THIS week in 1992 the Adver reported roofs falling in on two people.

One was Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, who managed the remarkable feat of losing a General Election to John Major, but at least that avalanche of masonry was only metaphorical.

The other was a Swindon boy who went uscathed through the sort of event that turns parents’ hair grey.

We wrote: “A toddler had a lucky escape when his bedroom ceiling collapsed on the bed where he should have been sleeping.

“Three-year-old Scott Symonds had been sent to bed by mum Karen, but sneaked into the bathroom to play when his bedroom ceiling collapsed, crushing the bed frame and some of his toys.

“Mrs Symonds, 32, of Hughes Street, Rodbourne, Swindon, said: ‘I am convinced Scott would have died if he had done what he was told and gone to bed.

“‘Huge bricks fell straight on to the bed from the attic, and we are so worried it is going to happen again that the whole family is sleeping downstairs.’”

The family’s insurance company, Bradford & Bingley, initially refused to pay for all of the damage, claiming it was partly down to normal wear and tear, but changed their tune after the Adver became involved.

The General Election, meanwhile, was a straight race between Major and Kinnock.

Major was campaigning on his keynote ‘back to basics’ and ‘family values’ tickets. These, of course, were to be cited as rampant hypocrisy several years later, when Edwina Curry revealed their affair.

Meanwhile, Kinnock’s prospects for victory had looked relatively good until an infamous televised election rally in Sheffield which proved so awful that it has its own Wikipedia entry. A few Clintonesque waves and whoops were arguably all it took to torpedo his party’s chances until Tony Blair savaged the Major Government in 1997.

Swindon in those days was a single constituency rather than Swindon North and Swindon South, and the sitting MP was Tory Simon Coombs, who’d been in place since 1983.

In the1992 contest his main challenger was Labour’s Jim D’Avila, who is still a major force in local trade unionism. The field also included another Swindon political veteran, Roly Gillard, who stood as a Raving Loony Green Giant.

Shortly before the poll, we reported: “With only one full day’s campaigning to go, the two main political parties have it all to play for in Swindon.

“Conservative parliamentary candidate Simon Coombs is one point ahead of his Labour rival in a poll conducted by Bristol-based research organisation Marketing Decisions for the Evening Advertiser.

“The Swindon survey contradicts the findings of the biggest opinion poll of the election campaign, which predicts Labour will take the town from the Conservatives on Thursday.

“But while the Evening Advertiser poll interviewed more than 1,200 people in Swindon, the Press Association/ICM poll quizzed only 31 people in the town, although it talked to more than 10,000 nationwide.”

As things turned out, the Adver poll was the accurate one, as the Tories beat Labour by 31,749 to 28,923, although Roly Gillard managed a creditable 236.

Simon Coombs would remain as Swindon’s MP until the nationwide 1997 rout by New Labour, when he lost to Julia Drown in the new Swindon South constituency.

The Swindon house of one couple had posters for two opposing candidates in its window.

We said: “Pete and June Gaydon are fighting a battle of the sexes in this election.

“To show exactly where their allegiances lie, they have put up His and Hers posters in the front window of their home in Old Town, Swindon.

“June is backing Liberal Democrat Simon Corden, Pete is supporting Labour’s Jim D’Avila.

“Customs officer Pete, 48, said: ‘We just can’t agree. I came home from work and saw June’s poster. I thought, ‘I’m not having that.’ So I put up a leaflet for Jim D’Avila but then I thought I’d better differentiate to show who is supporting who.’”

June, 46, a secretary, told us: “It is equal opportunities in this house. But I certainly don’t want anyone thinking I am voting Labour.”

Away from election politics, a photograph of newly-released hostage Jackie Mann, who’d been held by Jihadists in Lebanon for two years, helped to win Adver photographer Dave Evans a national accolade at the UK Press Gazette awards.

Mr Mann, a Battle of Britain veteran and former airline pilot who lived in Lebanon for many years until his capture, was photographed by Dave at the controls of a Spitfire at RAF Lyneham following release and evacuation.

Sadly, the former hostage never recovered from the cruelties inflicted by his captors, and died in 1995.

IN OTHER NEWS...

MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1992: “AN HISTORIC collection of railway relics linked with Isambard Kingdom Brunel could find a temporary home near the site of his great railworks. For about 130 years civil engineers following in the footsteps of the GWR pioneer have looked after and added to a collection of items associated with him. Now, because of internal changes in British Rail, there will be no job equivalent to civil engineer for the former Great Western region. As a result, BR is to hand the collection, including Brunel’s unusual walking stick, to the National Railway Museum in York. But because they have such strong ties with Swindon, the items are likely to be loaned.”

TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 1992: “A WOMAN who built up her own firm from nothing to one employing 16 people has become Swindon Business Personality of the Year. Anita Lowe, 31, runs hotel and conference booking forum Venues Unlimited with her husband Chris from their home in Bishopstone. Last year she was the first woman president of Swindon Chamber of Commerce in its 96-year history. Last night she was voted Swindon business personality – the first woman winner in its four years.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1992: “POLICE today were investigating a driver’s claims that patrol cars raced on the M4 motorway at speeds of up to 100mph. The incident is claimed to have happened on the westbound carriageway just before Junction 15, the east Swindon interchange. Company managing director David Adams was driving on the M4 from Heathrow airport to his home near Taunton when he saw two Rover police cars weaving about. Inspector Pauline Tilley, head of Swindon traffic, said she did not believe the drivers were from her division. She stressed that whoever was in the cars could have been training in motorway patrol techniques rather than racing.”

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1992: “RECEIVERS were fighting this afternoon to save 200 jobs at Swindon’s largest construction group, ISIS. The group, behind some of the largest developments in the town, went into receivership yesterday with undisclosed debts running into millions of pounds. Staff were told late yesterday by receivers. One said today: ‘We are absolutely devastated.’”

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1992: “A DISUSED cinema which has lain empty for more than a year could soon be used to give a boost to Swindon’s nightlife. The three-screen Cannon cinema in Regent Street – closed to make way for the seven-screen MGM multiplex in West Swindon – is likely to be the subject of market research to discover what the town’s residents want to see in its place.”