THIS week in 1971, Swindon received a literal flying visit from the Duke of Edinburgh the day after he fell from a polo pony.

“Prince Philip,” we said, “jumped from a black and red helicopter this afternoon to begin his tour of the Duke of Edinburgh Award activities exhibition at Pinehurst School.

“The helicopter came in over the school playing field at 14.43pm – two minutes ahead of schedule. The Prince – as usual – was sitting in the cockpit alongside the pilot.

“He jumped from the helicopter showing no signs of yesterday’s polo fall and was greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, The Lord Margadale of Isley, TD.

“As he landed a crowd of no more than 250 raised a small cheer and the Prince waved to them.”

He was then introduced to several local dignitaries including Town Clerk David Murray John, who carried his trademark bowler hat and umbrella.

Among the young people the royal visitor spoke to were 15-year-old award winners Stephen Leighfield and Derek Newman, who had pitched a tent in the grounds. They told him about a visit they had made to Savernake Forest.

The Duke then went to the school’s sports hall, where he met groups involved in badminton, boxing, PT, climbing, fencing and table tennis.

Another arrival in Swindon that week was rather less dramatic and wasn’t greeted by a crowd, but the person in question still managed to claim a place in history.

Darren Moore weighed 7lb10oz when he was born at Princess Margaret Hospital.

His mum and dad, Mr and Mrs Graham Moore, lived in Islands Mead, Eldene, which is a clue for anybody with an interest in Swindon history.

The neighbourhood was new and still being settled, and young Darren was the first new-born resident.

If the tiny, sleepy infant happens to be reading this, we’d like to wish him a happy 46th birthday and many happy returns.

Also making history was Mrs Gwendoline Carr, of Cleverton Court in Penhill, who was in the midst of a successful run on a television quiz show called The Sky’s the Limit.

So good was her performance in answering questions about the Bible that she won 3,000 miles of air travel. She also won a place aboard a brand new Boeing 747 from which the next show was due to be transmitted as it flew at 28,000 feet over the Atlantic, which was apparently a first.

The show was presented by Hughie Greene, to tends to be remembered these days – if at all – for presenting talent competition Opportunity Knocks and secretly fathering the late Paula Yates.

Elsewhere in Swindon, a mystery was unfolding after a the kidnapping of a gamekeeper.

The person in question wasn’t flesh and blood but a fibreglass model whose usual haunt was the Gamekeeper pub at the junction of Guildford Avenue and Windsor Road, where he had a job as a mascot.

There was no clue as to his fate until the landlord was sent a note consisting of letters cut from newspapers and magazines in classic crime novel style.

It said: “The Gamekeeper is safe and happy to have company. He will be back soon. Love, Lady Chatterly.”

The name, although it had a letter missing, seems to have been a reference to Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the novel about the energetic leisure activities of a gamekeeper and his employer.

We can find no mention in our files of whether the pub’s gamekeeper turned up – but if he did we can only wonder what sort of condition he was in.

The pub from which he took his name is no more, having closed in the 1990s, although the building is still recognisable and is now Lawn Community Centre.

The Bell in Old Town was another venue mentioned in the Adver that week in the early summer of 1971, albeit only in an advert.

At the time, the pub had an upstairs restaurant area with a nautical theme. The photograph in the advert showed fishing nets hung from ceilings and lifebelts attached to the fixtures.

The Bell, one of the town’s oldest pubs, was to go through an array of image changes in subsequent decades. It closed some years ago.

Still in the realm of local history, a relic of Swindon’s most famous literary son was for sale.

Mabel Lester, who lived in Limes Avenue, was selling a Victorian gate-leg table which had once been a focal point of Richard Jefferies’ childhood home.

Jefferies, the acclaimed 19th century nature author, had mentioned the table in at least one memoir. He had given it to Mabel Lester’s grandparents many years earlier.

The table was bought by a man called Lyn Baker for his wife, who was a descendant of the author’s wife.

In 1982 it was placed on permanent loan to the Richard Jefferies Museum, where it remains.