A YOUNG daredevil had his wings clipped by officialdom this week in 1981 - and his dad was outraged.

Earlier that summer, seven year-old Kristian Duke, son of Swindon speedway legend Barry, had made the national news with a 23ft leap over the River Ray.

An Adver photographer froze the moment, complete with Swindon Robins star Malcolm Holloway posing beneath as a surprised fisherman.

Kristian’s next feat would have seen him fly his 50cc motorcycle over four cars at Blunsdon Stadium during a speedway exhibition sponsored by the Adver.

It would have been a world record for someone so young, but the attempt was scuppered when the police informed Barry and the venue that they might both be criminally liable if it went ahead.

Barry said the law, if applied so enthusiastically elsewhere, meant everything from children’s scrambling to junior showjumping risked being shut down.

In a long letter published in the Adver during that first week of August 37 years ago, he wrote: “The law we are interested in is the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

“Section 23 states that: No person under the age of 16 years shall take part in any public performance in which his life or limbs are endangered.

“This law must be broken every day in Swindon alone with gymkhanas, gymnastic displays, scramble meetings, cycle speedway, rugby, youth boxing (of which there is a lot in Swindon) etc.”

Kristian himself, who was disappointed by the ban, went on to a successful career as a stuntman.

A much older and somewhat more famous sportsman also appeared in the Adver.

Alan Kennedy was a top Liverpool player during what is now a fabled period of success for the side. It would be some years before football’s commercial landscape changed and made millionaires of all top players, but many were able to make handsome second livings from public appearances.

A long list of Swindon businesses seem to have clubbed together to bring Alan Kennedy to town, and the result was a double page broadsheet spread which had no less than 15 photos of the star in various places.

They included Alan signing a cast on a young fan’s arm at Trents sports shop in Bridge Street, Alan at the Cheapjacks clothing centre in Havelock Square, Alan at the Oasis Leisure Centre, Alan at the Rhapsody Stores clothes shop in the Brunel Centre, Alan in Shelleys Restaurant at the Wiltshire Hotel, Alan with a Ford Granada Ghia loaned by Walker Jackson in Fleming Way and Alan at the Toot and Whistle pub in Toothill.

The latter picture, taken long before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan made the name Kalashnikov familiar, was captioned: “It’s OK with an AK.”

Another story in that week’s truly mixed bag of news concerned a large Swindonian leek.

In those pre-internet days, unusual vegetables were like cute or amusing cats and dogs in that people had to rely on local newspapers for photographs of them.

The leek in question lived in the Stanley Street garden of a woman called Marjory Amber-Guesson, who described herself as a retired peasant and was writing a book about unorthodox horticulture.

She attributed the success of her vegetables to the liberal use of seaweed as fertiliser.

We said: “Every time she goes to Weston-super-Mare for fresh air she remembers to pack a plastic bag and a knife.

“Then she trundles home on the train, trying not to offend anyone with the pungent pong.”

Marjory told us: “I have covered my garden several inches thick in it. It is wonderful stuff.”

People who liked cat stories were not let down, either.

We revealed that Swindon had one of the nation’s largest stray cat populations, and asked potential adopters to get in touch.

“Help stop a catastrophe” was the inevitable headline, and we naturally included a cute photograph.

There was sad news from Park Senior School in Marlowe Avenue, which was the latest victim in a spate of vandalism at schools across the town.

Arson was blamed for a fire in the early hours of the morning which caused an estimated £100,000 in damage and was tackled by 20 firefighters.

We said: “The short, sharp blaze - thought to have started in or near a book store - wrecked several rooms and their contents.

“Chairs, tables and piles of text and reference books were severely damaged.

“Walls were scorched and windows shattered in the intense heat. Paint blistered on twisted metal lockers.”

The school was later renamed Oakfield, and was closed in 2000. The campus was home to the University of Bath in Swindon until 2007, and was also the first home of Swindon’s acclaimed Museum of Computing.

The site was eventually cleared and earmarked for housing.