“78 COACHES and Three Trains in Swindon Exodus,” said our front page headline 47 years ago today.

The mass vanishing act was prompted by that evening’s FA Cup fifth round replay between Swindon Town and Nottingham Forest.

We wrote: “A cavalcade of 78 coaches and hundreds of cars left Swindon today as thousands of fans headed for Villa Park, Birmingham, to watch the Swindon Town-Nottingham Forest replay.

“Almost 2,000 people were travelling on the three special trains which British Railways provided to take supporters to the match.

“At least 3,000 people went by coach. The number of coaches booked from Rimes of Swindon is 28 more than for the first match against Nottingham Forest at Nottingham.

“Many Swindon schools and factories will close early to allow schoolchildren and workers to get to Birmingham.”

The festive mood wasn’t to last long, though. Swindon sank by three goals to nil that evening, and thousands of fans who headed for the Midlands didn’t even reach the ground on time thanks to traffic jams.

We delivered the post-mortem on the traffic chaos the following day: “Swindon Town supporters were bitter today at the ‘absolute chaos’ which prevented thousands of football fans getting into Villa Park, Birmingham, for the match against Nottingham Forest last night.

“The coach carrying the Swindon team reached the ground in time only after police had escorted it through Birmingham traffic.

“The Swindon Town Girls Marching Group, who were to have paraded around the ground before kick-off, could not get in until half time.

“Town supporters told a reporter that the gates were closed after 49,000 people had gone through – although there is room for 76,000 at Villa Park.”

In a melancholy postscript, we spoke to the marching girls’ trainer, Phyllis Turner, who said: “We took two bottles of champagne to celebrate because we expected Swindon to win. On the way home we bought fish and chips and ate them in the coach with the champagne.”

Perhaps the chaos stemmed from the completely new system of road signs lately unveiled across the country. The old and rather haphazard ones were replaced by the standardised red-bordered circles and triangles.

So important was familiarisation with the new signs that newspapers ran competitions about them.

The Adver devoted an entire broadsheet page to 48 signs and invited readers to identify them on a handy coupon. There were three top prizes of £10 vouchers and lesser awards down to £1.

Also getting ready to go on the move that week were hundreds of Swindon children booked up for school trips to foreign countries. Such visits are commonplace these days, but back in 1967 cheap overseas travel was fairly new.

Among those we spoke to were sixth formers from Park Senior High School, who were due to head for Madrid, and a Switzerland-bound party from Park North High School.

In those days Spain was still under the dictator, Franco, but the old tyrant’s restrictions on free speech held no terrors for the Swindon young people.

We reported: “They weren’t afraid of being arrested for wearing Carnaby Street gear, as happened to one young Englishwoman recently.”

Turning to the party headed for Switzerland, we said: “David Rowan, of Yeovil Close, Park North, said he just wanted to see what other countries were like. He thought foreigners might live differently and dress differently, and their towns might be smaller.

“Robert Tredwell, a year older than David at 12, felt it would be a ‘new experience’ from living at Whitbourne Avenue.

“Shirley Skinner, 11, of Dulverton Avenue, just wanted to find some continuous sunshine. Susan Welsh, 12, of 107 Kingswood Avenue, thought it would be ‘nice to see different people’ and that ‘what we hear about people there isn’t all true.’ “But a note of traditional British insularity crept in when Julia Richards, of Tavistock Road, said apprehensively: “I hope they’ll be friendly.”

Our reporter marvelled at the wonders of modern life, noting that the older pupils were relaxed about their trips.

He added: “After all, I recollected, I knew some traditional Wiltshire folk who look on a 10-mile journey to a neighbouring town as a major expedition.

“The reply to my next question gave me the answer. They had all been abroad before. They were part of a new breed – born of a world which is getting smaller every day, a world in which young people have the chance to see half a dozen countries before they leave school.”

IN OTHER NEWS...

MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1967
“A PARTY of fishermen from the Swindon district yesterday rescued seven people from a 42ft power boat which sank in the Solent. The boat sank after striking a submerged wreck about three miles off Portsmouth. The six fishermen, all members of the Swindon Deep-Sea Angling Club, were fishing from a half-cabin launch. One of the party, Mr John Davis, of Slade Drive, Stratton, told an Advertiser reporter today: ‘The wreck ripped a hole in the stern of the boat, and it went down with the bow pointing into the air. The people on the boat put out a life raft, but it kept being sucked back by the wreck. We took them on board and later tied a dinghy to the wreck as a marker.”

TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 1967
“VISCOUNT Ullswater, chairman of the newly-formed Wiltshire Association of Boys’ Clubs, opened a new extension to Walcot Boys’ Club, Swindon, last night. The new extension – a senior lounge and a hard court playing area – cost about £2,000. Viscount Ullswater, before cutting the tape, said: ‘A lot of work has gone into the construction of the new extension. I could go on mentioning the names of helpers for a long time.’”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1967
“COUN GF Davies told Haydon Wick Parish Council that even the back rooms of his home at the post office shook when heavy buses went over the ruts in the road outside. Coun Davies said that the road had been in a really bad state for the past six to eight weeks. Since February the road had been dug up four times – by the Southern Electricity Board, the Gas Board, the Water Department and the GPO.”

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1967
“WINNER of the Evening Advertiser competition in which the prize was a day at the Ideal Home Exhibition, Mrs Marjorie Risdon chose Tuesday for her visit to the show at Olympia. The prize included first class rail tickets for two to Paddington, entrance to the exhibition and lunch at a London restaurant. Mrs Risdon’s companion was her husband, Mr GW Risdon, who is a civil servant and was able to arrange a day’s leave. Their interest especially focused on the 1967 village of show houses, with their new ideas on furnishings. They placed at the head of the list the Norwegian log house, open plan, built of mainly natural materials.”

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1967
“SWINDON Corporation will again be staging an anti-litter campaign this year. Letters drawing attention to the need to keep Britain tidy will be sent to factories and business premises and to members of the council. Special posters will be printed and displayed in the library and other public places. The first national Anti-Litter Week will be held from July 17 to 23.”