THIS month has seen the anniversaries of an uncelebrated birth and an unmourned death.

Thamesdown Borough Council came into existence on April 1, 1974 and died in 1997, one day short of its 23rd birthday.

Seen as having a made-up name for a place that never really existed, the very concept of Thamesdown was widely despised.

Many people objected not only to that but also the fact that functions such as education and social services were ruled from afar by Wiltshire County Council.

When Thamesdown was abolished during local government reforms in 1997, the Adver cheerily led the dancing on its grave and produced a celebratory supplement.

“Proud to be Swindon,” we proclaimed above a photograph of then mayor Maureen Caton and mayor-to-be Maurice Fanning holding a banner bearing Swindon’s coat of arms.

Just in case the message wasn’t clear enough, the centre spread was dominated by a large picture of council leader Sue Bates and veteran councillor Derek Benfield heaving a Borough of Thames-down road sign into skip.

Coun Bates wrote: “Today, we have the privilege of celebrating a significant development in the history of the borough.

“Today is the first day of the new unitary authority for this area. A day when, at last, almost all the local government services and responsibilities are provided by one council.

“A second reason for our celebration is that we are proud to reclaim the name of Swindon for our borough.”

The supplement was dotted with quotes from various local dignitaries, which appeared under a special ‘Proud to be Swindon’ thumbs up logo.

Simon Coombs, the last MP for Swindon as a single constituency, said: “I very much welcome the fact that the borough will be called Swindon.

“It is the status it deserves because of its size and prosperity.”

Bishop of Swindon Michael Doe said: “We’ve achieved so much and now is the time to move forward and become the city of the 21st Century.”

Lawns councillor Mike Bawden, already in the 30th year of his career in local politics, said: “Proud to be Swindon is exactly the message to promote.

“Swindon has a terrific amount to be proud of and we have got to build on this.”

It was in 1974 that Thamesdown replaced the old Swindon Borough, which had been in existence since 1900, when the Old and New Towns were united in a charter signed by Queen Victoria.

Unpopular with its residents from the start, the change was one of many in local council structures that year. Others included swathes of Cheshire being handed over to Merseyside and the tiny county of Rutland being swallowed up by Leicestershire.

The dawn of Thamesdown was marked in the Adver by a few terse paragraphs on the front page.

Our headline was ‘Welcome Thamesdown’ but our resentment was loud and clear. We wrote: “Thamesdown is born to take over the traditions of service and efficiency built up over eight decades by Swindon borough and Highworth rural district councils.”