Monday December 19

1950: There were 225 entries, a large increase on last year, for the second annual show of Wootton Bassett Fur and Feather Social Club. At the Memorial Hall Mr S W Free of Bristol won the prize for Best In Show with a sable called Rex.

1960: A large congregation attended a Carol service given by the Newspaper House Choir Swindon at Chiseldon Parish Church. The choir, conducted by Mr L Lister, sang traditional Carols and some less familiar ones. Soloists were Miss J A Carey, Miss N Gill, sopranos, Mr M Horan, tenor and Mr P Jowett on bass. Hand bell ringing preceded the service.

1970: Swindon Young Liberals have been 'raiding' stores and supermarkets in the town to slap danger labels on goods. They hunt down South African products to stick grim looking warning labels on them The labels are in black with white skulls saying: Danger: product of Apartheid. The young liberals plan was frowned upon by the chairman of Swindon Liberal and Radical Association.

Tuesday, December 20

1950: It was a notable occasion for the Swindon personnel from Wiltshire Fire Service as a new fire engine, which had cost £3,000, was handed over to the station. In addition three long serving firemen received medals and were complimented on their service. The Mayor of Swindon Ald J Bond attended the ceremony.

1960: A team of experts from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) Command Ammunition Inspectorate was in charge of getting a bomb ready for detonation at the Canal Site between Wellington Street and Merton Street in Swindon. The bomb had been unearthed by a bulldozer. The pre-war mortar bomb that was exploded was about a foot long and badly corroded.

1970: People were queuing outside the doors of the National Council of Social Services in Faringdon Road when the gates opened at 9am, ready for the distribution of the annual Christmas parcels for those in need. The voucher with the name and address of the recipient was ready and waiting when the first of the more than 900 vouchers for more than 1,500 people were handed over. A single person got 10 shilling to be spent at a green grocers and a married couple 15 shillings.

Wednesday, December 21

1950: About 100 children attended a Christmas party held at the Ordinance Supply Depot, Kembrey Street when they were addressed by the Mayor of Swindon Ald J Bond. After tea the children were given toys by Father Christmas, and fruit and sweets. Entertainment was provided by Magician Pop Smith, Bob Berry on accordion and clowns Mr H Butler and Mr C Goldsmith.

1950: The pre-war Christmas sale of live and dead poultry was resumed in Swindon when it was held for the first time in Messrs Loveday and Loveday sale yard at the Planks. About 140 birds were on offer. Live turkeys made from 55 shillings to £6, and dead turkeys made £2 45 shillings. Also for sale were geese, cockrells and hens.

1960: A large congregation was gathered in the Methodist Schoolroom when Stratton St Margaret Evergreen Club held a service of nine lessons and Carols. Mr Harold Field Senior, a lay reader at St Margaret's Church, read the opening prayer. The soloist was Mr A Field and other items were sung by the choir. The Rev Dudley Jenkins gave a short address.

1960: In one day at the Regent Place sorting office 650 bags of letters and packets were taken out for delivery in Swindon. The next day was quieter at the post office only 350 bags were delivered but the rest of the week was expected to be busier, said Mr T Guy, Inspector in charge. Two hundred extra staff had been taken on for the Christmas period in Swindon.

1970: A party of Swindon scouts went to the TV centre at White City as part of their long weekend in London. The trip included seeing Derek Nimmo at the Adelphi Theatre and lunch with the Lord Mayor of London. The scouts on the trip were Stewart Kerr and Phillip Langley from the 17th Swindon Scouts, Adrian Goodenough and Michael Leighfield from the 11th Swindon, David Burrows and Graham Henderson from the 16th Swindon group and scout leader Robert Hart from Wootton Bassett.

1970: More than a quarter of a million cards and letters were posted in the Swindon area during the weekend. Post Office staff handled 242,998 on one day and 112,845 the next. Swindon's Victoria Hill Post Office ran out of Christmas issue stamps. The number of letters posted since December 13 was 1,854,698, nearly one per cent up on last year.

Thursday, December 22

1950: Widowed mother of four children, Lillian Tun, of Princes Street, Swindon was overwhelmed with gratitude at the kindness of her fellow townspeople. Since the Evening Advertiser reported the theft of Herbert, the cockrell she had been fattening up since Easter, she has been given the offer of four cockrells and a duck. The birds came from personnel at 33 MU Lyneham, an unknown woman and a firm of engineers.

1950: A Christmas tree 12ft tall, presented by Sir Geoffrey Tritton, stands in the foyer of the Palace Cinema, Swindon, bearing gifts for needy children. In the Gorse Hill and Pinehurst districts, already patrons have contributed 100 toys and books, but manager Mr W A Bradley said they still needed more.

1960: Students of Swindon Technical College celebrated the end of term with a Christmas ball at McIlroys Ballroom Swindon. About 400 people, students and friends attended. Music was presented by Ken Exton with his band. Mr H Field was MC.

1960: Plans to extend the Wroughton sewage works and relay sewers, at an estimated cost of £64,000 in preparation for an ultimate increase in population to 9,000 has been agreed by Highworth Rural Council. The council was told that the existing works, serving the village, were dealing with two and a half times the flow they were designed to take.

1970: For the last three weeks Swindon's Mother Christmas and her helpers have been sorting, grading and packaging more than 2,000 toys to be distributed to hundreds of needy children in the town. Mother Christmas is Mrs B W Brown and she is in an upstairs room at the Swindon Council of Social Services in Faringdon Road. For 11 months of the year her title is Women's Clothing Committee vice chairman. Each year she takes on the challenge of toy distribution.

1970: Money collected from teenagers at McIlroys Monday night dances was used to give 30 children from Olive House and The Chose in Stratton St Margaret, a Christmas party. The children were entertained by Father Christmas and disc jockey Kenny Kay.

Friday, December 23

1950: Four couples in Swindon and District who are celebrating their Golden Weddings this Christmas have been associated with the Swindon Railway Works for a total of 183 years. The man who gave the most service was Mr W J Hathaway of Colebrook Road, Stratton with 48 years. Mr F G H Higgins has given 45 years service and the riveter who played cricket, John Percival Cresswell, served for 44 years.

1950: When Wiltshire readers borrow books from the County Library they mainly like to read about war or archbishops. County Librarian Miss L R Andrews states in her annual report that this taste has occurred for two years running with the most popular books dealing with the late war and one a biography of an arch bishop. The books are Eastern Approaches by Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean, Rommel by Brigadier Desmond Young, Colonel Vladimir Peniakoff's Private Arms and the biography of Cosmo Gordon Lang by J G Lockhart.

1960: It was a tradition in the services that men on duty on Christmas Day have their dinner served by the officers. At RAF Lyneham this year they have gone one better. Christmas was brought forward a few days so all the airmen became guests. About 800 sat down in the Airmen's Restaurant to enjoy a turkey dinner served by the Commanding Officer of Lyneham, Group Captain R E Craven and his officers.

1960: Pupils of Pinehurst Secondary Modern School, Swindon were working hard, not at their books, but loading sacks of firewood on to a Swindon Education Committee tractor for distribution to the elderly folk of The Bungalows, Pinehurst. The wood had been collected by the pupils with the help of local timber merchants.

1970: John Davenport of Swindon, the rally navigator, has again been paired with Simo Lampinen, the Finnish ace, and a Lancia for the Monte Carlo Rally. They were paired together in a Lancia in a recent RAC Rally and were lying second when gearbox trouble had them out of the running. John and Simo will start from Athens.

1970: Former milkman David Hill, who gave up his milk float to join the Navy, is now returned from an 11 month trip around the world. David is an Able Seaman and son of Mr and Mrs Hill of Bourne Road, Moredon, Swindon. He is a crew member of the anti-aircraft frigate Leopard.

Saturday, December 24

1950: Sir Steuart Wilson, Deputy General Administrator of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden took part in a BBC Any Questions programme in Swindon. Sir Steuart told the audience in the Swindon Arts Centre about a group of Carol singes who had a young boy with them whose nose was bleeding.The singers said that he had been singing bass which always made his nose bleed. The question about child singers came from Mrs A J Chivers of Kent Road in Swindon.

1950: For their Christmas party each of the 18 residents of Westlecott, Swindon, the only County House for the Blind in Wiltshire, wore beautiful silk butterflies, crafted by Mrs Shadwell, 89. Westlecot was decorated with holly, mistletoe and flowers with a laden Christmas tree which was stripped of its gifts after tea. The evening ended with community singing.

1960: A parcel which left Swindon on route for Ahmedabad, a large city in India was to be given to 12 destitute young girls. Margaret Darnton of Park North, Swindon, a teacher at the Drove Girls Secondary School, completed a social service lecture tour of India in 1959. She told her pupils of the plight of Indian children. So her class decided to help a crippled 19-year-old who was striving to teach a number of destitute Indian children.

1960: About 130 members of the Rodbourne Cheney Swindon West Ward Silver Threads Club enjoyed a Christmas tea and programme of Carols at West Ward Community Centre. While Pinehurst Swindon Silver Threads Choir entertained members of their club with a Christmas programme of music.

1970: More than 300 people attend the Swindon Youth For Christ Carol Concert at the Presbyterian Church. A collection of £21 15 shillings was raised for the Swindon and District Society for Mentally Handicapped Children. Philip Leicester, the society's appeals officer, said it would go towards a badly needed mini bus. Music was performed by the Salvation Army Band and A Men, a Christian pop group.

1970: Sixty deprived children from the Swindon area had a party to remember, thanks to the Swindon Town Football Club girls. The girls arranged the whole evening and bore the cost of 60 individual presents for the youngsters out of their own pockets. Football was the essential ingredient and some of the Swindon Town players dropped in to greet the children. There was an enormous cake shaped like a football. The party was at the County Ground Hotel.