THIS week 40 years ago, a group of children doing a project about the old American West were helped by a Native American.

He told the children, pupils of Clifton Junior School, of their culture and showed them traditional artefacts such as bows, arrows and drums.

To reach the children, the visitor travelled far from his land.

About 20 miles, in fact, as his land at the time was in Chippenham.

Jeff Starr and his family were minor celebrities of the era, and quite possibly did more than anybody else on this side of the Atlantic to promote indigenous American culture and dispel stereotypes.

Jeff, who worked for many years as a bus driver in Swindon and died in 2006, was also known as Spotted Eagle. He was the son of a full-blooded Lakota man who came to England as a GI during World War Two, settled and raised a family.

Jeff began to explore his heritage in earnest in the mid-1970s, and his wife and children happily joined him.

The Starr family made appearances at public events, but insisted on playing an educational role and refused to compromise the dignity of the culture they so revered and were immersed in.

If the Starrs represented something ancient, another arrival in town that week was very much modern. It had also travelled somewhat further to get here – all the way from Dagenham, in fact.

We said: “The Ford entry into the battle of the minis took off with a flourish at Swindon today when eight new owners took delivery of their Fiestas at Walker Jackson’s showrooms.

“Early today it was still possible to buy one cash on the nail. For a choice of colours there might be a six week delay.”

The “battle of the minis” was the increasingly heated competition between car makers over the growing British small car market.

British Leyland had the Mini and was planning the Metro, Vauxhall had the Chevette, Chrysler was preparing to launch the Horizon and Ford had the Fiesta.

It wasn’t exactly brand new, having been officially launched the previous year, but it was a few months before right-hand drive versions were available.

We pictured a Mr Ronald Zobel from Watchfield taking delivery of his new vehicle. The garage in Marlborough Road was demolished in 2006.

The Fiesta wasn’t the only consumer item we helped to promote that week.

We joined forces with the Fleetway House store in Fleet Street to run a competition whose top prize was an Electrolux WH30 washing machine worth £147.40, which was a hefty sum for the time.

The second prize was a year’s supply of Persil washing powder, which translated as 10 big boxes.

Readers had to study a rather small photograph of a display of washing machines and powder, and say how many boxes there were. To complicate things, some of the boxes were hidden in the machines.

At RAF Lyneham a TV celebrity of the period spent a day running around with a squad of air force members.

Bernard Falk was known to millions as a roving presenter of Nationwide, an early evening news and magazine programme which ran throughout the decade and into the 1980s.

Many older Rewind readers will now be taking to YouTube to remind themselves of the distinctive theme tune and opening credits.

Bernard’s visit to Lyneham came after he heard about the camp’s keep fit regime and decided to incorporate it into his own very public slimming programme.

We said: “Bernard and other reporters on the BBC programme have pledged to join members of the public and fight the flab.

“The results of Bernard’s jogging outing will be shown on the Nationwide programme earlier this week.”

Bernard went on to present a number of programmes including a notorious one in 1983 which some commentators said permanently blighted his CV.

BBC TV show Sin on Saturday was intended to explore each of the Seven Deadly Sins week by week, but was shelved after three.

The controversy and chaos resulting from inviting, among other people, Oliver Reed, fundamentalist religious groups and a notorious porn star proved too much for the corporation.

Bernard Falk died of a heart problem in 1990, aged just 47.

We also interviewed a 63-year-old Swindon grandmother called Queenie Harvey, who had just retired after 13 years as a councillor with the local branch of the Marriage Guidance Council.

Having advised countless distressed couples, she was able to dispel a number of misconceptions, such as the belief that sex was at the root of most marital problems.

“Usually they’re just a barometer indicating the other things which are wrong with the marriage,” she said.

Queenie also mentioned a hobby which provided 1970s scandal sheets with many a front page.

“Wife swapping does go on – and it’s fraught with very great danger.

“There’s almost always somebody in the group who feels badly about it.”