THIS week in 1967 saw the publication of what has since come to be seen as a classic study of Swindon.

An Awkward Size for a Town by Kenneth Hudson assessed Swindon as its population reached 100,000, or about half of today’s figure.

Many reviewers praised the work of Hudson, an industrial archaeologist and journalist, as fair and incisive - but that didn’t prevent all hell from breaking loose once a TV channel got hold of a copy.

Hudson had much to say in praise of the town and its people, and had little time for critics who peddled cliches about Swindon.

“For one reason or another,” he wrote, “I had paid frequent visits to Swindon during the whole period of its major expansion and for several years before that.

“Despite its imperfections, it was a town I was fond of and respected, for reasons that I always found difficult to explain to people who had spent very little time there, or who regarded it as a music hall joke...”

He concluded that Swindon, like many towns in the process of expansion, was too large to retain the strong social cohesion of smaller communities, but not yet large enough to support the extensive amenities associated with many cities.

Hudson also proved prophetic, because within a few years population growth helped to spur the success of facilities such as the Oasis and the Brunel Centre.

That week in 1967, however, the book prompted ITV station TWW to run a brief feature in a news programme which caused outrage.

“Television viewers,” we thundered, “were last night presented with a scathing indictment of ‘comic opera’ Swindon when TWW screened a brief interpretation of Mr Kenneth Hudson’s book, An Awkward Size for a Town.

“Its theme was set by compere Guy Thomas, who quoted Mr Hudson saying that Swindon’s image is ‘a quaint,old-fashioned comic opera town that has never succeeded in pulling itself into the 20th century.’”

There was at least some comfort for aggrieved Swindon people when TWW lost its franchise the following year.

Not all of our news that week was so weighty.

As we’ve pointed out before in Rewind, in the decades before the invention of the internet, local newspapers were the main supplier of endearing animal stories, and 51 years ago we managed to cater for lovers of both dogs and cats.

Beneath a photo of a group of handsome canines we wrote: “The Alsatian is a dog to be admired - and respected.

“Nearly everyone, except possibly cat lovers and postmen, seems to be a little soft about dogs. Being sentimental about them is a national pastime for the British.

“But even an hour spent watching the Swindon branch of the British Alsatian Association in training is enough to convince you that the Alsatian is too active and intelligent a dog to get sentimental over.

“They must be trained, not pampered, and trained by people who know what they are doing.

“Which was exactly what was happening when I dropped in at the Swindon branch’s weekly training session at the Queen’s Drive Methodist Church Hall.”

Sessions to help the animals learn traditional obedience skills such as sitting and walking to heel cost the equivalent of just over 12p a week, while more advanced dogs and owners had outdoor training sessions in disciplines such as searching and tracking.

According to the trainers, one of the most difficult things for the loyal dogs to learn was retreating some distance from their owners and waiting to be called.

There was also a story for readers on the other side of the canine-feline divide.

“Minnie, a tortoiseshell cat,” we said, “was found on a step, covered in snow. That was 24 years ago, and apart from a few missing teeth, Minnie is still going strong.

“And her owner, Mrs Gladys Love, of Swindon Road, Stratton St Margaret, wants to know if this is a record age for a cat in the Swindon area or maybe even in Wiltshire?”

Minnie’s story was not our only one about a great age being reached.

In 1861 an iron church had been built in Regent Street to cater for the rapidly-growing New Town population. It stood approximately where Regent Street meets Canal Walk today, and could hold 500 worshippers.

Before it was built, the local landscape was mostly open fields.

Some 18 years later it moved to what is now St Phillips Road in Upper Stratton and became the first St Philip’s Church.

It did so having first been acquired by a member of the Arkell family, who originally intended to use it as a storehouse.

When a new church opened in Beechcroft Road in 1904, the old iron building was given over to use as a church and social hall.

By the early summer of 1967 the building had survived for many years longer than any of its original builders or users could have imagined, but it was thoroughly decayed. It was demolished before the year was out.