Rewind...January 20-25 1965

Sir Winston, 90, who led and inspired Britain through the darkest days of World War Two, had suffered a severe stroke the previous Friday.

Throughout the week the Adver, like thousands of other newspapers, carried daily front page reports of his condition as it gradually declined.

As ever, though, the Adver didn’t neglect its responsibility to tell local stories, one of which read like an old-time adventure tale.

We wrote: “Second Engineer Jim Castle sat in front of a cheerful fire at his home in Redcliffe Street, Swindon, today and talked about his 12 days as a castaway on Washington Island in the South Pacific.

“He was aboard the Glasgow freighter Southbank, which ran aground and broke up on a coral reef on Boxing Day.

“He has come to Swindon, where he lives with his mother, Mrs Alice Castle, for a fortnight’s leave after being picked up with 55 others by the United States Coast Guard cutter Winnebago.

“Mr Castle, whose right ankle is heavily bandaged after being cut on coral, but who was otherwise unhurt, was on watch in the engine room when the Southbank went aground.”

The shipwrecked mariner told us: “There was suddenly a cracking sound as the girders started giving. The generators went on running and then the order came to abandon ship.”

The trip to the island was made in heavy seas in a dinghy, but the crew were welcomed by the Australian manager of a coconut plantation and local workers.

Mr Castle returned to Swindon with souvenirs including a couple of grass skirts and a sword edged with sharks’ teeth.

He added: “Everybody was very friendly, and during the time we were there we fed like fighting cocks.

“We were able to get back to the ship several times to take off supplies. She finally went about the third night after we got to the island.

“There appeared to be flashes of lightning as the metal split and ground together, but we could not hear anything because of the surf.”

Another news item probably broke the hearts of a few local female music fans.

“A member of the Swindon beat group The Hummelflugs was married at St Philip’s Church, Upper Stratton, on Saturday.

“Mr Andrew Maguire, the youngest son of Mr and Mrs BM Maguire of Cape Town, South Africa, and formerly of Scotby Avenue, Swindon, married Miss Rosemary Collier, youngest daughter of Mrs JDE Collier of Cricklade Road, Swindon, and the late Mr Collier.”

Formed in 1963 and disbanded in 1966, The Hummelflugs were a five-piece pop outfit whose members included Andrew on bass and his brother, Paul, on organ.

Soon assembling a big local following, they went on to put out two singles on major labels. Lookin’ for Love came in December of 1964 and Standing By followed in March of 1965.

Our report on the wedding added that the bride wore a white satin dress with a bolero and train, and a bouffant veil held in place by a white flowered circlet.

As if the loss of a Hummelflug were not trauma enough, young women of Swindon we surveyed that week said most young men left a lot to be desired.

Margaret Ward, 18, summed up the mood: “There is an awful lot of roughs in the town who are not at all well-dressed.

“The boys are not polite. At a dance they just come up and tap you on the shoulder and start dancing. They don’t even ask nicely.”

Rosalind Woodruff, 17, said: “When you do go to a dance all you see is the boys standing around the walls of the hall.”

As part of a series of pieces about individual local neighbourhoods, Adver reporter Helen Green went to the relatively new estate at Walcot.

The Architectural Review had not long since described it as “...a howling desert of monotony...”, and we were no more ready to tolerate Swindon-bashing then than we are now.

“There is an impression of spaciousness and being able to breathe,” wrote our reporter. “There is variety in building scale (nothing is duller than row upon unrelieved row of same scale houses even though they vary in design), colour and layout.

“As a contrast to the comparative quietness of the residential streets there is Sussex Square, the estate’s own small shopping centre which, while it doesn’t exactly bustle with activity, is still very much alive.”

IN OTHER NEWS...

MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1965

“AFTER 44 years with the railways, retired yard inspector Sydney Cox was chief guest at a celebration in his honour at Wills Sports Club, Swindon, on Saturday night. Mr Cox, who lives at Cricklade Road, moved from Bath in 1928. He is married with one daughter, June. He was given an electric razor by Mr Eric Clark, secretary of the guards and shunters’ yard mutual aid group. His wife, Edna May, received a bouquet and a box of chocolates.”

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1965

“THE sit-down strike staged by the three women who run the British Railways loco works canteen at Swindon dragged into its seventh day. Negotiations had been held yesterday by the management and Mr H Mayl, secretary of the Swindon branch of the TGWU, about the women’s claim for more money. But afterwards both sides commented: ‘The position is unchanged.’ The striking trio, who earn £5 17s 6d [about £5.87] a week, want 36s [£1.80] more to bring them in line with the women who provide the tea trolley service at the works.”

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1965

“CARAVAN classrooms for handicapped children, beat group contests, mannequin parades and community singing laid on by the local council...a water safety week...and an experimental clinic for alcoholics. These are some of the examples of ‘enterprise’ in local government listed by the National and Local Government Officers’ Association. ”

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1965

“SEVERAL members of Swindon Philatelic Society have been awarded diplomas for their entries in the British Philatelic Exhibition which opens at the Seymour Hall, London. For his collection of United States stamps, Dr Donald Patton of Highworth won the highest possible award – a gold diploma. He also took silver gilt medals for his recent book on the stamps and postal history of Hamburg and a monograph on the Boyd’s local post which operated in New York for 40 years. Mr HL Bartrop, of Swindon, and Lieut-Cmdr J Arkell were awarded bronze diplomas.”

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1965

“THE trials and tribulations of the old age pensioner start in the pension and insurance offices, claims Mr AF ‘Bob’ Cutforth of Minety Road, Penhill. Mr Cutforth’s biggest bugbear is the office of the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance in High Street. In a letter to the Advertiser Mr Cutforth, who retired last week, said: ‘I enter and am immediately surrounded by the lame and the destitute – I among the destitute, or soon will be. There is a gentleman at the end of the queue who is very nice and pleasant, but not at all helpful. He will discuss your business in front of all present. There is not even the question of privacy and this I think is really disgusting.”