ONE of the most striking Adver photographs this week in 1964 could hardly be more suggestive of its era.

It showed a young woman with a truly remarkable bouffant hairstyle holding a pen and gazing steadily into the lens as young men gathered around her.

The caption said: “The pop singer Julie Grant goes through her programme with members of her group, Kevin Scott and the Kinsmen, before her performance in the Locarno, Swindon, on Saturday night.”

Grant was yet to turn 18, but the previous year had seen her reach the top 40 with a cover of Up on the Roof and number 24 with follow-up single Count on Me, and later in 1964 would score another top 40 hit with Come to Me.

That would be a fairly modest pedigree today, but 54 years ago her star was more than high enough to draw a sizeable audience to the Old Town venue.

The singer, sometimes said by connoisseurs of 1960s pop to have never reached the level of fame she deserved, went on to become a fixture of the international cabaret circuit before running an American talent agency.

Grant was among a long list of 1960s stars who appeared at the Locarno, including The Who, The Yardbirds, Cilla Black, The Animals and The Small Faces.

Easily the biggest local story of the week was the presentation of the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Swindon to RAF Lyneham before a cheering town centre crowd.

The ceremony was led by the mayor, Charles Streetly, who handed the scroll to the base commander, Group Captain Steedman.

We said: “Before asking Group Captain Steedman to accept the deed granting freedom of entry, the Mayor spoke of those serving at RAF Lyneham as ‘the men and women who so often in the course of their duty have brought the drama of world events to Swindon’s doorstep.’

“In crisis after crisis, the Mayor said, the name of the station had been front page news.”

He added: “Planes from Lyneham have flown thousands of troops to trouble spots and have evacuated women and children.

“They have also taken part in mercy flights, carrying urgently needed medical equipment for the treatment of patients in hospital on the other side of the globe, or bringing home a serviceman to be at the bedside of a sick relative.

“Most of the Army’s exercises abroad are also mounted from Lyneham, and in addition to the troops involved in these and other operational commitments, the station annually flies thousands of other passengers and has delivered vast quantities of supplies to many parts of the world.”

After the ceremony, we said, men and women of RAF Lyneham marched through the town with “…bayonets fixed, colours flying and drums beating.

“Then, through the fast-moving clouds came the roar of four aircraft from the Transport Command Station as they flew past, low over the town.”

The proclamation was written on a vellum scroll housed in a sterling silver casket bearing the old Swindon coat of arms in gilt and enamel.

On the relatively new Penhill estate, mostly built between 1952 and 1955, two landmarks were rising.

The surviving image is grainy, but the two new scaffolding-clad tower blocks it shows are unmistakably Cleverton Court and Upavon Court.

The land, like most of the estate, had originally been part of a sheep farm thought to date back – in one form or another – well over 800 years.

Cleverton Court and Upavon Court are among six 10-storey blocks built during the period. The others are Penhill’s Seagry Court and the Parks blocks, Milverton Court, Torrington Court and Hatherleigh Court.

We also ran another story about Penhill.

Three clergymen – Revs A Allan and D Hemsley of St Peter’s Church and Rev J Harrington of the Free Church – organised a joint action group to promote community cohesion and welcome new arrivals.

“It is hoped,” we said, “that eventually personal contact will be made with all the families in the area.”

A recent Rewind story mentioned the Vickers VA-3, the South Marston-built hovercraft which in 1962 became the first to offer a commercial service.

This week in 1964 we wrote about the VA-3’s smaller sibling, the VA-2, which was to be a star of the British Week trade fair in Dusseldorf.

We said: “Public demonstrations will be given on a stretch of the Rhine between the Oberkasseler and the Theodor Heuss bridges from May 24 to 31.

“Although this is the second time the VA-2 has been taken to Germany, the public has not previously seen it demonstrated.

“The previous demonstration was before NATO Land Force senior officers on the Danube last year.”

We also mentioned the planned VA-4, which would have carried 180 passengers and 32 vehicles at 70mph, had it gone into production.