whose mothers think they are in a nice well conducted hostel, like a YWCA. The welfare workers need a hostel for girls in real trouble. In Great Britain in 1955 there were 3,145 illegitimate births and last year in Swindon Miss House dealt with 50 illegitimate pregnancies.

1961: Christmas was a busy time for Keith Baker, 22, of Upham Road, Swindon who left home last year for a visit to the United States. He is doing research teaching at Cornell University, and is a member of the university Glee Club who were invited to 10 days touring in Russia before performing a Westminster Abbey. He then visited his parents in Swindon on New Year's Eve but it was a short stay as he had to appear on TV in London.

1971: Swindon's Julie Neale, 12, sang, danced and played her trumpet in the ITV programme Junior Showtime. Julie, daughter of Mr and Mrs John Neale of Drove Road sang the Big Bad Wolf.

1971: Cricklade Parish Council made its first move towards forming a Civic Trust. Vice chairman Mr J Marley proposed the formation of a Trust and members decided to consult organisations in the town. Mr Marley felt a Civic Trust was needed. Mr G Freeth said a Trust must be more broadly based than a Parish Council. Women's organisations and schools might want to contribute, he said.

Friday January 6

1951: Public Service drivers and conductors numbering 161, described as the cream of their profession, were presented with National Safety 'accident free' awards by the mayor of Swindon, Ald J Bond, at the Art Centre.

1951: Peking Radio broadcast a message announcing that Marine Joseph Ernest Goodman from West Kennett, Wiltshire was a prisoner. He was reported missing in Korea. Aged 19 he volunteered for service in Korea and was sent out four months ago with the 41st International Commando RM to Tokyo, and was then drafted to the Korean battlefront. He had formerly worked at Weston's Dairy in Calne.

1961: Thousands of saplings in tight formation on a Moredon field will give Swindon's newest streets a beauty treatment that will last 100 years. The saplings are being nurtured for streets on the new building settlements, replacing the centuries old elms and oaks that have fallen before the contractor's bulldozer 1961: Headmaster of High School at Thames in New Zealand for 15 years, before being ordained, the Rev H G Dorrington, and his wife and daughter are to spend a year on the staff of Christ Church in Swindon. Mr Dorrington asked to come to England in order to gain more experience.

1971: Swindon pensioners are only 4,000 signatures short of a target of 10,000 for their petition demanding a substantial increase in pensions. This was announced by Bert Sumbler, Vice Chairman of the Swindon branch of the National Federation of Old Age Pensions. Members started collecting signatures in the parade before Christmas.

1971; New decimal coins the half penny, 1p, and 2p have been seen in Swindon at the Regent Street Branch of Barclays Bank. Mrs Vera McCarthy a cashier at the Regent Street branch was one of the first to receive instructions from Mr David Tuffley, the decimal training officer for the branch, in readiness for D-Day on February 15.

Saturday, January 7

1951: The Duke and Duchess of Norfolk and three of their four daughters attended the matinee performance of the pantomime Cinderella at the Empire Theatre in Swindon, Numbering about 26, the party, which included members of the household staff occupied two rows of the front stalls. The Duke of Norfolk is Earl Marshall Hereditary Marshall of England and Premier Duke. The Duchess, formerly the Hon Lavinia, Mary Strutt, held the Queen's canopy at the Coronation in 1937.

1951: Pupils at Blakehill Primary School were encouraged to learn about money by saving in the school's Penny Bank saving group. The wife of the headmaster saw one of the pupils, John Lancaster, pushing a pram from which came plaintive cries like a baby. Thinking the worst she ran out to discover the occupant was a kid goat he had bought for a £1, withdrawn from the school Penny Bank.

1961: Thirty scouts from the 1961 White Horse Hike returned home after their six day hike beginning in Swindon. Their last evening consisted of going to church and then a special dinner. More than 150 people attended the special scout service to conclude the hike including members of the expedition, local scouts and members of the Melksham Urban District Council. Each scout received a White Horse Hike pennant from Father Christmas. The scouts had been accompanied all the way by an Evening Advertiser reporter, David McCoombe, 22.

1961: More than 50 members of the Swindon Citadel Salvation Army Young People's Corps attended a New Year party at the Citadel. The three hour entertainment started with a candlelit supper. This was followed by games and then a prayer led by Mrs Senior Major Simkin.

1971: A new adult education scheme to be held at Commonweal School, Swindon is for students of the Open University. It will be linked with the BBC Gateway courses, said Mr P V Thomas the head of Commonweal Evening Centre, at a meeting at the College Swindon.

1971: Teresa Ford, teacher at a Swindon Junior School is matching the men at their own game when it comes to skydiving. Teresa of Cloche Way, Upper Stratton, 22, made her first jump two years ago. She has now jumped more than 150 times and with the best, including the famous Red Devils team. She takes after her father who is a gliding instructor at South Marston.