THIS week in 1971 was the week of Mr Mad.

That was the name given to Swindon College student Hormoz Tabar-Heydar by the Adver and most of his friends.

It was the college’s charity rag week in aid of causes ranging from the RNLI to the local old people’s Christmas outing, and Hormoz came up with the idea of getting from Swindon to Oxford under his own steam.

Cycling, walking or running were apparently dismissed by the 17-year-old as too easy, as he opted to make the trip on hands and knees. It took just short of three days.

We wrote on the Friday: “With aching wrists and knees numb after 30 miles of crawling, an exhausted Swindon College student reached Oxford just before midnight last night.

“More than 30 people – most of them from The College – cheered as he inched his way painfully along the pavement towards the Oxford boundary.

“Hormoz Tabar-Heydar, a Persian student, set out on Tuesday to crawl to Oxford from Swindon as a rag week stunt to raise money for charity and he has been on the road – literally – ever since.

“He had planned to fly back to Persia after his crawl. ‘But I don’t think I could face going from here to Heathrow,’ he said as he drank a cup of coffee. ‘I think I will just go back to Swindon and get some sleep.’ “The 17-year-old student, who has already been sponsored to the tune of £200, said that the last few miles were the most gruelling.

“His wrists gave way several times and had to be bandaged up, and his knees felt as if they could no longer support him. ‘Still, I kept on and managed to keep a little in reserve for the last stretch,’ he said.”

We wonder what happened to Hormoz, and would be very happy to hear from him and anybody who knows him or was part of his support team 43 years ago.

Another arrival that week took rather less time, which was probably a great relief to all concerned.

The story appeared on our front page on the last day of March: “When Jacqueline Ann Davies drives down the M4 in future years, it will mean more to her than just another road.

“Because Jackie, one day old today, is the daughter of M4 stores worker Mr Thomas Davies, 35, and his wife, Carol, 25, and is the first baby to be born to a member of the motorway team.

“She arrived in her parents’ luxury caravan on the motorway site at Wroughton at 4.25 on Tuesday morning, weighing 8lb 8oz and with black hair and blue eyes.

“Jackie was brought into world by Nurse Rene Schofield, with her father looking on. ‘It was a really happy event,’ said Nurse Schofield. ‘I don’t usually deliver babies in caravans, but this one is beautifully fitted, with hot water and all mod cons.’”

Also making a first appearance – or getting ready to, at least – was the Wyvern Theatre. Its opening by the Queen and Prince Philip wouldn’t be until September, but the building had already taken shape.

Now it was only a matter of putting in the fixtures and fittings. The good news was that they were being installed. A picture story said: “The carpet and seats are now being fitted in the auditorium of Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre.

“About 600 seats are being put in, and the colours of the coverings are in seven shades of green, ranging from dark green to turquoise.”

And the bad news? We revealed that elsewhere in the paper: “The stage curtain for Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre has been destroyed by fire at the factory where it was sent for flame proofing.

“Nearly 200 yards of specially made light material were flown over from France last week, and sent at once to the London firm of Perrotts Nichol and Peyton Ltd, which does theatrical fire-proofing.

“The material was destroyed in a large fire that broke out in the factory the evening it arrived.

“But a replacement curtain is already on its way.”

In a completely different vein, we interviewed one of the most distinguished scientists ever to make his home in Swindon.

William Steavenson, 77, who lived in a cottage near his nephew’s home in South Marston, had been a surgeon by profession, but his lifelong passion was astronomy.

Although officially classified as an amateur, he had been president of the Royal Astronomical Society, Gresham Professor of Astronomy and astronomical correspondent of The Times.

He spoke lovingly of comets and constellations but rather dismissively of the ongoing Apollo moon landings – although he saluted the astronauts’ courage.

“Every time they learn how to land within half a mile of a target on the moon,” he said, “they’re learning how to hit the middle of Moscow.”

Mr Steavenson, who would die in 1975, also believed most television shows were aimed at “morons” but was quite partial to Tom and Jerry.

“They do such wild things,” he said.

IN OTHER NEWS...

MONDAY, MARCH 29, 1971: “SWINDON College students fanned out through the town this morning, pushing prams and selling their ‘thoroughly pornographic’ rag mag. The annual rag week got under way at 11.30with the pram race. Only three prams competed this year, but as Kevin Noon, chairman of the rag committee explained, this was in the interest of road safety. It was a free route race with teams setting off down Commercial Road and then heading wherever their fancy took them. The teams hoped to raise £50 or £60. Among the many beneficiaries of Swindon College Rag Week are the RNLI, Cancer Research, the Westlecot Home for the Blind, and the Swindon old folk’s Christmas Outing.”

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1971: “A COMPLETE facelift has been given to the Haydon Street Working Men’s Club, Swindon, its first ‘new look’ for over 40 years. The club’s interior has been completely renovated and, for the first time, the upper storey of the building, on the corner of Haydon Street and Corporation Street, has been made available for general use. But perhaps the most significant alteration of them all is the one in club policy which opens the club’s doors to women for the first time.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1971: “SOUTH Dorcan will have a population larger than Devizes when it is completed, Mr AW Flack, deputy borough architect, told Swindon Young Conservatives last night. The 750 acres is planned for a population of 11,000 when completed in three or four years’ time. The area’s development is based on the feasibility study on Swindon expansion. It was agreed to go ahead with South Dorcan so as not to inhibit the growth of the town.”

THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1971: “A ‘DEAD’ railway in Swindon is now aiding the growth of one of its old ‘enemies’ – the super-road. British Rail is helping to lay the M4. Old Town railway station has ‘reopened’ and British rail is doing business with a vengeance. During the next few months, approaching 200,000 tons of gravel will arrive at the station to be ferried by a fleet of lorries to the motorway being built between the Shepherd’s Rest and the A338 interchange.”

FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1971: “A BATH once every six months could be the outcome if Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Rural Council goes ahead and installs electric central heating in its council houses. This was one opinion raised at yesterday’s council meeting when it was decided to have a ‘re-think’ about providing night storage and immersion heaters as part of a modernisation programme for its houses. Coun Eric Hodges said that while the council should attempt to raise the living standards of tenants, it was pointless providing them with a facility they could not afford to run.